letabrotherspeak

I agree that it was a fairly decent called game. Hicks is the weaker of the three. The only complaint I had was the crew allowing an injured player to lay on the floor for three possessions before stopping play. Pretty much my thoughts have been expressed by others. What is interesting to me is that both teams actually executed really well in the final 10 seconds and really both teams did well without a timeout. CovCath looking for the best shot possible and Holmes looking to foul with 3 to give. Sideout, Chames deflects pass into backcourt and saves it from going out of bounds to a big man for CovCath. Holmes is going to foul and did with 2.9 left. The kicker is in this play to me is that if Holmes doesn't foul the likelihood of Cov Cath getting a good look is nil because a big is going to have to find a outlet under duress with a ticking clock. Cov Cath enters and is fouled with 2 seconds and Holmes got the quick foul meaning CovCath has to go the distance in 2 seconds. Ruthsatz got some space and caught the ball going up court. In that situation you want to foul on the catch, or at least having the dribbler going anyway but towards the basket. He got some space and to foul at that point is dicey because he can launch at any point. Shot goes in and the Colonels capture the district title. I thought CovCath set the tone early, getting to loose balls, making contested shots and hitting the boards. In the second half Holmes with the exception of a few possessions controlled the glass and took good shots. Bolden didn't have to carry them late like he did in the NCC game. Palmer stepped up and knocked down shots. Going forward the Colonels are going to be a load if they continue to shoot well and Rutsatz is scoring. Going forward Holmes has to get more production or at least consistent production out of Englemon. He can't just disappear from the glass like he did tonight. Great game, great atmosphere. Is there any doubt that one of the most competitive districts should be played every year at the Fieldhouse?

If either Brossart or Scott draw opposite of Montgomery County, they will likely be in the finals. The Eagles unraveled in the 4th after getting the game all knotted up at 38 at the end of three.

Heard that Atown and the Polar Bears brought out the fans tonight. Congratulations to Augusta!

Does anyone in the 9th Region have worse looking uniforms than Beechwood? The team's that played at Turners, on Pike Street, back in the early 1980's had better looking uniforms than the Tigers.

The rims at Holmes are the same rims that are at the Bank of Kentucky Center, from what I was told. They are the breakaway rims that flex in the direction of the pull. You dunk it from the side, it will flex to that side and the same from the front. Obviously, they will have a little more give. One thing that helped Cov Cath shoot the ball so well was the fact that a bunch of their shots that they took in the first half were wide open.

Actually the fellow from Holmes should be credited for this. There was no security/police at the district games last night. The Beechwood people were powerless. It was a Holmes person that persuaded that lady to leave and there was one other adult causing problems. Beechwood's people were asleep at the wheel for not having any police presence at these games.

Simply laughable. I credit the coaching staff for being patient when the shots weren't falling and making the correct adjustments/decision to take out certain player(s) because they were playing poorly on defense. Some nights you are going to shoot poorly and it is the perfect storm of a deliberate team executing and you not making shots. One thing you can control is your defense. If you are not getting the job done, then you have to come out. Got to bring it on defense, if you don't then someone else can come in and do the job. But hey, a parent got their feelings hurt and are displaying their selfishness in all of this. Kids play for each other but they bust their butt for their coach and the team. That is leadership from the staff. Don't be silly in thinking that SK didn't prepare for WV. That is just a ludicrous thought. Instead of being happy that the season is continuing and SK has a legit shot at the region title a parent wants to be selfish and express his feelings as a keyboard quarterback just because they got their feelings hurt. Then again, if your kid scores 50 and blocks 10 shots and you lose, it is clearly OK in NKYBandits book. Keep grinding that axe...SMDH!

Alabama and Louisville are kicking the tires on Hawkins.

Tonight was really fun. It was reminiscent of games from back in the late 70's to 1980 in the days of Schloemer and Beal. The Fieldhouse would be full for games versus NewCath, Highlands, Holy Cross and Covington Catholic. What I mean by that, was that the Fieldhouse was close to full capacity. I would say in the range of 2700 there tonight and I can only imagine where people were parking. Much of the game action has been covered, but was really impressed with NCC and how skilled they are in the post. Just real solid, nothing flashy. They are so well rounded. NCC's bigs are fundamental and take shots in the post going at the basket and not fading away. Well coached and poised. Their guards take care of the ball and can make open shots. Beuter's and one knotted the score and more than likely a situation where Holmes would have been better off just letting him score than overly contesting it. However, Palmer got a good look at a runner from the baseline for the win. Holmes is going to struggle with size and needs to get tempo in their favor. Foul trouble to Coston and Englemon didn't help the Bulldogs cause and it clearly showed in the second overtime. Bolden's show in the 4th quarter was a treat. He was draining them from deep and the last one he hit to put the Bulldogs in front was ridiculous. Plus, he dang near drained the three quarter court shot. He was drained though. Enjoyable evening and it would be nice to see another game with these two.

Highlands just doesn't have a whole lot of material to work with. They battled and played hard and had a few bright spots, but they just don't have a enough players. If you dont have a team that shoots well, you are better off running some form of passing game that gets you high percentage shots. The offense that Flynn was running utilized a lot of flex cuts and they did get a few opportunities at cheap baskets but many times the players mishandled the ball or missed some cheapies. On defense it looked to be more of a sagging man to man in which all defenders had a foot in the paint, unless their man had the ball. Pretty good plan if you want to stop penetration. Flynn has had a fair amount of success everywhere he has been with the exception probably of Bourbon County, but he wasn't there very long. I believe Highlands was down a couple of players, but overall, they just do not have a whole lot of basketball talent. The pregame ceremony was really nice. The anthem was done by Eric Riley, who is a member of the Brotherhood Singers which sings all over the world. The group itself has done the anthem at the Bengals, Reds, UC, Xavier and most recently they sang the anthem before the Syracuse/Louisville game a couple weeks back. They are really good. A really solid turnout considering the weather. I would imagine next weeks game against NCC will bring another solid crowd.

The player that has improved leaps and bounds since the beginning of the year for Holmes has been Quinton Chames. He has now become a factor on the offensive end and is able to out the ball on floor and drive it from about 10-15 feet out. He just seems to have a better feel on the defensive end in challenging shots and getting rebounds. Dixie has a lot of nice looking sophomores. Hatton didn't have a real good night shooting the ball and Holmes ran some soft doubles at him when he had the ball on the wing extended to take away his penetration. He did defer quite a bit and really didn't force many shots, but I don't think he really took a high volume amount of shots either. I didn't see the first foul on Chames when the kid from Dixie hit the floor off the ball, but was told it was a flop, but on the second one, he went down like he had been shot. It was the ensuing possession. Both calls made by Burkart. I dont quite know what the rotation is for a 3 man crew, but Burkart was in the same spot under the basket on three consecutive trips and three different stoppages. Funny thing on the the third trip he called the kid who had been fouled twice for a hold away from the ball. Overall, I thought it was a fairly called game with the exception of the one call that I saw and mentioned above.

Easily the worst crew I have seen in a long while. The Tom Selleck/Mark Malone looking fellow was the worst of the bunch. They gray haired official was right with him. The 3rd guy was the best of the crew but he didn't get a chance to blow his whistle. Just all around bad. The worst of the bunch was where they had to confer in the 4th quarter on whether or not Jackson made a shot when he got fouled. It wasn't close to going in, yet they needed a couple of minutes to figure it out. Two walking calls on Holmes in transition were laughable at best. Crim for Scott might have been fouled on a stickback with game tied late. As for the game, Scott essentially doubled Bolden. Bolden is such a gifted ball handler, he tries to do too much. If he would make the simple pass it would open things up for them on offense. Chames has really come on for Holmes. I have not seen them play the last couple of games, but he is really coming on as a player. Palmer was very good for Holmes and really carried them. He even ran point with Bolden at the 2 for a portion of the second half. Nick Jackson is a really nice player. Not too many 5's in the area can run the point. He does a nice job of scoring in and around the basket. Crim played well for Scott but really controlling the weakside offensive glass. I think once Scott continues to improve they are going to be a load in the 10th Region tourney.

What is Brossart's enrollment? I may be getting some names backward, but wasn't Teegarden stripped of his Offensive Coordinator duties at Ryle or something like that by Bryson Warner?

Now you have me thinking. I believe Covington Catholic went in 2003 or 2004 when they made the semifinals. Were both left out of the program?

Is this the Mountain Classic?

Perhaps Listerman felt a little jilted by the fact that the game program fails to recognize his team's accomplishment of going to the state tournament in 2006? Is Coach Sorrell still an active part in the Colonel Basketball program?

Lucky to find a seat tonight and it was a fun game to watch in Park Hills. There seemed to be a lot of impartial fans in attendance from other schools. Ruthsatz does try to do too much, but Holmes has the personnel to wear him down and I think that he was gassed down the stretch. His jumper was short and no lift on drives to the basket. I thought Herndon did a heck of a job on him in the second quarter and made him work the entire floor. Things seem to get a bit testy during a stretch there. Ruthsatz has a good handle but predictable when he is going left he is going to look to pull the trigger. The one piece of his game that I would like to see him lose is the "Duke flop" that he pulls when he drives in trying to entice a foul call. He dribbles to body a defender then acts like he gets shot and flails. He is too good of a player to do that. I thought Holmes did a good job of handling the variety of defenses that CCH threw atr them and that is a credit to Bolden for getting them into their offense. Obviously, Coston was huge in the first half and Palmer played well on defense and knocked down a couple shots as well. I thought Englemon was pretty steady all night. Schuh is going to be a nice player for CCH as he continues to develop. Frederick was tremendous. Hitting open shots, hitting shots on drives. I thought he carried the Colonels. Colonels and Indians will be a war as Holy Cross keeps improving. Lastly, I thought the stripes were pretty solid tonight.

Holmes, in my opinion, really hasn't played stellar competition outside of Holy Cross and maybe Scott. Even though the Eagles are a bit up and down, I think they are pretty good. Holmes has an upcoming stretch against Covington Catholic and Cooper, I believe. The record is nice to see, but it is all about seeding in the 35th District.

What refs called the Trinity/NCC game? The crew at this game tonight was not very good and have eschewed Julian Tackett's edict in regards to physical play. Some say Campbell got hit on his three attempt to tie the game. I couldn't really tell, I thought he just double clutched. One thing he gets away with is being under the basket behind the backboard and jumping into the defense who have position and drawing fouls, which really the defender has the position and should be a no call if anything. To his credit he has improved from last year and is a mean outlet passer.

That is a good win for Russell. Who is the favorite in the 16th? Fleming? Rowan? Russell?

Holmes was down 9-2 halfway through the first quarter and went on a ridiculous run, which I think Palmer may have hit a three in three consecutive possessions. Holmes's pressure started to get to HC a bit and they rushed through their offense and pretty much was one shot and done even with Campbell in there. Chames also picked up his second before Campbell did but Hill and freshman Andrew Arnold did an adequate job before Campbell got his second foul. Holy Cross didn't make a whole lot of shots and long misses is like an outlet in transition for Holmes. Holy Cross mixed up there defense in the first half which was a little two three, man to man and then went to a triangle and two with one guy shading a shooter. In the second half, Holy Cross attacked the basket a little more aggressively and Holmes didn't guard as well. Campbell was splendid, he stepped out on the floor and hit threes and some others knocked some down. What I thought was key for the Indians was that they were able to cut into the lead by about 10 or 12 within the first three minutes of the 3rd quarter. They got confidence and Holmes wilted a little. With that Holy Cross used a little 3/4 court 2-2-1 press which slowed Holmes down and Holmes became passive against it and made some careless turnovers. In the halfcourt, Holy Cross mixed a little Triangle and Two with some 2-3 extended. In my opinion, Holy Cross didn't really do anything differently defensively throughout the second half, but as the lead shrunk they seemed to pick up their intensity. They did as well on the offensive end. Holmes did not shy away from Campbell and went right at him. He is like a hockey goalie. He is easily screened but is there to guard the basket. There was quite a bit of contact on drives but the drives that were finished in the first half didn't happen in the second half. Fun game to attend and I would think that may have had one of the best crowds at Evans Fieldhouse in a while. Overall, I think the Holy Cross came out with intensity that was not matched in the second half and quickly cut the lead and gained confidence and got a tempo to their liking and shot the ball extremely well. Holmes was like the Showtime Lakers the last 11 minutes of the first half and didn't come out with same intensity and got a little tight and the Indians took it to them. Where are the districts this year?

Heard Holmes jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter and was able to keep the Fighting Planets at bay. KyDan, did they play this tournament with a red, white and blue basketball? Heard that the Bulldogs got to practice outdoors yesterday. It must have been nice.

I finally get the connection to this tournament for Holmes. Windermere Prep's athletic director is Danny Haney, the former head coach of Lexington Catholic. The head coach of Windemere Prep is Ben Wilson. I recall that name as a former player at Lexington Catholic. I wonder if that is the same person if my recollection is correct. Tubby Smith's son Brian is an assistant. Windemere has an affluent gated community as well. Many PGA/LPGA golfers and professional athletes live there. I guess that is part of the reason high school tuition is 16k a year. Board and tuition is a cool 45k a year. All in all it should be a good experience for the Bulldogs.

31-27 Holmes end of the third quarter. Palmer is carrying Holmes this evening. Sounds like Bolden is struggling for the second straight game.

I think Holmes will win this tournament. If it were a golf match, then you would say Windmere Prep would be the favorite to win this thing. Windmere has the exclusive gated community where Tiger Woods once lived (I believe this is where he and Elin had their spat which led to Tiger wrecking his vehicle) and other PGA professionals make their home. I believe Ken Griffey Jr. lives/lived there as well a Shaquille O'Neal.