letabrotherspeak

They outplayed Holmes and got to the 50-50 balls and controlled the boards. Holmes really struggled to score in the half court and get their press on which is their best weapon. Holy Cross played well and for the most part took good shots. Best of luck in the region to both teams.

I thought Holmes's game plan was really solid. A little 2-2-1 3/4 court back into a 2-3 zone. It worked well and kept them in the game. However, it was going to be their attack on offense that would give them a chance for the upset. You can't take quick shots and turn it over because CCH does such a good job in transition and converts on such plays. They were patient in the first half and I thought Hollis played and effective game slashing to the basket and getting a few run outs. Mayer carried CCH in the first half, solely from his rebounding and second chance opportunities he gave the Colonels. His board work and free throw shooting kept CCH in the front. He and Frederick carried the water for them. About halfway through the 3rd, Greene picked up his 3rd foul and CCH took advantage. CCH also made the adjustment after the half and put Frederick in the high post versus the zone. Holmes took some quick shots and added a few turnovers and CCH got to running and stretched it out. Disappointing crowd. Only about half full. They only offered presale tix sold at both schools and didn't tell the participating schools that there would be no tickets sold at the door until last night. Awfully tight turnaround for tickets to be sold. I would imagine the crowds over the next two games will be better.

How much time?

Much of what many people were quoting were talking about how he has a D-1 offer or that Big Ten offers don't grow on trees. If it is solely based on D-1 offers then you have to throw the Walter kid in there because he has D-1 offers and didn't make top ten. I haven't seen the Frederick kid play this year. I am thoroughly impressed with McNeil. I thought McNeil was better than him last year. Physically a better player and could create. I didn't see that from Frederick last year and like I said I haven't seen him this year. I would venture to say that Frederick blossomed this summer and really improved his game and was able to start decking the ball when people ran him off the three line. Did these coaches see him this year? I'm sure their could be ulterior motives for they way they voted and the transparency could be questioned. Maybe it is because he lives in Ohio? I may be wrong, but in their program that is where he went to middle school as its listed.

I just heard tonight that the schools were informed this evening that there would be no ticket sales at the door at Holy Cross tomorrow night and that all tickets will be allotted to the schools for presale only. This probably isn't a problem and probably the best way to do it considering the size of Holy Cross's gym, but I would think that you would inform the participating schools ahead of time and not the evening before. Anyone have any more information on this?

So if Walter has D-1 scholarship offers then he should be ahead of McNeil?

The 8th place ranking is solely related to his play this year. No doubt he is a fantastic player but missed the bulk of the season and I would venture to say he was judged as such. As for Division 1 offers, a lot of that can be attributed to upside or potential. Is he one of the top players in the region? No question. I just think he didn't get nearly the votes because he missed so much time. It could have also been that coaches saw more of VonHandorf and Ruthsatz and decided to vote those two and other players. Flip side, I believe the Walter kid from CCH has D-1 offers as well and didn't make the top 10?

Congratulations to the Lady Bulldogs on a fantastic season. Unfortunately, they were not able to advance, but Mercer County is a darn good team and was the higher rated team coming in, I believe. The Lady Bulldogs just couldn't quite get over the hump in the second half. Mercer shot it really well in the first half and most were corner threes. What makes Mercer really tough is the all have capable ball handlers and the sophomore #4 Robins is really crafty with the ball. No wonder UK has already offered her. They did a nice job of spreading floor penetrating and pitching the ball and then attacking. They are a very nice team and would expect them to make the finals. No reason for Lady Bulldogs to hang their heads. They battled all the way to the end and just couldn't get that one basket to get it to a one possession game. I think their lack of depth really caught up to them especially in the second half when they relied on their smaller lineup for practically the entire half. Lest we forget, the loss of Gulley, mid-season, put a crimp on their depth and interior play even though Brown stepped in and played really well in Gulley's absence. Jynea Harris was terrific and will be missed. They return some key ingredients to make another run next year.

I thought Clyde pretty much nailed it with his thoughts about the game. The Hall kid dominated the second half with his ball handling and drives to the rack. The corner three was a dagger. It is not too often that you see a player take straight on drives and get to the rim v CCH with how well they dig and help on drivers. Weyer was a monster in this game. Stats tell the story, but he was not a high volume shooter and really let game come to him. He took good shots and found open the open man and didn't force things. He hunkered in the post and got position and scored. CCH tried Walter on him and in successive possessions Weyer went straight the to key, drove around him to the basket. Second time he stretched it out and nailed a three. Very heady game for him. He didn't get frustrated and stayed pretty stoic for 32 minutes of getting jostled around the hoop. He was the rim protector and CCH couldn't do anything to change that because they couldn't get a second scorer to step up. This forced Mayer to try and attack the basket and that is a tall task going up against 44. I thought NCC jumping out 7-0 gave them a shot of confidence from the jump. For the most part I thought NCC took really good shots. They had some turns and the ill-advised 1 on 3 shot attempt late, but overall they really cycled through their offense and that is attributed to how controlled Hall was at the point. To me for all the pub that CVH gets and its deserved, Flood is the key to CCH, in my opinion. When he is scoring, it makes them really motor. Fredrick is going to be a really nice player with more seasoning. You can run him off the three line and force him to deck it or pass. In time he will gain confidence to let it go with defenders running at him. Without the clean air he is not going to shoot it from 3. He does look like he has the makings of a shooter off the bounce with a pull up jumper as he develops. I'm surprised CCH didn't try to push the ball with their sideline break action of NCC makes. In the past games CCH could get quick scores off of makes in transition. Most everything was off the dribble up the floor without many pass forward in transition. From the games I remember, CCH had hurt NCC with this. Overall, both teams really got after it. Lose balls were scrums and kids were getting after it. They laid it on the line. Very entertaining game. In case you don't know, there may not be a tougher region to win than the 9th. Teams are so well scouted, close in proximity, good coaches and good players...just a tough tough region to win. For all the kudos that CCH has received during this run, it just shows you how dang impressive Holmes's run in 2007 to 2009 was. To win the region three straight year and then go State Final Four, Runner-Up and then the state championship. May not be matched for a while. Best of luck to NCC going forward.

Holy Cross opened man to man and Scott just whipped the ball around the floor and found the open man or Ohmer was taking it to the middle of the paint without much resistance. I believe the score was like 24-20 at the end of one. If I recall correctly, Scott may have been up 13 in the first and HC shaved 9 points off the lead in the last minute of the quarter. In the second quarter the pace weakened a bit. HC went to a 1-3-1 and Scott probed it and took a 7 point lead into the half. In the second half, the pace really started to grind for these two teams. Holy Cross started doubling Ohmer across halfcourt but Scott was able to find shots close to the basket. If my count is correct they missed 8 shots right at the basket. There was some resistance but were baskets they can make with strong takes. The Indians were buoyed by Bezold tossing in a 3/4 shot at the horn to give the Indians the lead at the end of three. I am not sure what the turnover total was but Scott had some careless turnovers that HC was able to capitalize on in the second half. Overall, it was an entertaining game and you can see the growth and maturity in HC with the bulk of their starters having gained valuable experience of over the last 3+ years. Scott is going to be a pesky team and they could have easily won this game if they convert on half of their shots at the rim in the second half.

Got to rub elbows with a few famous BGP'ers tonight. Good company! Tale of two halves. The first half flew by and the second was a foul fest. It was hard for either team to get into any rhythm in the second half. It's December 2nd so it is really hard to pass judgement on a game like this but it a real confident booster for Cooper going forward. McNeil is really good and can create his own shot. Nice handle going either way with good body lean. When he squares up he can knock it down. Thought the other McNeil, Kunkel and Hendrix played well too. CCH had some good looks. VonHandorf was short on shots but it looks like he gets his shot off quicker from the perimeter. What he finish from the field? He was 3-17 at one point. I'm sure he was shaking off some rust thought. CCH is deep. They easily go 10 deep. I would say these two teams are the ones to beat as the year progresses.

Kids that come from challenged backgrounds need structure and crave structure. Is it wrong to expect kids to show up to practice everyday?

Silly talk regarding Coach Nevels. A few years ago they had a coach in Terry Liggin who totally neglected middle school through JV programs. The numbers from that group are working themselves out. Last year they only had a couple of seniors. This year they have a decent core of seniors who are very tough minded kids. They have been in every game this year and could have been undefeated going into tonight. They play clean and very hard and that is a reflection on Coach Nevels and staff. They may not have great numbers but they get after it. The numbers game can be attributed to the transient population of the student body. There are roughly 400 boys in the school and a good chunk over the course of 2-3 years aren't there anymore. When you have a limited group to choose from in numbers you need kids that play multiple sports. Unfortunately, there are not many who play more than one sport. They have zero feeder programs other than what they get from their middle school. There is no direct line from the peewee leagues. I have heard the staff has done clinics at the elementary level, trying to establish flag football leagues and such. Once they get a turf field, and develop from middle school up, I think you will see the numbers go up.

It is Holmes's Complex now since they bought it from the city last year or the year before. I would imagine that Holy Cross will get to use the field, but probably not near to the extent of what they had in the past. That is just a guess. From what I have heard the field was created as a dual purpose facility and the outfield is segmented into 5 yards and this will allow the football team to use the field for practice, if need be, for this year at least because the school is evidently close to raising the funds needed to turf their football field. The frosh and middle school teams could also use the field as well. The marching band will also be able to use the facility as will their softball teams and it sets up well for the school to have intramurals. It also gives the city a place to hold events as well, since they pretty much have allowed most of their recreational facilities to wither on the vine. I believe these fields have fairly strict guidelines to allow for longer lasting turf.

Congratulations to the Red Devils. Just like the 1980 championship season they took out a 9th Region foe in the semi-finals. In 1980 Dwight Higgs and the Red Devils beat the Dicky Beal led Holmes Bulldogs in the semis. I can still remember that game. Holmes played the late game on Friday night and beat Ashland something like 97-92 and it may have been an overtime game, but not positive. The Bulldogs got in late and had to rise early the next morn, but OHS was too much. Excellent run by the Red Devils.

Congrats to CovCath on the victory and best of luck in Rupp next weekend. Congrats to the Holmes seniors on a heck of a ride over the last week and best of luck to James Bolden going forward. He may not have played his best game tonight, but there hasn't been a player come through the region in a while that created quite a buzz like he has the last three years. He is the one player who impartial fans would come to see play because of his game. There have been some very good basketball players to come through, but none who created "must see" play like Bolden created for the fans over the last three plus years. I look forward to watching him continue his career at West Virginia. As for the game, Holmes has to be kicking themselves for not creating a little bit of a cushion in the first half. Some have already mentioned it but ultimately that was the killer. In general, throughout the second half you kept waiting for one team to hit that one shot or make that one play that would be the tipping point. Actually, you were waiting on CovCath to make that one play and they had some chances to do so mid third quarter forward but it didn't come until mid fourth. Tip of the cap to Coach Listerman. Holmes broke out the zone defense and aside from an early flurry by the Colonels, the zone stymied the Colonels. Conversely, I was stunned to see CovCath open in man to man considering the success they had in the district final with their zone. Holmes was able to get some early penetration and put pressure on the CovCath defense. Holmes contained CovCath and kept them from getting into transition. Holmes was also terrific on the defensive glass and was really scrapping and getting to loose balls. They missed a golden opportunity to get a bit of a lead, but never quite did. Once CovCath settled into the zone the tide shifted for them and it became a rock fight. The Colonels were able to get shots closer to the basket and Holmes took some tough 3's. Bolden was just long with everything. How about the one sequence where he drove, floater long, gets offensive rebound and another floater long, but scraps and gets another rebound and McClendon misses a three long. CovCath became more patient and got some good looks and converted. Very few long shots in the second half which could result in outlet passes in transition opportunities for Holmes. Fun game to watch and both teams left it out there and a tough one to swallow if you were for the red and white tonight.

Three pages in and people have yet to give kudos to the job that Andrew Arnold did on McDonald tonight. Arnold giving up 7 inches and very little rest kept McDonald off the block most of the night and simply did not back down. It may not show up in the stat line but Arnold was simply terrific guarding McDonald. For a large part he guarded him straight up with some help. McDonald was forced to kick it out. Weyer had Avery on him and he is not going to see kids with that much length guard him out on the floor. I thought a key sequence in the game is when NCC went to a zone for a stretch. Bolden left open and drills a 3. I believe he hit another as well and they threw a lob in that sequence. NCC went back to man and behind and McClendon and Bolden controlled the ball. Avery had a few offensive rebounds in the 4th to keep possessions alive and ultimately the ball game. Holmes did a terrific job on the glass and Arnold kept McDonald off the offensive glass and negated stickbacks. I just think that the two Holmes guards outplayed NCC's backcourt. McClendon really played well. Hit open shots and dogged Pangallo all over the court. Why does this happen to NCC at the region? I think they just play too tight but much of it is matchups. Unfortunately, its a bitter pill to swallow for the Breds but they have some classy kids and a classy staff.

Was this the final game for Nell Fookes? If so, what an outstanding career!!!

How does Morgan County get all of these transfers?

What kind of physical condition is Mullins in and how long has he been back?

When CovCath shoots the ball like they did they are going to be tough to beat. They played well and hit open shots. Holmes got down in the first quarter and had an uphill climb the rest of the night. They missed a bunch of free throws in the first half and CovCath hit their free throws and got to the front and stayed there. I thought the VonHandorf looked much more assertive on offense than I have seen him in the past. Really solid scorer going to the basket on the left hand side. Flood hit a couple early threes that got the Colonels going and they did a really good job on the boards. On offense, Holmes missed a couple chippies and couldn't get a perimeter shot to fall. CovCath played a lot of zone and went away from their faceguard deny of Bolden which had become the norm for them when they played Holmes. CovCath did a much better job than Holmes in transition and converting while Holmes had some miscues pile up on their end. The game got really chippy and physical particularly in the second half as Holmes started scrambling trying to force some turnovers. I don't think there was anything real dirty just two teams competing and wearing their emotions on their sleeves. A lot of bodies colliding, reaching, woofing, grabbing, swinging elbows, a forearm or two above the shoulders on drives. CovCath is the better team and their depth is a weapon.

You are right, I got mixed up. McClendon was very good and surprised she didn't make the all-tournament team.

They are just so well rounded as a team. Granted I have only seen a few girls games this year and have not seen Highlands or NCC, but I think they have to be favorites. Forgive me if I am wrong but I believe it is Ally Mayhaus who is the starting center? She's tall and long and finishes well around the rim and uses her length to disrupt shots in the paint without fouling. Does NCC or Highlands have height to combat what she brings to the table? Englemon is a poised point guard who plays angles really well and is always in control. I think she is the most important piece for Holy Cross. She was terrific tonight. Turner is a solid scorer and can knock down 3's. Tucker plays under control and will make open shots. Hassert sp? plays her role very well. One chink in the armor for Holy Cross that I see, is I don't think they are very deep. They just are hard to guard if they make perimeter shots. They can stretch you and open up the paint for Mayhaus. Plus they have the experience. Region finals last year? Won the All-A this year. Experienced group.

If you can't score you can't press. Simple as that. Holmes really struggled versus the 1-2-2 or 3-2 that Holy Cross employed. I don't think that Holmes scored a field goal in the 3rd quarter and the Mayhaus twins caused a lot of issues for Holmes in the paint. The Lady Bulldogs seemed to be too passive and didn't move the ball very well. Englemon played well for Holmes, but the rest of the crew had an off night. Tubbs is nowhere near where she was earlier in the season before her injury. That hurts them in the halfcourt. The Bulldogs are a very young team and are entering uncharted waters and playing in pressure packed games. They should learn from this. Credit the Indians who just ooze experience and have everthing you need and the look of a region champion. Mayhaus was big one both ends of the her sister who doesn't play as much played well too. Englemon ran the offense and played really well. I was very surprised to see she didn't make the all-tournament team. It will take a yeoman's effort to knock Holy Cross off in the region.

I can see some of the angst in regards to media credentials and the like, but from the sound of things, it has gotten a little loose. One item that is devoid in Northern Kentucky is a radio station to carry games on the radio. That's what makes Kentucky basketball unique in the smaller areas across the state. Getting to listen to Danny Weedle call games on WFTM out of Maysville is fun and you see it in many regions across the state. Heck most every team in the 16th Region has a radio station that broadcasts their games. I can see where the online only broadcasts can cause some problems and I understand it is a newer outlet to cover games for schools and I'm sure the decision was not made lightly. The 9th Region at BOKC is a boon for the participants. The 9th Region Tourney makes more money than any other regional tournament in the state and I don't think it is fairly close. In reality, it is a great experience for the participants and it should be all about the players. Schools profit very well in times in which money is tight, especially for the participants. They payouts I would believe are very welcomed by the participating schools. Going forward I can see how it can get a little cramped on the press row with all the internet broadcast teams so sending them to one of the endzones should not be that bad. Sure the sight lines are not as good, but you still get to provide the service that you are there for. The BOKC is what it is and it would be nice to have a different set up for the opposite side of the floor where the high roller seats are, but there is not need for one at the BOKC with NKU. Maybe going forward they can carve that out in the future. Sure there are some things that can be adjusted in the future, but it is far better holding the tourney there than at a high school gym.