letabrotherspeak

Henry Clay has a decent team, but the game simply boiled down to Holmes's lack of defensive effort in the second half. It was ugly. In the last few years they could get away with gambling a little bit because they could funnel players into shot blockers of Chames and Hill. They do not have that luxury anymore. They didn't contain dribblers and rotations were non-existent. Plus, they were beaten down the floor in transition. On defense, Henry Clay had some length at the guard spot and would run doubles at Bolden to force him to give up the ball and then would face guard him with others getting regular man to man treatment. Often times the ball would not return to him and others were forced to try and make plays. Holmes is really going to miss Chames and Hill this year. Avery has improved but he is not the physical presence that Chames was or one that Hill developed into.

They only have one scrimmage?

Who does CCH scrimmage this year?

36 gets you to a running clock.

The Bulldogs fought hard but just don't have enough bodies. They are down to roughly 27 players and something along the lines of only about 4 seniors. This is the last group of players that were negatively impacted the Terry Liggin staff that more or less neglected this senior class when they were freshman and into their sophomore years. They played very few freshman and even JV games and simply were not developed, therefore never developed numbers. They have a nice sized junior class and their freshman class shows some promise but more importantly size. They had 2-3 seniors quit and that has limited them offensively. Hats off to the seniors who continue to battle each and every day as well as the rest of the team. They took it to CovCath right off the bat and forced them to take a timeout to gather themselves, but a holding penalty killed any momentum. Andrew Arnold is a really nice player and played well tonight. Quite a few freshman show action in the game tonight. As for CovCath, if this is the team that was hyped up during the summer and earlier this year, then the expectations were a little too high. They do not look too good against the run and with their size it seems like they really want to be a spread throwing team when personnel would dictate a more run oriented offense. Not sure how good Johnson Central is, but they will have their work cut out trying to stop their run game.

The Bengals/NFL help out a lot of schools that are putting in turf fields. From what I understand, if you can show that you have 75-80% percent of the needed funds accounted for your renovation of field or complex, then you can apply for a grant/donation and the Bengals/NFL will complete the rest. I believe this is more common than what many believe. Holmes is embarking on a campaign through the Tom Ellis Foundation in trying to raise funds for a new turf field, track, scoreboard and other items at Holmes Stadium. From what I gather, if they hit a certain benchmark in fundraising then they can appeal to the Bengals/NFL for money to close the deal. They really need to upgrade the playing field at Holmes and other areas around the stadium, including a new track and so forth.

Scott has a nice team and the single wing offense is fun to watch. Coach Woolley has done a nice job developing that program. They are huge up front and have some nice backs. Holmes had some chances early but a bad snap took them out of a good drive and a poorly thrown ball into coverage in the endzone really hurt them. The only way they were going to hang around with Scott was putting up points and by the time they started moving the ball they were too far behind. Andrew Arnold if he applied himself could be a D1 player. He is a nice looking player for Holmes.

Holmes probably should have won this game by 4 touchdowns. They had two pretty pass plays that #6 Vickers dropped which would have gone for touchdowns. One was a long pass in which he had gotten behind the defense and Brumfield led him perfectly, but dropped. Another was a nice play call on 4th and short where Holmes faked a quick pass and Brumfield hit Vickers in stride behind the defense but went through his hands. You get those two scores and I think it is a different game. Holmes has to eliminate their turnovers. They would get some positive momentum on offense and then put the ball on the ground. Same thing happened against NCC in their scrimmage. I saw #4 for Holy Cross on the sideline who is not eligible to play yet at Holy Cross. The name escapes me but he played at Holmes last year. I believe he is a sophomore. I heard he had a brother on Holmes team and they live in the same house. I'm not 100% positive on this, but one brother is playing for Holmes and the other is trying to gain eligibility at Holy Cross?

When you have a shortfall of around 350k dollars going into the next school year, heads will roll. The word last week was that their forecast of enrollment numbers for next year was really low. Any chance they get booted from the NKAC?

I don't think there is any doubt that Ruthsatz should be in the conversation and most fans who have seen him play around here for a few years knew the kid would have a great tournament. I think there are a couple of reasons why he didn't get the consideration he probably deserved. 1. He was probably overshadowed by Brandon Hatton and the whole state knows who Brandon Hatton is. Hatton got a bunch of exposure across the state over the last 3-4 years. They played in the Sweet 16 a few years ago. They played in LexCath's Tourney a few years, played in the King of the Bluegrass and also played at various places across the state in one game deals. 2. The 9th Region was loaded this year and I think either Holmes, NCC, CCH would have all made the finals because the region was just that deep this year. Throw in names like Hatton, Bolden, McDonald, Schulte and Ruthsatz and you get a lot of kids fighting for publicity in an area that really doesn't get recognized for its basketball. Statewide it is seen as a "football region" based on its success on the gridiron and across the river from a high school football hot bed. 3. Over the course of three years, Ruthsatz probably didn't get the exposure that was needed across the state. Not looking to blame anyone or anything, but it is likely an issue across the three years he was there. There were no appearances in the Sweet 16, no appearances at the LexCath/King of the Bluegrass/Marshall County Hoopfest and they choose to play in Ohio a couple of times in tourney's and in Florida, with a few exhibitions across the state and the Scott County Tournament. With all that being said, the kid can really play. Everyone would like to have a kid like him running their show.

Congratulations to the Colonel Nation on claiming a state title. As a young kid I remember the Holmes heartbreak of losing to Shelby County in 1978 and then having a few close calls in 2000 and 2008 and finally exorcising the demons in a thriller in 2009 to claim a state title. I would reckon there are some ole blue bloods who are savoring this victory and an exorcism of losing to Earlington in the late 60's. I had a conversation with Holmes head coach Jason Booher the other day and he said CCH reminded him of his Shelby Valley state championship team. Very similar personnel in regards to size at the starting positions and having that dominate high school point guard (E. Justice/Ruthsatz). I was told the attendance for the finals was more like 10k than 14k, but that is to be expected to an extent. I think that Wed-Sun is too long and it is tough for many of the coaches who flock to Lexington to stay 4 nights. That is part of the reason why you have lower numbers on Sunday, plus there are gobs of freebies floating around on Sunday. In addition, this was going to be an interesting Sweet 16 to watch based on changes in how tickets and hotel rooms could be purchased by schools, because of the new finance policy that was adopted by the state in regards to purchasing tickets and so forth for coaches use. No longer can public schools use money from the school's activity fund to purchase tickets and rooms for the state tournament. Hence, unless the school's district was going to purchase tickets/rooms/and pay for substitute teachers, then more than likely the coaches were going to be buying tickets and rooms own their own dime. That can get expensive really quick. The above is probably better suited for its own thread and didn't mean to hijack the thread, but celebrate on Colonel Nation.

Upsets do happen but the Colonels are a double digit favorite until the finals. They could not ask for an easier path to the finals. The only obstacle was PRP and they had to play without their best player and got beat today.

PRP was without Lamontray Harris who was the 6th Region Player of the Year. He had to sit out two games for getting two technicals in the semifinals of the 6th Region Tournament.

The Colonels were roughly a 14 point favorite over Clay County, if you use the power rankings of either the Litkenhaus or Cantrall Ratings. They will be a double digit favorite over any of the remaining teams in the bottom half of the bracket.

Covington Catholic has a road to the finals paved in gold. The only way they don't get there is if they beat themselves.

It was my first time seeing him play and I'm not the only one on the board that came away unimpressed. Looked lazy and didn't seem to want to mix it up or exert himself. Maybe it was just one game, but how one could lack fire and fortitude playing in the Sweet 16 is rather surprising. I am not trying to condemn the kid who has had a fine career, but he sure didn't look like the player that has gotten the publicity he has.

As much publicity that Shane Hall gets, he plays really soft. It is the first time I have seen him play and came away unimpressed. On the flip side, the sophomore Matt Wilson for Campbell County has improved as much as anyone in the 10th Region. Wilson went for 16 and 21. Excellent game for the young kid. Campbell County didn't handle the last 30 seconds well at all. Congratulations to JC on coming back and getting the win.

I don't get the angst with the SK staff. Matter of factly it is laughable. People saying that Coach Steiner's record is .500 and have underachieved is simply wrong and with a little effort one can look up the records and find out the truth, but it is easier to just throw something out there in an attempt to troll. Let's look at some of these stats: 2005-06: 20-11 and Regional Runner-Up 2006-07: 24-9 and Regional Runner-Up 2011-12: 23-8 2013-14: 15-14 Regional Runner-Up Last nine years he has posted seven district titles and three runner-ups while tallying a 154-112 record. 2011-12 8th Region Coach of the Year and finished top 3 in state coach of the year. SK also plays one of the toughest schedules in the 8th Region. This year alone they played: Holmes, Mason County, Johnson Central (region champ), beat Fleming County (region champ), Campbell Co (region champ), CovCath (region champ) A far cry from underachieving if you ask me.

I forgot to mention this is my previous reply, but props to The Bank of Kentucky Center for the show they provided. I think they learned their lesson over the last couple of years in regards to long lines of people missing game action because of waiting in line to get tickets. There didn't seem to be the complaints of this happening this year as opposed to previous years. Secondly, the flame throwers was a nice touch and how they had the teams parade around. It had a feel of what you see at the state tournament on championship night. It was quite a show and allowed for the kids to be showcased. Lastly, in the end, not only promoting the region finals, it also showcased the BOKC in their attempt to become the new home of the girls Sweet 16. I believe the contract with Diddle Arena and WKU is up in the next year or two. The BOKC will bid for it and I heard Julian Tackett took in the festivities on Sunday. Look for the BOKC to be aggressive in attempting to get the rights to the Sweet 16 for girls.

That was an entertaining game this evening. These two teams seldom disappoint when they get together. I thought that Cov. Cath.'s 1-2-2 zone was very effective and that the Colonels were not going to allow themselves to beaten by penetration. Holmes is streaky from the perimeter and tonight they were streaky on the wrong side. 3-27 on three's is not going to win you ball games, but despite all of that Holmes was in the thick of it right til the last minute. I thought what cost Holmes was when they had two or three separate stretches where they turned it over a couple of times and one included a moving screen. I thought the turnovers were what ultimately did them in at the end of the game. Early in the game Cov.Cath. got the Dogs on their heels with crisp passing and shooting, towards the end of the second quarter I thought the Dogs started getting their bearings about them and it carried over into the second half when they turned the heat up and Colonels started playing quicker and the Dogs got the lead. At that point, I think they got a little greedy and started looking for that dagger three to get them rolling but they just couldn't get one to stay down. Overall, the officials let them play and the one big difference I think in how these officials call the game as opposed to the 9th region officials, is that it is a man's game in the paint, body contact is allowed to the maximum and I think that CCH was able to utilize it in their matchup with NCC and Holmes. Best of luck to the Colonels in the Sweet 16. I will very surprised if they don't make it to Saturday night and frankly they should.

I would say Scott HS in 1989 would be hard to top. I think going into that district tournament they were below .500. They ended up winning three games to advance to the region as district champs. I believe the story is that they had not beaten any of the region teams that year other than Campbell County, but hadn't faced Bellevue. I remember them getting to the finals and played Holy Cross who had a terrific team and the day before had just beaten Holmes in one of the best region games I had ever seen. That game had like a 93-92 final score. Scott had a freshman that was really good and got their only dunk of the season to seal the region final against Holy Cross.

If it is low scoring Brossart has a real chance, but if this game gets into the 60's it will be Montgomery County.

Has Covington Catholic really overachieved under Ruthsatz? I'm not trying to take away from their accomplishments by any means, just wondering about the overachieving comment. In the three years that they have been there they have been pretty good. They are pretty much what everyone has expected them to be since his first year and they have a shot at winning the region this year. From afar it looks like the staff is very solid and Ruthsatz will continue to build. Cov. Cath. has always had solid feeder programs. Year in and year out they are always in the running for "B" team and Freshman Championships. That is not unusual. I would imagine as more time passes, Listerman will cool down and the separation will be that much easier.

That was a pretty fun game to attend. In general, I thought the officiating was pretty good. There were some calls that they missed and there is some inconsistency with hand checks and bumping the dribbler, but in general I thought they did call a fairly even game. The one call that I thought was really bad was when Ruthsatz took a shot fake on a three pointer and the defender jumped straight up and Ruthsatz then in turn took a step and launched himself into the defender. He got the call, but that is either a no call or a charge. Overall, I thought that Hill was terrific on the glass and on defense. He had a beautiful tip in where he came across the lane and in one motion tipped the ball in. Holmes was able to play volleyball at the rim a few possessions. The biggest difference in this game from the first meeting was that overall, Holmes played better team defense, rebounded and got back in transition defense. Partly the transition defense was aided by them taking for the most part taking good shots and not bad ones that often lead to run outs. Also, Holmes did a job of funneling Ruthsatz to the post defense of Hill and Chames, particularly in the second half. Bolden also played fairly under control and outside the first quarter took decent shots and did a nice job of distributing once they broke the defense down. It should be a fun tournament.

I only say tomorrow because the word was that it would be released at the end of February.