Ranger

The old adage about how you respond to losing apparently doesn't mean much any longer. I am sure there were a lot of teams in the 10 Region that would have been proud with the second place Ky Walnut in their trophy case. If they did leave it behind intentionally, shame on them. Hopefully it was an oversight. I went to several regional finals last week which means I saw a trophy not accepted, a bunch of nonsense at the BOK and another kid throw an all tourney trophy on the floor and break it. As a huge fan of HS sports, I am disappointed.... I think this may be the shot somebody asked about.

Backcourt with MC pressing. Willing the foul shots to go in. Nice take "Excuse me sir, would you like to meet at Pasquales after the game for a pizza? I hear the concession stand food here isn't that good." Big block that went the other way in a hurry. This shot went in over the big man. Very impressed with #10. A little rough inside at times. MC player on the ground had tried to take a charge.

I liked the back and forth of the student sections last night. The Darius Miller chant and pointing at him as he walked by was pretty funny. A little late but here's another bench shot. Hard to tell but you could barely walk through between the chairs and the students.

I thought 23 was going to flatten me he was so excited.

I thought this was one of the pivotal plays of the game. There looks to be a jump ball, foul goes against MC player, coach goes livid and out of the time out the Royals had that look that they were not going to be denied. I have a series of this that I will post later tonight. Looks like it was a horrible call but I really think that it lit a fire under MC.

Here are a few from first quarter. Action was non-stop and lots of fun too shoot. Too many to post but here are a few. More tomorrow.

Panda- lots and lots of talk on here about atmosphere...your pics capture it perfectly. Awesome job getting all of the angles. How many guys did you have covering the game for you. Looked like you were everywhere. Me and the rest of the 8th Region Fans san't wait to see your 8th Region pics tomorrow night.

I offer up one word...Classic. I put this as the one of the best high school games I have seen since I can remember. My ears are still literally ringing from the crowd noise. Bass-keet-ball time in the Commonwealth!

Exactly. I am a big Henley fan but this is what was missing today.

Ryle played with a lot of poise until the last minute. They then got visibly emotional on the floor, didn't get a good shot(s) despite plenty of time and then forgot to foul once they missed. Boone got the ball with 6 seconds left and Ryle watched Boone dribble the time away. The amount of pressure just keeps turning up until the final horn. Moss was very good but Sandlin did take over the last three minutes. She has the been there and done that experience and played very good at state last year. Great season Ryle, probably the preseason number one in my book.

An all tournament team where every coach votes and the awards announced are is one thing. This is the way they were done in the old days. Now where the coaches stand off to the side and pick them; not as meaningful really. The season awards should be for acknowledgement, do away with the tournament all tourneys.

Actually a bigger crowd last year but the 9th and 10th boys were on the same night. The upper deck was quite full last year. Still a very, very nice crowd.

Neer, Anderson shot 45% for the game. EB, definitely agree about Anderson having a legit shot a state title at some point. I made that exact comment before I left the gym tonight. Wow, next year's 8th region is definitely shaping up to be strong. Anderson and Walton would have to be 1-2 in the summer written pubs. SK returns the POY but has some big shoes to fill with the loss of three seniors. There are some very strong middle school kids on the horizon to help reload the Neers. Obviously Anderson has some very talented players but I have always liked the fact that their assistant coaches are coaching the middle school kids, even during state AAU tournaments! I took a team to state two years ago that was drilled by the Anderson bunch. Employing the same system from a young age can only be a good thing for the entire program. Very impressed the way they are doing things. Congrats SK on a good season, especially to the senior class of Brown, Pace and Ponzer. Also, http://skpioneers.blogspot.com/

I thought the WV coaches were going to foul Brown they were yelling so loud. It was almost bizzare; the play happened right in front of the WV bench not once but twice. The coaches are yelling at the top of their lungs to foul and the players just stood with their hands up. They actually almost looked to let Brown catch the ball; not sure what happened. Just a couple of plays though and the way WV got back into this was awesome. Very impressed with the youth and the coaching.

I agree with you; maybe the worst call I have seen all year. If the referee swap was an experiment, I would vote to not do it next year. Don't get me wrong, there are some bad refs in the 8th but they guys at the top who usually do the regionals are pretty good.

Agree 44 will be a key next year. I really thought he improved over the course of the year and I would have liked to have seen 44 in the second half, especially when OC went with #30 despite the fact that SK continued to press. To me, OC's ability to start handling the press was one of the keys to the final outcome. SK probably needed to come out of it but when they got down by 5, they had to stay in it. I hope Chambers knoggin is alright. He got tagged pretty hard for the second time in about as many weeks. He hit the floor and the next thing I knew the Henry County Constable, Two members of the Fire Department, parents, cheerleading parents and who knows else were running on the floor. Several sherrifs officers were lining up in front of the SK fans. My compliments to Nick Repka for taking over and adding some calmness to the situation, getting Cody patched together and back out on the court. I saw Chambers dad walking down with his coat, I assumed to leave and the next thing I look up at the scorers table and Chambers is going back in....pretty gutsy.

I reallly like going down there to watch games but what a long trip back when the Neers go down. I didn't pull in the driveway until after 11:30 and I went straight home. Disappointing loss for sure. Officiating was horrible but you have to take care of business and make the foul shots you are given. When was the last time Owen County won a regional game?

Thanks compliment Panda but you are still da #1 man.:ylsuper: (Does anyone besides me think he needs a different member name) Here's the goal tend call which I guess was the winning bucket...again, the kids in the background make the pics. Focus point is more on the student body in the first couple and then the play in the last shots.

Here's another view to Panda's series...perhaps the best part of this is the fan reaction in the background.

The arena backdrop didn't seem to bother Newport; I will go with them for that reason. Great to see the support that they had there tonight.

Couple more....

His hops are unreal. This flush was good. This was a botched alley oop but look how high he is...this was without the aid of pulling up on the rim.