Ranger

IMO, the refs aren't homecooking anyone at SK since joining the 8th on the boys or girls side. As a matter of fact, you could almost argue the opposite in some cases! I have heard some people say that some of the 8th region refs look at SK as an outsider? Maybe or maybe not so just go and play the game and have the players and coaches adjust accordingly. (By the way, there are a few really good referees in the 8th but they don't always get assigned in Independence. My guess is too far away.) To the original question. This should be a good game and I will go with SK by 3.

SK won round one by 11. I see a similar score this time around, maybe trim a couple of points from that for WV having the homecourt advantage. SK could match some of the predictions above but there is just a lot of emotion in this game. WV gave SK everything they wanted the last year when they played at Walton. It seemed like the whole community was there in support of the Bearcats. I will go with SK 68-58.

SK's achillies this year has been inconsistency and ability to finish. Those are the guys Coach Steiner needs to start and play. I agree with statements about Dressman's play and really liked the way he crashed the boards. Pretty nice crowd on hand tonight.

What happened to allow the come back?

If I remember correctly, it was knotted at 36 at regulation. 22 in the first and 14 the rest of regulation. :confused: I do like what I have been seeing lately out of SK although they still seem to be putting some pieces of the puzzle together. IMO, the team is fairly level across the first 10 or so players which makes it somewhat challenging for the staff figuring how everything is going to come together.

Comment about SK- it seemed whoever Steiner inserted into the game contributed something positive. SK's shooters had a rough night but the kids who usually hit the shots- Barnes, Slavey eg., had some nice drives to the basket. Snyder had several nice plays, Dressman had some huge rebounds down the stretch and really was key. During the last 3 minutes SK got the ball into Maegley and he scored maybe 6-8 points. Highlands had no answer for his size when he went to work. This had the feel of some of the games that SK let slip away earlier in the year so it was nice to see them finish regardless of who was or wasn't playing.

Is it as good as the Post?- not even close. In reality, for high school level sports, the Post probably had us spoiled. Is it better than it was?- Yes, have noticed the paragraph stories and more pictures. The thing that I wonder is what is the difference in the size of the staff dedicated to the publications. With the Post, Terry B appeared to be the main reporter. The Enquirer has Ryan Ernst and uses several "contributors" whose names get attached to the articles- Bond, Mulcahey etc. Maybe I am wrong but on the surface, the Post appeared to have less resources than the Enquirer but the Post coverage was much better. Does anyone know if Ryan Ernst has any assignment other than Northern Kentucky Sports? I wonder if that is a full time or part-time position? Maybe the Enquirer really doesn’t have as many resources dedicated. By the way, I really miss the stat leaders. The discombobulated stats that they publish on Fridays really doesn’t tell much and it appears several schools are missing.

That is definitely a rather strange bracket. I would have to say the favorite to win the region will come from the HC/NCC game tonight. I predict the winner of this game wins it all. Prior to the Cundiff injury, I would have said NCC. With some of the athletes that HC has, I give them a good chance. The Enquirer has reported a couple of times (including today) that Cundiff injured her ankle in the SK game last week.

SK should win by a pretty good margin- I say 18. I really thought their inside game really struggled last night. The perimeter game is what preserved the win against Conner- especially Ponzer's defense down the stretch.

Wow, sounds like a tight game. For SK that is the kind of score that gets you ready for districts and regional.

Wow, can't remember last time SK was in a game where there were 145 points scored.

Picture 1- Here's what she looks like and she is good as evidenced by hardware in hand. Picture 2- Bad uniforms on a solid team.

Does ugly mean tempo was fast? Anyone have the score?

I agree that it should be a good game. However, I would also add that in the one game that I did see SK this year (Boone County) they were most successful when they were pushing the ball and Tolliver converted lay-ups. I say SK comes out on top.

Good high school game. It was rough inside. I hope the one kid from Dixie is alright as he took quite a fall on his head. Likewise, Barnes fell really hard on his back in the fourth quarter as well but was able to return. Lots of jabbing by both teams going on if you looked close. Like stated, both teams didn't leave with anything in the tank. Several kids stepped up when they needed to deliver; I liked the guard play of SK tonight, especially defensively. Dixie made a lot of turnovers on the perimeter throwing the ball to nobody.

I didn't think SK really looked that good for the first 2 1/2 quarters. In fact, they trailed by 4 a minute into the second half by 32-28 and the game was actually tied at 28 at half. They got the ball into Magley the first half but got transition baskets in the second half as the press picked up in its intensity. They certainly did go on a tear from there as the final indicates. Getting cleared to play and being ready play are two differnet things. He didn't look that bad during warm-ups but needs to get back to game strength.

The run was actually more in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. The SK team did look scared to death. They jacked up airballs, missed open shots and threw the ball all over the court. Give Boone credit for nice agressive defense but... SK seemed to get things together and ultimately led by like 5 with 2:30 to go. Then SK got scared to death again and handed the game over. It is easy to play relaxed when you are playing teams you should beat easily but a challenge when you are playing better competition and that's when this team struggles. The regional tournament thing was mentioned earlier in this thread but how about this move last night. The coach yanked a girl out of the game and then wouldn't let her sit in the open seat towards the top of the bench. He escorted her to the end of the bench and made her sit there. I felt really bad for the kid.

It seems to me that SK doesn't have a lot of problems beating the teams they should- like Walton. I am going with SK 62-36. Probably a different topic but in the games against better competition, the team seems to play more out of fear and from pressure and that is where they seem to struggle.

I am not sure I followed all that. However, if I am not mistaken, those same coaches were good enough to have won back to back state titles. I understand the one ball that scored took a strange bounce. When you get down, you have to try different things. Somtimes, it is better to have fresh legs even if they haven't played a lot in a particular year. Anybody have a guess where NDA plays next?

According to KHSAA website, NDA won 1-0. I don't understand why the regional games are played at different sites, especially out of state as already indicated.

This is an interesting string of events; father just offered the job last week (not sure if has accepted from what has been written), it is one of those opportunities that knock but the family is still comparing costs of living to apparently wherever they are coming from and they don't even know what neighborhoods are available in the area. With all that being said, the family/player wants to attend Conner and there is discussion in this thread about her eligibility. Maybe it is just me but it all seems kind of strange, almost a cart and horse kind of thing. If I were to uproot my family and move to a different area of the state for a "better job opportunity", I would likely not narrow my choice down to one neighborhood in a community but would look around the entire community; i.e. in Northern Kentucky you have Hebron, Florence, Walton, Alexandria, Independence etc. You can get from anywhere to everywhere in Northern Kentucky in 20 minutes. Not saying this is the case here, but I am always amazed at the stories you hear where a parent wanting a player to go to a certain school to be on a team precipitates some of these moves. It seems like every year some athlete's family moves so they can be closer to work, better opportunity for education opportunities etc. Amazing

Several pics at http://www.skpioneers.blogspot.com/

Wow, the only thing I can say is what a gutsy performance by the SK kids. The Enquirer sure gave them no chance this morning: "Ryle and Boone County appear to be the class of Northern Kentucky's Class 6A field, followed by a fairly sizable gap. Simon Kenton and Campbell County are on the other side of that gap. This game could show how big the gap between second and third is." I guess someone forgot to tell the SK kids that effort and heart can overcome perceived gaps. Congrats!

I guess if it depends if you consider the 3 spot a guard. In the games I have seen her, most of her points came from slashing through the lane or off put-backs. I haven't seen either of her coaches really use her at the point and I am not sure if her outside shot is good enough to be considered a 2 guard. Back to the other question about guards... Gray is the best. She has shooting range well beyond the three line and can create so much with her dribble. When she doesn't score, someone usually does as a result from her ability to drive the basketball. SK probably has the best point and 2 guard combination in the region with Tolliver and Conley. They have both been in the varsity ranks since early middle school. One of their strongest points is they can both play either position. SK also uses one of the Figgins twins at the 2 when she isn't playing the three. Their offensive sets with the high number of threes jacked up is probably more of a three guard system.

How did their varsity team fare against Boone and SK?