HOOPSNUT

That is the seventh time in 10 games the Lady Crusaders have held an opponent under 40 points. 37 is right on their season average. It probably wasn't pretty to watch, but a win is a win, particularly in a tournament such as the Titans Christmas Clash.

Abby scored her 1000th point in the 1st quarter of Saturday's victory over Holy Cross. Heading into tonight's game against Lloyd, she has 1010 points in her career.

From the KHSAA scoreboard. Don't know much about Conner this year, but I do know victories over Conner have been extremely scarce for the Lady Crusaders in the last several years.

I think a lot of other pepople thought the same thing. The Lady Cru followed a terrible first quarter with a horrific second quarter. Anytime Abby Janszen has four more fouls than points at the half, it's going to be a long night. The Pandas were really clicking in the first half. St. Henry looked tight from the opening tip and Notre Dame took full advantage.

All in all a very good night for the Lady Cru. They get an easy win, no one gets hurt and a few players score their first varsity baskets. Back to work on Saturday as The Pandas come calling. It should be a great game.

Sounds like they may have used the same defensive game plan as last season - surround Tibbs with 3 players and dare the other ones to beat you?

Per KHSAA scoreboard. Any details?

If you find yourself on the East side of Cincinnati, checkout Butterbee's Neighborhood Grille. They have two locations: Beechmont & I-275 (at Mt. Carmel-Tobasco) and Mt. Orab (just south of the new Kroger Marketplace store). The burgers are absolutely tremendous. They are served with Saratoga chips. The portions are extremely generous. If you find yourself in the Mt. Carmel area, don't forget about the Roy Rogers restaurant. It's the only one left in the area. You can't beat a Double-R burger.

Well, for starters they need to win two games in the 9th Region tournament, instead of one game as they've done the past two seasons. Provided that everyone is healthy, they have a legitimate chance to do just that this year. This year will also be the first time in many,many years that they have a legitmate shot to win the 9th Region All A title. NCC will definitely be the favorite, Holy Cross should be much improved, but St. Henry deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. St. Henry and NCC play each other in the opening round, so one of them will be sent home early. St. Henry returns a solid nucleus in Abby Janszen, Taylor Gamm and Shannon O'Daniel. Jessica Knaley will most likely take one other starting post spot with a another guard most likely to grab the final starting spot. Their top 6-7 all played significant varsity minutes last season. They will have some decent height in the post positions and should be pretty deep at the guard position. They will lose some quickness this year, but their ball handling, while not really a weakness last year, should be improved. They should be a pretty decent shooting team this year. I would also expect them to be a strong rebounding team as well. Janszen and Knaley are both capable of averaging double figures in rebounds. If Abby Janszen's leg recovers 100%, she is capable of averaging a double/double in points & rebounds. I believe she's already had a couple triple/doubles (steals) in her career. All in all, it should be another excellent year for Lady Crusaders basketball. They will once again play a challenging schedule with the likes of Boone, Ryle, NCC, NDA, Highlands, Scott, Lexington Christian Academy, Assumption and a return trip to the Mercer Co. Titan Christmas Classic. The 34th District should be interesting as Dixie and Ludlow should be improved, Lloyd will still be very young and it will be interesting to see how Villa responds to the graduation of their talented senior class.

The Huey Lewis cover of "But it's Alright", originally done by J.J. Jackson.

I'm hoping for Mich. St. and WVU to advance with State to cut down the nets.

I thought it was a classy move by referee Jim Burr to seek Vaughn out when he came out of the game. He made sure he shook his hand. I haven't seen too many referees do that and I thought it was true sign of respect for Deonta Vaughn.

What an abysmal performance by UC. 6-31 from 3 point range (pretty typical). Outrebounded by 8. Gave up nine 3's by Dayton in the 1st half. Yancy Gates once again looked like he didn't want to be there tonight. Not sure how many seats were sold tonight, but it appeared that UD brought at least 2000 fans tonight. I'd hate to be in UC's marketing department and have to come up with a marketing slogan for next year's team. They can't shoot the ball, they don't pass the ball, their style of play is extremely boring and people have lost faith in their coach. What do you sell next year?

While Sandlin did a great job on Jump, I thought the turning point in the game was when Crittendon exited due to foul trouble with about 6 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. Up until that point, Moss had not been much of a factor in the game. Once Crittendon went out, Boone did the smart thing and made sure Moss touched the ball on every offensive possession. As a result, Moss scored all 9 of Boone's points in the quarter and brought them back from a five point deficit. If Crittendon doesn't pick up the second foul, I think Ryle would have extended their lead because Boone was not hitting anything from the outside and Moss had not been getting many touches.

Boone has won this year on their home floor, on Ryle's home floor, and I believe they will beat them today on a neutral floor. I think Boone wins 49-42.

Congrats to the Lady Cru for an excellent effort last night. I knew they would give Ryle fits. More than anything else, I think the Lady Cru's execution was the reason Ryle was not at the top of their game last night. Abby Janszen worked tirelessly guarding Crittendon. Unfortunately, her foul trouble made it necessary for her to be a little more passive in the 4th quarter and Crittendon took advantage. Taylor Gamm played an incredible game last night. I thought Lauren Spencer & Jessica Knaley gave very solid minutes in the post. I believe the last four games have been Taylor's best stretch as a Crusader. She single handedly kept the Lady Cru in the game in the first quarter until her teammates were able to get into the flow of the game. She made very smart decisions and maintained her poise throughout the entire game. For Ryle, thank goodness they were hitting three's, because without those them, St. Henry probably wins going away. Crittendon's three with about 3 minutes to go was unbelievably clutch. Jump does a good job of getting off her shot with little separation from the defender. Not much creativity in their offense, but when you have talents like Crittendon and Jump, you can make that work. Congrats to Coach Coburn and the Crusaders on another great season. Thanks to the seniors for their leadership. The future looks bright for St. Henry girls basketball.

The Lady Cru will make this a much better game than most people think. They played earlier in the year and I was told it was a 4-5 point game mid/late 3rd quarter and then the wheels came off for St. Henry. If St. Henry can keep the score under 55 I like their chances (Ryle scored 74 in the first game). They need to avoid the one bad quarter that tends to haunt them against the better opponents. They need to trust each other and play as one cohesive unit on Friday. If they start the game against Ryle like they started last night against HC, it will be over early. If they can stay even with Ryle (or grab a lead) after the first quarter, I think it's going to be a ball game. St. Henry is a decided underdog in this game, but I believe they will have a solid game plan and they will be ready to play. They didn't rollover against NCC in last year's semi-final and they're not going to rollover this year against Ryle.

Very good all around game by Taylor Gamm. Another great shooting night by Shannon O'Daniel. Gamm's drives to the basket got the Lady Cru jump started in the second quarter. O'Daniel's back to back threes to open the 3rd quarter buried HC. St. Henry was up 27-19 at the half and opened the 3rd quarter by scoring the first 7 points of the quarter. Overall a very sold performance for the Lady Cru, but they'll definitely need to raise their level of play on Friday against Ryle. De'Asia Beal had a very good game for HC. She knocked down four NBA range 3's. Hard to believe she still has three years of high school ball left.

St. Henry has won the first two meetings and should take the third. It won't be anywhere near the 30 point margin they enjoyed back in the All A. I'm going to go with a 45-35 final score. I don't think the St. Henry press will bother HC as much on the larger floor, but I still think theyll do a good job of neutralizing Beal and Julian.

I like Notre Dame in this one. I think Villa's lack of depth, combined with playing on a bigger floor will be a factor. I think Ammerman is the key for NDA. If she can shoot over the zone, Villa may have to come out of the zone sooner than desired. I look for NDA to make this full court game and wear them down. I see the Pandas pulling away in the 4th for an 8-10 point win.

I hope you're right. They can't afford to fall behind like they did earlier this month. If they move the ball like they did tonight, I think they'll be alright. It's amazing how much better a team shoots when they move the ball to get the defense out of position and are actually able to shoot with their shoulders squared up to the rim.

I believe she wound up with 12, but she earned everyone of them. St. Henry shadowed her from end to end, occasionally running at her with a double team. Her shot release is extremely quick and very accurate. When St. Henry left her a little room, she knocked down the shot. She plays very hard on both ends of the floor.

Final from Erlanger. The Lady Cru shot and passed the ball very well tonight. Shannon O'Daniel was lights out hitting four 3's. Taylor Gamm played a very complete floor game. The Lady Cru placed 11 players in the box score tonight. It should be a good one against Villa on Friday night. Dixie has a young team (2 seniors) and should be much improved next year. Hartfiel is a tremendous player. She reminds me a little of Kevin Grevey with her left handed release and her shooting range.

Notre Dame performed the same random act of kindness last night for the St. Henry seniors. Very classy act indeed.

I would have to say that St. Henry somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Notre Dame only had three brief leads during the game (probably not totaling more than 60 combined seconds) but obviously the most important one was the final score. In fact their largest lead of the game occurred with Schilling's rebound and follow. St. Henry lead by 10 at one point in the 2nd quarter, and by nine at one point in the 3rd quarter. The three shots NDA made to close out the 1st half (Voskuhl's 3), the 3rd quarter (Clark's running 10 footer) and Schilling's game winner with 9 seconds left were all huge shots. Props to NDA for making the plays that needed to be made. St. Henry's two turnovers in the last 45 seconds were pivotal.