*** SWEET 16 UPDATE ***
Holmes loses in the Championship game to Mason County 57-48. Congratulations to the Holmes Bulldogs for making such a great run in the Kentucky State Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament.
*** SWEET 16 UPDATE ***
Holmes defeats LexCath 57-50 to advance to the Kentucky State Sweet 16 Championship game being played Saturday night at 8:00 PM.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Tornado Delays UK's Tournament Game
And it may have cost them an NCAA tournament bid . . . some people think that b/c of Kentuckys's RPI of around 60, the Cats needed at least one SEC Tournament win to solidify a NCAA tournament bid. Well, they did not get that win as they lost in OT to Georgia 60-56. But, under the circumstances will this game be overlooked by the selection committee?
Consider this . . Georgia played Thursday night and was supposed to play again against UK the following night. Well, that doesn't happen b/c of the inclement weather in Atlanta. So, Georgia gets some extra rest and Kentucky, the only SEC team NOT to play in the tournament yet has to wait until Saturday afternoon to break a sweat in the tournament. It seems like everything that could go wrong for Kentucky this past weekend did go wrong . . 1) Their first tournament game gets postponed due to the tornado activity in Atlanta 2) The game gets moved to Saturday afternoon at Georgia Tech where only select people can attend the game, meaning the estimated 16,000 Kentucky fans would not be able to watch and cheer on the Cats at the game (and imagine how frustating this was to UK fans, not able to watch any UK games in person for this tournament) 3) They start the game off against Georgia very badly as it seemed like the previous night's events really affected them and were down by 12 at one point 4) After battling back and sending the game into OT a freshman from Georgia, Swansey, drains a three pointer with 1.2 second left to give the Bulldogs a one point lead (he had 5 points in the game, all in OT) and 5) Kentucky runs the typical base line play where they try to get the defender to charge, they execute it perfectly (Bradley does) and the ref swallows his whistle!!
So, now the Cats will have to wait until Selection Sunday to see if they make it to the Big Dance! I personally think they deserve a bid despite the Georgia loss, they were 12-4 in the conference and 10-2 in their last 12 games (before the GA loss). I know they had a loss to Gardner-Webb but how long ago was that, and some people keep bringing up that they lost to San Diego, but for those who do not know, San Diego won the WCC by beating Gonzaga, so San Diego is a good team. Kentucky was depleted earlier in the year with injuries, they started getting healty, and then started winning games. They've beat Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida, Arkansas and almost beat Miss St on the road.
As for what happened in Atlanta Saturday night . . unbelievable!! Many have talked about how the OT game b/w Miss St. and Alabama may have saved lives!! If that game had gotten over at the regular time, you would have had some fans leaving and who knows what could have happened. If you have not seen the video coverage of what happened check out the video link below. It's pretty amazing that no one was hurt during this event!!
Oh, and one more thing, the referee reponsible for not making the charging call should never be allowed to work a tournament game again! I know it's at the end of the game, and I know the play is all the way from the basket, but it's a foul, call it . . even all the ESPN analysts have been saying the same thing.
Tornado Hits the Georgia Dome during the SEC Tournament
Consider this . . Georgia played Thursday night and was supposed to play again against UK the following night. Well, that doesn't happen b/c of the inclement weather in Atlanta. So, Georgia gets some extra rest and Kentucky, the only SEC team NOT to play in the tournament yet has to wait until Saturday afternoon to break a sweat in the tournament. It seems like everything that could go wrong for Kentucky this past weekend did go wrong . . 1) Their first tournament game gets postponed due to the tornado activity in Atlanta 2) The game gets moved to Saturday afternoon at Georgia Tech where only select people can attend the game, meaning the estimated 16,000 Kentucky fans would not be able to watch and cheer on the Cats at the game (and imagine how frustating this was to UK fans, not able to watch any UK games in person for this tournament) 3) They start the game off against Georgia very badly as it seemed like the previous night's events really affected them and were down by 12 at one point 4) After battling back and sending the game into OT a freshman from Georgia, Swansey, drains a three pointer with 1.2 second left to give the Bulldogs a one point lead (he had 5 points in the game, all in OT) and 5) Kentucky runs the typical base line play where they try to get the defender to charge, they execute it perfectly (Bradley does) and the ref swallows his whistle!!
So, now the Cats will have to wait until Selection Sunday to see if they make it to the Big Dance! I personally think they deserve a bid despite the Georgia loss, they were 12-4 in the conference and 10-2 in their last 12 games (before the GA loss). I know they had a loss to Gardner-Webb but how long ago was that, and some people keep bringing up that they lost to San Diego, but for those who do not know, San Diego won the WCC by beating Gonzaga, so San Diego is a good team. Kentucky was depleted earlier in the year with injuries, they started getting healty, and then started winning games. They've beat Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida, Arkansas and almost beat Miss St on the road.
As for what happened in Atlanta Saturday night . . unbelievable!! Many have talked about how the OT game b/w Miss St. and Alabama may have saved lives!! If that game had gotten over at the regular time, you would have had some fans leaving and who knows what could have happened. If you have not seen the video coverage of what happened check out the video link below. It's pretty amazing that no one was hurt during this event!!
Oh, and one more thing, the referee reponsible for not making the charging call should never be allowed to work a tournament game again! I know it's at the end of the game, and I know the play is all the way from the basket, but it's a foul, call it . . even all the ESPN analysts have been saying the same thing.
Tornado Hits the Georgia Dome during the SEC Tournament
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
9th Region Semi-Final Holmes 70 Dixie 42
Game was over in the 2nd quarter. Jamal Riley hit four 3-pointers for the Holmes Bulldogs. Up next is CovCath for the 9th Region Championship and a chance to visit the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row.
9th Region Semi-Finals CovCath 63 St. Henry 44
CovCath pulls away at about the 5 minute mark in the 4th quarter. The Colonels jumped out to a 15-4 lead and never relinquished it. The Crusaders pulled to within 5 points at one point in the 2nd quarter. CovCath was just too much for St. Henry tonight. CovCath now awaits the winner of Dixie/Holmes.
Congrats to Conner and Simon Kenton!
The Conner (9th Region) and Simon Kenton (8th Region) girls' basketball teams won their respective Regions to move onto the Kentucky Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament.
Conner defeated Notre Dame Academy 79-64 to advance while Simon Kenton beat Anderson County 48-44.
Congratulations to the teams and good luck down state!
Conner defeated Notre Dame Academy 79-64 to advance while Simon Kenton beat Anderson County 48-44.
Congratulations to the teams and good luck down state!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Regional Tournaments Pushed Back
Since Northern Kentucky got pounded with about 12" of snow over the weekend, it has caused all the tournaments (boys and girls) to be pushed back. The girls played their Semi-Final games on Sunday and their Championship games will be played tonight, March 10, each at 7:00 PM. This is for the 8th, 9th and 10th Regions.
For the boys, the Semi-Final games have been pushed back to tomorrow, Tuesday March 11, for the 8th, 9th and 10th Regions while their Championship games will be played on Wednesday, March 12.
For the boys, the Semi-Final games have been pushed back to tomorrow, Tuesday March 11, for the 8th, 9th and 10th Regions while their Championship games will be played on Wednesday, March 12.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
CovCath Survives Highlands
This was the first time I'd seen either team in action and even though CovCath looked like the better team tonight, I believe if Highlands would have played some defense and showed some intensity they could have won.
The first half was pretty even, both teams hit some shots, both were a little sloppy on the passing, and it was even 20-20. The second half started badly for Highlands as CovCath had an early 7-0 run, which the Bluebirds couldn't respond to. With CovCath up 22-20, CovCath missed a jumper and with 2 Highlands' players going for the rebound, the ball gets knocked right to a CovCath player for an easy layup. Right afterwards, Nic Simpson gets picked on the press, the CovCath player goes in for the score and Simpson commits the foul. 27-20 CovCath, and they never looked back.
Greg McGraw of Highlands was the only reason Highlands still kept the game close. He made shots from all over the court, had a few steals and several assists. McGras finished with 25 pointes. The Highlands defense gave up way too many easy baskets. There did not seem to be any intensity of the Bluebirds' side, especially on defense. For CovCath, Luke Maile played a great game finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds. It did not seem like Highlands had any answers to Maile.
Highlands pulled to within 4 points with about 30 seconds left but CovCath scored on an easy layup with about 19 seconds to make it 58-52.
Final
CovCath 60
Highlands 56
The first half was pretty even, both teams hit some shots, both were a little sloppy on the passing, and it was even 20-20. The second half started badly for Highlands as CovCath had an early 7-0 run, which the Bluebirds couldn't respond to. With CovCath up 22-20, CovCath missed a jumper and with 2 Highlands' players going for the rebound, the ball gets knocked right to a CovCath player for an easy layup. Right afterwards, Nic Simpson gets picked on the press, the CovCath player goes in for the score and Simpson commits the foul. 27-20 CovCath, and they never looked back.
Greg McGraw of Highlands was the only reason Highlands still kept the game close. He made shots from all over the court, had a few steals and several assists. McGras finished with 25 pointes. The Highlands defense gave up way too many easy baskets. There did not seem to be any intensity of the Bluebirds' side, especially on defense. For CovCath, Luke Maile played a great game finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds. It did not seem like Highlands had any answers to Maile.
Highlands pulled to within 4 points with about 30 seconds left but CovCath scored on an easy layup with about 19 seconds to make it 58-52.
Final
CovCath 60
Highlands 56
Villa Madonna Almost Pulls Upset
I was expecting another 20+ point victory for the Crusaders, but to the surprise of myself and many others, the Blue Lightning of Villa Madonna not only made a game of this, they could have really won the game! Villa Madonna was leading by 9 points at one point in the 3rd Quarter and they kept on hitting shots. St. Henry chipped away at the lead slowly in the 4th quarter. Villa Madonna had several chances in regulation to take the lead towards the end of the game but could not capitalize.
A few observations about this game: 1) St. Henry did not come ready to play -- I've seen them play on 2 other occassions and they scrapped, they did not scrap tonight and if they want to beat CovCath they better pick their instensity up a lot! 2) Villa Madonna looked very poised and did not look like a 20 point underdog, they hit several 3 pointers and if they could have handled St. Henry's pressure in the last quarter they would have won this game!
Final / OT
St. Henry 59
Villa Madonna 56
A few observations about this game: 1) St. Henry did not come ready to play -- I've seen them play on 2 other occassions and they scrapped, they did not scrap tonight and if they want to beat CovCath they better pick their instensity up a lot! 2) Villa Madonna looked very poised and did not look like a 20 point underdog, they hit several 3 pointers and if they could have handled St. Henry's pressure in the last quarter they would have won this game!
Final / OT
St. Henry 59
Villa Madonna 56
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Holmes 72 CCH 65 (OT)
Let me start off by saying what a game! It doesn't get any better than this. The first quarter was all Arrez Henderson. The second stanza, however, was CovCath's shooting on display at it's finest. Maile hit a three, and then Shover hit back to back threes to give CovCath a six point lead. They would lead by as many as seven. They led most of the quarter until Holmes went on an 8-0 run, capped off by a Jamel Riley basket to close out the half. CCH came out in the second half firing once again on a Schmerge three and a Maile basket to give them a four point lead. However, Ricardo Johnson and the Bulldogs came storming back and would push the lead out to six before another CovCath three would cut the lead down to three to end the quarter. Holmes would extend their lead to as many as seven in the final period, before CCH's hot shooting would bring them back. Schmerge hit a big three and Shover hit two including the tying one with 20 seconds left. Maile had a huge block and Holmes never scored before time expired. Holmes was out to a four point lead before an and one three point play converted by Bondick would cut the lead back down to one with around a minute and a half remaining. Arrez Henderson then went to the line and made eight consecutive free throws to seal the deal.
A Couple Notes:
- Holmes is so much more athletic than CovCath it's mind boggling that this is even a 20 point game.
- CCH is by far the best outside shooting team in NKY right now and that will take them far in the regional tourney.
- Is it just me or does it seem that Elijah Pittman is capable of much more than what he's doing right now? He always impresses me with his drives to the basket.
- Luke Maile seemed to be the only Colonel who had a prayer of converting a basket in the paint against Holmes.
- Arrez Henderson is going to be a nice addition to a team at the next level in some capacity. He just has way too much ability to not contribute somewhere.
- Mitch Shover really impressed me during this tournament both games. He has a good shot, but most importantly he is so clutch with it.
Scoring Leaders:
Holmes- Henderson 30 Ricardo Johnson 11 (9 reb) Clark 12
CCH- Shover 20 Bondick 16 Schmerge 13
A Couple Notes:
- Holmes is so much more athletic than CovCath it's mind boggling that this is even a 20 point game.
- CCH is by far the best outside shooting team in NKY right now and that will take them far in the regional tourney.
- Is it just me or does it seem that Elijah Pittman is capable of much more than what he's doing right now? He always impresses me with his drives to the basket.
- Luke Maile seemed to be the only Colonel who had a prayer of converting a basket in the paint against Holmes.
- Arrez Henderson is going to be a nice addition to a team at the next level in some capacity. He just has way too much ability to not contribute somewhere.
- Mitch Shover really impressed me during this tournament both games. He has a good shot, but most importantly he is so clutch with it.
Scoring Leaders:
Holmes- Henderson 30 Ricardo Johnson 11 (9 reb) Clark 12
CCH- Shover 20 Bondick 16 Schmerge 13
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