Bowling Green head coach D.G. Sherrill and Citizens First Bank have done a great job putting together a very nice tournament. The Holiday Classic has the potential of being one of the state's finest holiday tournaments if the community supports it. Bowling Green High certainly has a great facility for hosting such a tournament with two gyms and ready access to the city's best hotels, restaurants, and shopping areas. I can't forget to mention D.C. Clements, who is a local State Farm Agent, Booth Fire and Safety, and Martin Automotive Group for their support the tournament.
I didn't know what to expect out of this game. I've never seen Cumberland County play basketball, and I hadn't seen Bowling Green play since it got its core of players back from the Bills...oops, I mean their football team. Both are Fourth Region teams, so they have some degree of familiarity.
When Bowling Green's starters took the court, I noticed that D.L. Moore was on the bench. Wait a second. Coach Sherrill finally has one of his best starters back in uniform -- one of the best players in the region -- and he was sitting on the bench looking like a long and tall equipment manager. I know Moore doesn't take long to make the transition from the gridiron to the hardwood, so I assumed that the coach was sending a message to his best player.
Cumberland County jumped on the Purples early in the game. Casey Richardson, the Panthers' lanky 6'5" forward, took advantage of D.L. Moore imitating Bill Keightly and got some good baskets. Shaun Wheat, a thickly built center, manhandled Bowling Green's thin inside players. I kept looking for Coach Sherrill to pull the trigger and send Moore into the game, but the coach left Moore sitting on the bench.
I'm always impressed when a coach delivers an attitude adjustment to a key player by benching him. I'm more impressed when they stick to it.
At the end of the first quarter the Panthers had a 21-18 lead over the Purples.
In the second quarter, Bowling Green punched the accelerator and came back at Cumberland County. Jarren Nixon made some big plays with several quick slashes to the basket. He's got an impressive first step on his move and handles the ball well in traffic. Jared Carpenter provided some solid shooting from the perimeter. Plus, Coach Sherrill opened the dog house's door and let D.L. Moore into the game.
Jarren Nixon gave the Purples the lead with 5:35 to go in the second quarter, but Cumberland County wasn't going to roll over and die. They battled back, and they took a one point lead, 36-35 into halftime.
Bowling Green plays good defense this season. They have a nice full court press, and they even will press a team after a missed basket. It really catches teams off guard, and it takes an athletic and smart team to be able to find a man and pressure him after a miss. They do it well. Then, they settle into a sticky half-court defense with their arms up and always disrupting the passing lanes. Teams will find it difficult to make passes to the post against the Purples unless they are playing poorly.
Bowling Green's pressure got to Cumberland County in the third quarter, even though D.L. Moore was back in the Keightly chair on the Purples' bench. Jeb Richardson and Jarren Nixon, two totally different style of players, decimated the Panthers on the offensive end. Moore got back into the game and got some key rebounds on both ends of the court. Cumberland County was only able to score 13 points in the third frame, while the Purples scored 29. Bowling Green had a commanding 15 point lead, 64-49, and was in control of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Cumberland County only scored 11 points, while the tournament's host team scored 15 more.
I think we'll see a lot of this from Bowling Green this season. Teams will not be able to withstand their constant pressure and their basket attacking offense, and they will wither. Cumberland County's by-quarter scoring went 21, 15, 13, and 11. A coach who likes to use pressure defense has to be pleased when he sees his opponent unable to match the previous quarter's scoring total.
OBSERVATIONS
Prison Tat: I still don't know the kid's name, but Cumberland County had a guy wearing uniform #44, who had an impressive pair of tattoos. He checked into the game late, and I joked that he may be their team's "enforcer." Every team needs a kid who is good for five fouls and no amount of jeering from fans, jawing from coaches, and whining from opposing players will keep him from leveling at hot shooter a couple of times. Since the kid wasn't on the roster, I thought he might be in there make Jerron Nixon think hard about his next slash to the basket. I was completely wrong, though. He was a good defensive player and was in there to let someone try to get their legs back. I still don't know his name. The tattoo on his arm is a large Christian Cross.
Wolf Creek, Dam!: The dam at Wolf Creek, which impounds Lake Cumberland, is leaking. The Corps is worried that it will fail and flood the Cumberland Valley. I have a vision of a thousand houseboats full of people from Ohio flowing through downtown Nashville. Anyway, the Panthers must feel like the dam broke and flooded them last night. Bowling Green beat them by 19 points, and Central Hardin beat them by 30, 71-41 in the nightcap game.
Maybe It Was Memphis: D.G. Sherrill's defense looks a lot like John Calipari's down in Memphis. Someone needs to check Coach Sherrill's knickknack shelf for souvenirs from Sun Records and Beal Street. We might find him in his office jamming to Pam Tillis or Tom T. Hall. "That's how I got to Memphis..."
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