Citizens First Holiday Classic @ Bowling Green High School

Hazel Green (Ala.) vs. Barren County 12-21-07

The first quarter of the championship match up between Hazel Green and Barren County was a defensive stalemate. Heck, the entire game was kind of that way. Both teams are very well coached and terribly patient, so they produced one of the fastest basketball games I've been too in a long time. Tournament officials started the consolation game between Greenwood and Bowling Green early so that it would be over before they finished the championship game. That wasn't the case.

Hazel Green's coach, Greg Watson, is young and has a quiet intensity about him. He also commands the respect of his players. After a blown play in the first quarter, he started busting the chops of one his guards. The kid mouthed back to him, and Coach Watson snapped back, "shut up and execute!" I didn't hear the kid say another word the rest of the game. My hunch is that he would've become familiar with the bench if he did.

The score was tied six all at the end of the first quarter and was only 20-18, Hazel Green's advantage, at halftime.

I should point out that Hazel Green is a small town just a few miles south of the Tennessee line in Alabama. I haven't measured it out, but I'm willing to bet that they had fewer miles to travel than the team from our own Pineville.

Hazel Green has a set play for every possession. The coaches call it out to them when they cross the mid-court stripe. They execute plays with precision, and they play a tough 2-3 zone with the guards matching up at the top of it. The players keep their arms up on defense, too, without having to be told.

Barren County is a good team, though. Steve Riley is a good coach. They were not going to let a team from Alabama sneak into Bowling Green and take home a trophy. Barren is very patient on the offensive end, and they started attacking HG's tricky match up zone. They penetrated with passes and penetrated with with the dribble through the top and the base of the zone.

Lee Hubbard, Barren's 6'1" senior forward, started making plays along the baseline against Hazel Green, and he started drawing fouls off of their interior players. Hubbard is a good ballplayer and has a good sense of when to and when not to force the ball into the lane. Matt Riley's heady play and ball handling kept Barren County in the game.

Hazel Green still had the advantage at the end of the third quarter, 31-28. I thought that maybe Barren County didn't have what it took to get over the hump, and that they would stay within striking distance and never overcome the Alabamians' athletic ability.

Barren County took over in the fourth quarter. It looked like Hazel Green didn't have any legs left after playing several games over the course of three days. Barren started the final frame with a quick 5-0 run that gave them the lead, 33-31.

Hazel Green scored only six points in the fourth quarter while Barren County managed 14. Steve Riley's squad prevailed, 42-37.

OBSERVATIONS

Fourth Region March Preview?: Greenwood beat Bowling Green 67-61 in the consolation game of the tournament. That means three of the four trophy winners were from the Fourth Region.

Strange Fan Club: I'm making myself president of the J.D. Strange Fan Club. It's for the Pineville coach. I watched the second half of the Pineville-Todd County Central game. The Mountain Lions had a 27 point lead on TCC, and Coach Strange called a timeout because his team was not playing very well. He sat his players down on the bench, looked out over his half glasses, and asked, "are you boys worried about your Christmas shopping?"

Was I in Troy?: Friday's championship game featured the Barren County Trojans against the Hazel Green Trojans. I was waiting for someone to wheel a wooden horse into Bowling Green's gymnasium.

Great Big Ole Girls: Bowling Green's gymnasium has a banner that puzzles me. It's for a cheerleading championship and it reads "CHAMPIONS: Large Coed Division." I laugh every time I read it. I've always heard girls from Warren East say that Bowling Green girls were cows, but now even the Purples are saying it. Champions? Did they win an eating contest?

All Tournament Team:

J.D. Strange, Pineville
Travis Johnston, Grayson County
Daniel Linder, Central Hardin
Jarren Nixon, Bowling Green
Dee Anderson, Greenwood
Kyle Burwell, Hazel Green
James Humphrey, Hazel Green
Blake Crabtree, Barren County
Matt Riley, Barren County
Lee Hubbard, Barren County

They didn't name an MVP. My vote would've been for Barren County's Lee Hubbard.