Citizens First Holiday Classic @ Bowling Green High School

Madisonville North Hopkins vs. Grayson County 12-21-07

Life is full of tough decisions, and my basketball life has tough decisions, too. This afternoon I had to decide between watching Owensboro play Central Hardin in the arena at Bowling Green High or Madisonville-North Hopkins play Grayson County in the auxiliary gym at BGHS. I chose to watch the latter. I had seen Owensboro and Central Hardin play the day before.

Plus, I wanted to see the Maroons' 6'7" junior, Jon Hood, play I had seen WKU's assistant coach, Cypheus Bunton, talking to Hood a lot, and I heard that other coaches were in to see him. I wanted to see what the kid had. However, in an earlier game, he knocked his head on the floor and got a concussion. He sat out of the game against Grayson County. I was a little disappointed, and I almost walked back to the main gym to watch Central Hardin play again.

I'm glad I didn't. I've become a big fan of Grayson County. I really like to watch these kids play basketball. In an earlier post I speculated that Travis Johnston was the son of Cougar head coach Todd Johnston. I was wrong, but I was almost right, too. One of the Pick and Roll's readers commented in that post that Travis is the coach's nephew. Well, I certainly appreciate being straightened out on that fact.

Madisonville's team was taller than Grayson County but not as strong. The Cougars are a deceiving team because everyone looks at their height -- or lack of it -- and thinks they are a push over. They couldn't be any more wrong. Grayson County is well coached, well conditioned, and very strong. Throughout Friday afternoon's game, they pushed and out-muscled the Maroons on very nearly every possession.

Madisonville is everything Grayson County isn't. They are tall, thin, impatient, and disorganized on the offensive end of the floor. They share one similarity with Grayson County; they play good defense.

I don't need to belabor any points about the first half of the game. Grayson County controlled it by playing very good 2-3 and match up zone. They are good at showing one defense and playing the other. The Cougars are very well coached. They led 19-9 at the end of the first quarter and led 36-26 at the end of the half.

I've also become a big fan of Travis Johnston. He's a player's player. He's the guy a coach wants on his team. Teams need players like Johnston. Travis Johnston is the kid who gets overlooked when choosing up sides when playing pickup ball, and he makes the team who didn't pick him first wish they did. If he's your opponent, he's the guy you want to hate but can't.

Johnston has a great game sense. In the second half one of his teammates dribbled into a trap deep in the Cougars' corner. Johnston darted through the traffic on the floor and went right to the one spot where he could receive a pass out of the trap. A fellow fan sitting with me said, "you just can't coach that stuff."

Someone pointed out to me that Johnston is just a sophomore. Holy smoke! Third Region opponents will be sick of him by the time he graduates from GCHS. I'd have to say that Johnston and Greenwood's Dee Anderson are the best sophomores in this year's Holiday Classic. Both made the All-Tournament Team.

North Hopkins has some very good athletes. I thought that Darnell Moore, a 6'7" senior post player would be the one to step up in the absence of Jon Hood, who, I was told, scores about 40 percent of the Maroons' points. He played a good game, but he was not a force on the basketball court like he should have been playing a team whose tallest player was 6'3". It seemed to me that the kid lacked vertical leap.

The Maroons got a lift from a senior guard named Shane Davis. He hit some big shots for them down the stretch, and he kept Grayson County off balance with good jump-stop shooting and drives to the basket. Caleb Nelson, another senior, stepped up for the team from "The Best Town on Earth." During the first half I said, "he's the best player they've got." A lady sitting next to me said, "he's already passed his career high." She should've known, too, because she was the his mother.

Nelson played a very good game. I don't now how many points he had, but he played the post in North Hopkins' 2-3, and he knew what to do with the ball on the offensive end. He's also plays in their defensive backfield during the football season. He fouled out in impressive fashion when he put a wicked football style hit on one of Grayson County's guards. Even his parents laughed at the hit and said that he was playing the wrong sport for a moment.

The Maroons made a run at Grayson County in the fourth quarter, but they never could get over the hump. They play way too selfish to win a game against a patient, ball control squad like Grayson County. The Cougars prevailed 69-62.

OBSERVATIONS

That's What I Call Home Cookin: After Darnell Moore sank the front end of a one-and-one the lady sitting next to me shouted "if you hit this one, I'll cook you supper." He missed. Too bad, Darnell. I guess you'll just have to hit the Ferrell's on Main Street.

Is That A Dozen Or Just A Couple?: Travis Johnston wears #12 for the Cougars. North Hopkins' guard inadvertently hit Johnston in the nose with his arm or elbow, and it gave Johnston a bloody nose. His coach (and uncle) took him out of the game to patch him up. He came back in, but a referee noticed blood on his uniform. They had to take him out of the game. A trainer trotted him back to the locker room, and a minute later one of their reserve players ran back there, too. In a flash, Johnston came out wearing #2 and the reserve was wearing #12. I wasn't sure if that was allowed, but no one said anything about it. No matter how Grayson County packages Travis Johnston, he's still good.

Offense Oh-ffense: I never saw MNH run an offense. They have no cohesiveness on that end of the court. It was almost painful to watch, especially because Grayson County is good at disrupting offenses.