Green County @ Bardstown 12-21-07

By Chris Gregory, Fifth Region Correspondent

I went over to Bardstown Friday night to watch Green County and Bardstown. I had to see Green County because they've been shocking teams left and right. The Dragons rolled into the contest with a 5-1 record, their only loss to last year's Fifth Region champs, Adair County (Adair County had no seniors on last season's team).

This was my first trip to Bardstown High School. Fans of old gymnasiums would love this one. Championship banners from all sports hang everywhere under a ceiling that has been repaired many times. You get the picture. That gym is old.

Bardstown did something I have never seen before. They came out of the locker room with towels rolled up, and they ran around the gym throwing them into the crowd. They should've saved the money and bought a new sound system. The music was so loud that half the gym held their ears. An older lady sitting next to me said her ears were going to bleed. The public address announcer was female and she called the game play-by-play like she was at the Owensboro Dust Bowl.

A lot of Fifth Region fans had Green County penciled into their top five, but the Dragons ran into a buzz saw tonight. Bardstown is a long and lanky team that pushes the ball as much as they can. Green came ready to play -- for a quarter -- and were up 16-13, but that's the best they could do.

Green started packing it in because they were getting beat down low, so they switched up from a 2-1-2 to a 2-3 zone. That's something I haven't seen in a long time, the old 2-3 zone. Offensively, Green is not that pretty, but they find a way to score. They are a scrappy bunch. They were able to break Bardstown's press with football passes down the court for layups. But, Bardstown led at the half, 32-27.

I guess Bardstown's coach, Gary Goode, got into his team at the half because they came out like a team on a mission to start the third quarter. They had a little extra pep in their step, and they forced Green County's coach, Toby Curry, to call a timeout just 90 seconds into the half. After the timeout, Bardstown shocked me with a 1-2-2 zone. They were going way back. I was waiting for the teams to start shooting granny-style free throws and jumping the ball up after every made basket. I was confused because Bardstown had no one in foul trouble. They confused the Dragons, and it was all Bardstown from there. The Tigers led 53-37 at the end of three.

I never got any rosters, and I couldn't understand the PA announcer. A Bardstown player was having a whale of a game. I think his name is Phillips, and I apologize if I have it wrong (editor: don't worry, they have no roster on their website, either).

Bardstown was just too good, and Green made too many mistakes. They played out of control at times, missed easy shots, and got frustrated. I found out after the game that Green was without their best player, who suffered a knee injury. I don't think that would've made much difference.

Bardstown won in a blowout, 81-55.

OBSERVATIONS

Boo Who? I was disappointed that among all the old photos and other memorabilia that Bardstown has no photographs of my friend Boo Brewer. Boo coaches at LaRue County. C'mon, show some love for Boo.

Great Gym; Bad Atmosphere: It was a great trip to a great old gym, and I took my daughter along with me. They've got to ditch that awful PA announcer. Thankfully, the gym is too small to host a Regional Tournament, the PA could get very nerve racking.

Seven For Seven: Bardstown is seven games into the season, and they have seven victories. They are going to be in the mix for the regional crown, and they could take an All "A" Championship.