By Chris Gregory, Fifth Region Correspondent
As I was going up Dixie Highway to see John Hardin take on cross county rival North Hardin, I thought about my high school playing days. The last time I was in NH's gym was in 1990, and they were stacked. They had Jason Eututis (c.s.) and several other good players.
North Hardin is off to their best start since the 01-02 season.
I got there early, and the radio guys were nice enough to print me off the rosters for both teams. I looked it over and was shocked to see how much size both teams had. North Hardin has three guys over 6'6" and John Hardin has two. That's a lot of big guys for a couple of high school teams.
Both teams came out of the dressing rooms to the sound of Christmas music, courtesy of the North Hardin pep band. That's the way to pump up your team!
Apparently, the music got John Hardin in the Christmas spirit because they gave up a 19-5 lead to the Trojans.
I thought North Hardin was going to run away with it, but the Bulldogs bounced back in teh second quarter. They are a little down this year and didn't have the players to mount a big come back on a good team like NH. It seemed that the referees were trying to keep John Hardin from getting back into it, though.
With Desmon Bussey, John Hardin's guard, the Bulldogs pulled narrowed the gap to 11 points by halftime.
North Hardin opened the third quarter thinking they had this game wrapped up. Here come the Dawgs, though. Chris White, who is 6'4," powered an 18-7 run to close out the third quarter. It was a new game, and I could see the North Hardin faithful starting to squirm.
The John Hardin fans rose to their feet to start the fourth quarter, and the Trojan fans got up as well.
I knew that we were going to have a good finish. The Bulldogs tied the game at 44, but North Hardin was just too athletic. The prevailed 51-46.
OBSERVATIONS
Poet or President: Neither, North Hardin is a fast, atheltic team, and they can jump out of the gym. They also handle the ball well. They are led by 6'4" sophomore Roosevelt Emerson, who is probably the most talented player in the region. Again, he's only a sophomore.
Six Years Older and What Do You Get?: I'm impressed that a school that has been in existence for only six years has been able to build such a great athletic program. They have good football and basketball teams and always seem to be contenders.
Leave It to Bevars: I'm wondering if Ron Bevars may be ready to hand the reigns over to someone else. He has 688 wins and is 11-0 in regional finals (an astounding record!). He's also collected fifteen 17th District championships. He has not won a state championship, though. If everyone remembers, Laurel County's Paul Andrews snatched a championship from the Trojans in 1982 with the "Shot Heard 'Round the Commonwealth". Thursday night Bevars stayed on the bench and his assistants did a lot of the coaching.
Editor's Note: Thanks again, Chris. It seems I can't make it to a game here lately, so I really appreciate your notes from the Fifth Region. I have been on the road a lot for work, and then I spent the weekend in Nashville to see the Hilltoppers lose a heartbreaker to a football school. This week, I'm going to the Citizens First Holiday Classic at Bowling Green High School, and I might make it up to the Caveland Classic at Brownsville -- a "One Flashing Light Town." The Holiday Classic in Bowling Green features the hosting Purples, Madisonville-North Hopkins, Central Hardin, Greenwood, and the Red Devils from "Senior High" in Owensboro. It's shaping up to be one of the better Christmas time basketball tournaments in the state. Both gyms at BGHS will going full-tilt for three days.
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