There's a great big question hanging over the Fourth Region this basketball season: can the Warren Central Dragons hoist the regional championship trophy for the seventh time in as many years? It pops up in nearly every discussion, and it seems to monopolize the thoughts of every basketball fan in the Fourth. Every other team in the Region is tired of Warren Central storming through games like a loose herd of wild buffalo (thank you, Billy Jo Shaver), and they are ready to do something about it.
Throughout the football season the Warren East Raiders assumed the role of Rodney Dangerfield. They got no respect. Friday night, Russell Malone's basketball squad -- replenished after the football team's heart breaker loss to Lone Oak a week before -- didn't come into the "Dragon's Lair" tugging at their ties, fidgeting, and cracking "I don't get no respect." Instead, they took the court and matched Warren Central's usual intensity with their own brand of in-your-face, don't back down basketball.
East opened with a quick 10-4 lead on Central, and they seemed unfazed by the Dragon's constant full court press, which is a trademark of Coach Tim Riley's lasting success. East's guard #23 Jordan Ellis followed the quick start with a missed dunk, but he got the ball back, stepped out and nailed a three point goal. After a Central miss, he came back down the floor and hit another three point goal. The score was 16-7 in the Raider's favor.
I knew it was going to be a wild ride. I looked for a sign cautioning pregnant women and people with heart conditions not to board.
The Dragon's weren't going to let a cross-county rival come into the Lair and bloody their noses, so Tim Riley cranked the knob of his team's press all the way to 11 and came back after East. Central runs the press so well that I love to watch them. A coach at a major state university within site of Warren Central tries to use a full court press to snare turnovers and only uses it on occasion. Tim Riley, however, uses the press the way it should be used. He uses it constantly, and he intends it to wear teams down instead of popping a turnover every now-and-then. It reminds me of when Denny Crum had his great teams at Louisville, and they ground teams down with constant pressure.
With the press a Tim Riley coached team is never out of the game.
At the end of the first quarter the Raiders led 22-16, but the momentum had shifted back to the home team. Both teams had large crowds in the stands, and they had the gym rocking. The mood in the bleachers matched the mood on the hardwood. Forget Billy Jo Shaver songs, someone needed to que up The Troggs. "Wild thing, you make everything groovy."
I guess the game was too entertaining. Maybe the crowd was too loud. The officials turned the second quarter into a zebra fest. Perhaps they decided they wanted to be part of the show or they got tired of running up and down the court so much. They started whistling every touch, every hand check, and then if two players touched the ball at the same time, they knew there had to be a foul.
It was awful. They turned a wide open basketball game into a free throw shooting contest. The officials blew so many whistles that I thought I was in Havana and Fidel Castro had died.
The Warren East crowd thought they were getting the short end of the stick on the calls, but I must point out that several of their players were on the football field the week before. It's hard to make the transition from the turf to the maple wood in just seven days. I remember one year when traditional football powerhouse Mayfield played their first basketball game. They committed 37 fouls in a 32 minute basketball game. Warren East may have had the same problem in Friday's game.
Central's press and pressure was the other story for the second quarter. They climbed back into the game and had the lead at halftime, 35-34. The highlight of the quarter for the Raiders was DeAngelo Kirk's 23 foot three pointer that kept his team's momentum going.
At the half, I thought that Warren East had made their statement. They are a for real team in the 14th District and in the Fourth Region, but I thought that they could never match Central in the second half. East's hot shooting guard, Ellis, was saddled with four fouls, and a whole raft of them had three fouls after the officials decided to be part of the show.
A point down, Warren East opened the second half with a flurry and took a 45-37 lead on their hosts. Of course, Central came back with two huge plays by freshman George Fant, but everyone started to catch a sniff of upset in the air, including Russell Malone. He was after his players to keep up their intensity, and he even signaled to the throng of Raider supporters in the stands to clap and cheer. He knew his team had a shot at upending the six-in-row Fourth Region champs.
At the end of the third quarter, Central's Stephen Irvin committed a boneheaded move. Right in front of a whistle happy official, who was part of a crew handing out technical fouls like party favors, he slammed the ball down and let it bounce way up in the air. The official proudly signaled "T" and East got to end the quarter with two made free throws, making the score 55-49 in favor of the visitors.
Central wasn't going to go away, however. They never do. They can amp up their press at anytime and turn any team's legs to spaghetti -- over-cooked spaghetti. With 4:33 left in the game, the Dragons had a 59-56 lead over East, and it felt like the momentum had shifted to the home team's bench. East had lost two of its starters to foul trouble, and I no longer sniffed the scent of upset.
I was wrong, though. East wasn't backing down, and they regained the lead on a huge three pointer with 3:45 left.
With time running out and the score knotted at 68-68, freshman George Fant got the ball on the baseline with no one around him. He jumped up and put the ball on the rim, and it rolled off into the hands of a Raider rebounder. The "Wild Thing" game was headed for overtime.
Warren East did it. They took control of the extra period and prevailed 81-75. Throughout the game the Warren Central students chanted "WE CAN'T HEAR YOU" whenever their team got the lead. As the clock ran out on the overtime the East faithful answered with their own "WE CAN'T HEAR YOU."
I'm willing to bet that the Fourth Region heard the Raiders. Is Central's run over or will Tim Riley put together another team that will prevail at Diddle Arena in March? I think the Fourth Region is ripe for the picking this season. Central is not out of it, but there are several other teams who have a shot at punching their ticket to Rupp Arena this season.
OBSERVATIONS
Fant of Heart: Don't bet on it. George Fant is going to be a very good basketball player. It's a given that he is well coached, and he seems to respond to his coaching. He's got good hands and a soft shot. As he matures, he should become more aggressive about taking the ball to the rack. He'll be fun to watch develop this season and the next three.
Hometown Proud?: Throughout the game, Warren Central's PA announcer reported the score of Bowling Green's bid to be 5A football state champs. Fans from both sides of the court cheered loudly at the news of Highland's domination of the Purples. I hear that Bowling Green is going to change their name to the "Bills."
Two Games in Two Nights: I made it to the Bowling Green-UHA game on Thursday and the East-Central game on Friday. That won't happen very often because the Pick and Roll budget is in the tens of dollars and it's rolling stock is a fourteen year old pickup truck.
Throughout the football season the Warren East Raiders assumed the role of Rodney Dangerfield. They got no respect. Friday night, Russell Malone's basketball squad -- replenished after the football team's heart breaker loss to Lone Oak a week before -- didn't come into the "Dragon's Lair" tugging at their ties, fidgeting, and cracking "I don't get no respect." Instead, they took the court and matched Warren Central's usual intensity with their own brand of in-your-face, don't back down basketball.
East opened with a quick 10-4 lead on Central, and they seemed unfazed by the Dragon's constant full court press, which is a trademark of Coach Tim Riley's lasting success. East's guard #23 Jordan Ellis followed the quick start with a missed dunk, but he got the ball back, stepped out and nailed a three point goal. After a Central miss, he came back down the floor and hit another three point goal. The score was 16-7 in the Raider's favor.
I knew it was going to be a wild ride. I looked for a sign cautioning pregnant women and people with heart conditions not to board.
The Dragon's weren't going to let a cross-county rival come into the Lair and bloody their noses, so Tim Riley cranked the knob of his team's press all the way to 11 and came back after East. Central runs the press so well that I love to watch them. A coach at a major state university within site of Warren Central tries to use a full court press to snare turnovers and only uses it on occasion. Tim Riley, however, uses the press the way it should be used. He uses it constantly, and he intends it to wear teams down instead of popping a turnover every now-and-then. It reminds me of when Denny Crum had his great teams at Louisville, and they ground teams down with constant pressure.
With the press a Tim Riley coached team is never out of the game.
At the end of the first quarter the Raiders led 22-16, but the momentum had shifted back to the home team. Both teams had large crowds in the stands, and they had the gym rocking. The mood in the bleachers matched the mood on the hardwood. Forget Billy Jo Shaver songs, someone needed to que up The Troggs. "Wild thing, you make everything groovy."
I guess the game was too entertaining. Maybe the crowd was too loud. The officials turned the second quarter into a zebra fest. Perhaps they decided they wanted to be part of the show or they got tired of running up and down the court so much. They started whistling every touch, every hand check, and then if two players touched the ball at the same time, they knew there had to be a foul.
It was awful. They turned a wide open basketball game into a free throw shooting contest. The officials blew so many whistles that I thought I was in Havana and Fidel Castro had died.
The Warren East crowd thought they were getting the short end of the stick on the calls, but I must point out that several of their players were on the football field the week before. It's hard to make the transition from the turf to the maple wood in just seven days. I remember one year when traditional football powerhouse Mayfield played their first basketball game. They committed 37 fouls in a 32 minute basketball game. Warren East may have had the same problem in Friday's game.
Central's press and pressure was the other story for the second quarter. They climbed back into the game and had the lead at halftime, 35-34. The highlight of the quarter for the Raiders was DeAngelo Kirk's 23 foot three pointer that kept his team's momentum going.
At the half, I thought that Warren East had made their statement. They are a for real team in the 14th District and in the Fourth Region, but I thought that they could never match Central in the second half. East's hot shooting guard, Ellis, was saddled with four fouls, and a whole raft of them had three fouls after the officials decided to be part of the show.
A point down, Warren East opened the second half with a flurry and took a 45-37 lead on their hosts. Of course, Central came back with two huge plays by freshman George Fant, but everyone started to catch a sniff of upset in the air, including Russell Malone. He was after his players to keep up their intensity, and he even signaled to the throng of Raider supporters in the stands to clap and cheer. He knew his team had a shot at upending the six-in-row Fourth Region champs.
At the end of the third quarter, Central's Stephen Irvin committed a boneheaded move. Right in front of a whistle happy official, who was part of a crew handing out technical fouls like party favors, he slammed the ball down and let it bounce way up in the air. The official proudly signaled "T" and East got to end the quarter with two made free throws, making the score 55-49 in favor of the visitors.
Central wasn't going to go away, however. They never do. They can amp up their press at anytime and turn any team's legs to spaghetti -- over-cooked spaghetti. With 4:33 left in the game, the Dragons had a 59-56 lead over East, and it felt like the momentum had shifted to the home team's bench. East had lost two of its starters to foul trouble, and I no longer sniffed the scent of upset.
I was wrong, though. East wasn't backing down, and they regained the lead on a huge three pointer with 3:45 left.
With time running out and the score knotted at 68-68, freshman George Fant got the ball on the baseline with no one around him. He jumped up and put the ball on the rim, and it rolled off into the hands of a Raider rebounder. The "Wild Thing" game was headed for overtime.
Warren East did it. They took control of the extra period and prevailed 81-75. Throughout the game the Warren Central students chanted "WE CAN'T HEAR YOU" whenever their team got the lead. As the clock ran out on the overtime the East faithful answered with their own "WE CAN'T HEAR YOU."
I'm willing to bet that the Fourth Region heard the Raiders. Is Central's run over or will Tim Riley put together another team that will prevail at Diddle Arena in March? I think the Fourth Region is ripe for the picking this season. Central is not out of it, but there are several other teams who have a shot at punching their ticket to Rupp Arena this season.
OBSERVATIONS
Fant of Heart: Don't bet on it. George Fant is going to be a very good basketball player. It's a given that he is well coached, and he seems to respond to his coaching. He's got good hands and a soft shot. As he matures, he should become more aggressive about taking the ball to the rack. He'll be fun to watch develop this season and the next three.
Hometown Proud?: Throughout the game, Warren Central's PA announcer reported the score of Bowling Green's bid to be 5A football state champs. Fans from both sides of the court cheered loudly at the news of Highland's domination of the Purples. I hear that Bowling Green is going to change their name to the "Bills."
Two Games in Two Nights: I made it to the Bowling Green-UHA game on Thursday and the East-Central game on Friday. That won't happen very often because the Pick and Roll budget is in the tens of dollars and it's rolling stock is a fourteen year old pickup truck.
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