Muhlenberg North 54 - Muhlenberg South 50

Muhlenberg South High School, Greenville, Kentucky, 01-08-08

I decided to step out of the Fourth Region again tonight and attend a sweet rivalry game between to cross-county rivals up in the land of thumb-picking guitar players. Ah, yes, Eddie Pennington playing "Cannonball Rag" is almost a soundtrack for traveling through Muhlenberg towns and communities like Greenville, Powderly, South Carrollton, and -- my favorite -- Browder. I know a man who lives about a mile down the road from Browder, and he calls it "Outer Browder."

My wife had a meeting tonight, so when I decided to go to this game it was with the understanding that I would have our four year old and eight year old in tow with me. Traveling with these two is like a tour of bathrooms where ever we go. Whatever they drink goes right through them. It's kind of like me putting motor oil through the engine of my 14 year old pickup truck. It goes in the top of the engine and drains through seals at the bottom. As we were trucking between Rochester and Browder, my eight year old informed me that she had to use the bathroom. She fidgeted as I negotiated the twists and turns of KY 70 through a pitch black night and a driving rainstorm.

She sighed relief when we swung into the parking lot of Muhlenberg South's parking lot. I did too.

There was a big crowd on hand, and the gymnasium was nearly full when we got our tickets and inched our way to the bathroom and eventually to our seats. We were ready for the Suns and the Stars, even though rain clouds sped over Muhlenberg County Tuesday night.

The Suns jumped out to a quick 13-4 lead over their favored rivals. The Stars twinkled into this contest with a 12-2 season record and an unblemished record of 4-0 in the Third Region. Their only losses were against a ranked Louisville Eastern club and Siegel in Tennessee. South, on the other hand, was 6-8 overall and 3-4 in the Third. I was a little surprised at the early run the Suns put on North.

Neither team was shy about launching long range jump shots from nearly anywhere on the court. They launched so many scuds I started looking for Iraqi air force uniforms and national news correspondents wearing gas masks. I'm willing to bet that they caused air raid sirens to sound in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during the first quarter of the game. They were almost as accurate as Iraqis in the Persian Gulf War, too.

I feared for the rims and backboards at South's gym. At the end of the first quarter, the home team had a 17-13 lead.

For the South Suns, a freshman named Michael Civils ran the offense. He was cool and collected on the court, and I would've never guessed him to be a frosh until I found a crumpled up program after the game. He handled the ball well, and he had a good first step to the basket.

A couple of players for the North Stars caught my eye in the first half. Their center, Tommy Oates and a forward/guard named Erin Morris. I'm not sure about his name because I couldn't hear the public address very well, but I know his last name is Morris. He wear #12. Oates, knows how to use his body when he receives the ball on the post, and Morris is a good shooter and drives the lane well. Morris needs to learn to follow his shot instead of posing at the end of his follow-through.

The Suns took a 27-24 lead into halftime, but I knew they would have a tough time holding on to the lead after the break.

After the half, Muhlenberg North opened with a different approach on the offensive end. Instead, of launching scuds and waiting to see if Stone Phillips had to scurry for cover, they attacked the basket. They had a big size advantage on the South, and they decided to use it in the third. Oates got some buckets down low, and Morris, who looks to be about 6'3" took the shorter defenders into the paint.

The Stars outdid the Suns 16-8 in the third quarter and took 40-35 lead.

I thought that South might be done at this point in the game. They had no inside game and depended on the Iraqi air force -- Logan Diedrich and Matt Wolfe -- to try and save their upset bid. Diedrich, who has a quick move into the lane, gave up on that in the second half and only tried to shoot over North's defenders. When he shoots, he launches rainmakers that hit an apex about 10 feet above the rim and zip through the nets.

In fact, one of Diedrich's rainbow shots pulled south within four points, but North hit their free throws and continued to execute their inside game in the fourth quarter. Despite outscoring North 15-14 in the final frame, it wasn't enough to win. It should be noted that South outscored North in three of the four quarters, but the third quarter was what did them in on Tuesday.

North prevailed 54-50.

OBSERVATIONS

Scaramouche: Muhlenberg South's band rocks. I didn't follow their play list in the pre-game because I was worried about getting kids to the bathroom and getting to our seats. In the second half, though, they played "Back in Black" by AC/DC, which no doubt was done to emphasize that black is one of the school colors along with red and yellow. They also played Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." I've never heard a high school band tackle that one until Tuesday night. They did a good job. Can they do the fandango? Galileo magnifico! Bismillah!

Zebra Sparking: I've heard Third Region fans complain that the officials are too nice to Steve Sparks. I'll have to admit that they seemed to be rather chummy on Tuesday night. Maybe Sparks can mouth off to Billy Packer during an important game. Wait! Wrong Sparks. At times I thought I was watching an "eharmony" commercial when one official kept yucking it up with Coach Sparks.

What The Heck?: I noticed Muhlenberg North's students wearing camouflage t-shirts that read "Gitcha Sum..." I just can't even take a guess. I'm afraid to.

Lake Muhlenberg: If anyone attends a game at Muhlenberg South on a rainy night, beware of the part of their parking lot that doubles as a lake. It rained a lot Tuesday night. If it weren't for the parking lot holding water, Drakesboro would be flooded tonight. I thought I was going to have to put red and green outboard lights on my vehicle.