Elizabethtown 52 - Shelby County 43

Elizabethtown High School, Elizabethtown, Kentucky 02-15-08

It was a "throw-back" trip for me on Friday night. I lived in Shelbyville from 1995 to 2002, when I pulled up stakes and moved my family to Bowling Green. I loved Shelbyville and Shelby County. I even learned to pronounce it the correct way "Shebbuhvuhl and Shebby Cyownny." When I saw that the Rockets were venturing down to the Crossroads of Kentucky, I decided I was tired of Fourth Region games and that I would cross into Chris Gregory's turf and watch a match up between teams from the Fifth and Eighth regions.

It brought back some great memories of my days living in the Eighth Region. My first real taste of basketball up there came one morning while I was getting my hair cut in Greg Tipton's barbershop. Greg and his customers got into a heated discussion about Toyota recruiting players for Scott County High School, which had up-ended Shelby County's long reign in that region. It was great to find a great barber and a place where people liked to talk high school hoops, even if they were a little jealous of Scott County. They called them "Team Toyota."

If I had any concept of "blogging," I would've started the Pick and Roll during my days in Shelbyville because I was a regular at Shelby County games and never missed the Eighth Region tournament at Henry County High School. It was a great gym full of a lot of great fans and a lot of great basketball.

I loved seeing the Rockets take the court tonight. It was great to see these two programs, both rich in tradition. Shelby County has two state championships (1966 and 1978), and Elizabethtown won it in 2000. Between them, they have been to 21 Sweet Sixteen Tournaments. Plus, they share the same colors, blue and gold.

During warm ups, Elizabethtown's band played "The Time Warp," and it seemed that way. It could've been 1996 or 1997 all over again, except that a kid like Alex Matthews, who plays for the Rockets, was a just a little boy in those days. Gosh! I was kind of hoping that I could spend Saturday morning in Tipton's barbershop griping about the officiating and whining about Scott County kicking everybody's butts.

Shelby County started the game absolutely ice cold, and they looked more like a fizzy pop than a fire blazing rocket. Elizabethtown's 2-1-2 zone (talk about a "Time Warp.") befuddled the Rockets, and they fell behind 8-1. It seemed like it was forever before Shelby County broke the ice, but they finally did Johnson's free throw. Mike Clark called a timeout and worked a little "Rocket science" and put them on the right trajectory. At the end of the first quarter, Tim Sanford hit a three that put Shelby County within one, 11-10.

Shelby County seemed to take control of things in the second quarter. They moved the ball around the 2-1-2 zone by hitting the high post and letting him distribute the ball back to the perimeter. Alex Matthews also made some sharp interior passes that kept the Panthers' defenders one step behind the ball. The Rockets took a 22-20 lead to the locker room at halftime, and I thought that Shelby County would find their orbit in the second half and splashdown a victory.

I was wrong. It's why I don't pretend to be a pundit, and it's one of many reasons why I don't gamble.

In the second half, E-town showed patience on the offensive end and continued to play a very active zone defense. Sean Bouthelette, which translates to English as "defense destroyer," and Chris "Go-Go" Gohman started hitting shots and making passes to break down Shelby County's defense. It seemed that the Rockets had no answer.

It was in the third quarter that I witnessed the "Nacho Call." An Elizabethtown fan was standing near the end of the court eating nachos, and when a ball bounced out-of-bounds on that end of the court, he signaled that it was E-town's ball. I looked to me that the referee looked to the fan for the call. It was as if the fan said, "that's not-cho call."

The score was tied at 33 at the end of the third.

Shelby County fans should click HERE for my true feelings about the fourth quarter. My brother travels to South Africa on a regular basis, and he tells me that the locals there call zebras "pajama donkeys." Early in the fourth quarter I wondered if these were the same pajama donks Chris Gregory saw in Larue County the other night. In the second half, Shelby County had more than 10 fouls, and the Panthers had two.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm letting my feelings come through, but I've never pretended to be objective on this blog. Behind Male High, Shelby County is my second favorite team because I followed them closely for seven years. Plus, my nephew graduates from SCHS this spring.

Nothing against Elizabethtown because I respect their program, and I cheered for them in 2000 when Antwain Barbour and the Panthers downed Lexington Catholic for the title. I cheered very hard for them.

The Panthers defensive pressure and patient offense frustrated Shelby County, and the home team cruised to a 52-43 victory over one of the leading teams in the Eighth Region.

OBSERVATIONS

The Panthers' Den: What a great place to watch a basketball game. I really liked Charlie Rawlings Memorial Gym. It's a bit of a throwback place, and I liked that the teams sit on the bleachers right along with the fans. That can be very intimidating. They didn't blare loud music before the game or during halftime. I just wish more people were there.

Band on the Fun: I'm giving a Pennyrile Pick and Roll "Three Thumbs Up" nod to the E-town band. They played music at the right time, and they played some old classic rock n'roll numbers. When fans ponied up a buck to shoot a three point shot at halftime, the band played Billy Squier's "The Stroke." That's fantastic! But, they aren't spreadin' ear pollution far and wide, Billy.

Two F's, Two T's, and Two Guns: I noticed a banner for Steffphon Pettigrew hanging in the gym. He was Kentucky's Mr. Basketball last year, and E-town has honored him with a nice banner. I remember when Garrett Morris on Saturday Night Live imitated Ugandan dictator Idi Amin he always said, "Two A's, two D's, and one gun." I've seen Mr. Pettigrew play at WKU this season, and I can tell everyone that the young man has a healthy pair of guns. He is put together solid, and opponents are learning that the young Mr. Pettigrew can sling those guns. I'm looking forward to when Steffphon Pettigrew is a Wheel of Fortune puzzle.

Stand Up and Cheer!: I noticed E-town shares its fight song with the Hilltoppers. Being a WKU alumnus and a regular attendee of Hilltopper hoops, it's hard not to sing along with "Stand Up and Cheer," and it may have bothered some of the Shelby County fans I was sitting amongst.