Mayfield 62 - Ballard Memorial 55

Third District Semi-finals, Graves County High School, Mayfield, Kentucky 02-25-08

They call Ballard Memorial "The Bombers," which is one of my favorite nicknames in high school basketball. They often use a B-17 in their log, although the forces of political correctness have probably made them use it less and less. I was once told that they picked up the name "Bombers" because so many people in Ballard County worked at the Kentucky Munitions Plant where they made trinitrotolune (TNT) for bombs used in World War II.

On Tuesday night Ballard Memorial were bombers more in the sense of the movie "Ishtar." They weren't bombers. They weren't "da bomb." They were just a bomb.

During warmups, Mayfield went through drills and excercises like they were on a mission. Ballard Memorial's players stood around and chatted and took short shots right around the rim. They reminded me of my cronies and me when we were shooting around at the goal in Lyndon Baptist Church's parking lot. Fans would've never known that their season had the chance to end with this game. The players may have looked upon it as a mercy killing. They last tasted victory on January 5th when they flogged Community Christian (Paducah) 53-42.

Bombers playing Christians. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something humorous about that.

I saw Mayfield play on January 15th when they lost a tight one to Carlisle County, 67-65.

Ballard Memorial opened the game with a 2-3 zone, which appeared to be designed to contain Mayfield's Tony Hockett. Hockett could get around anyone on the Bombers squad, and he is very good around the basket. At first, Mayfield seemed reluctant to attack the zone, and it worked at containing Hockett.

Mayfield, however, started pressing Ballard Memorial and forced some turnovers. The Cardinals woke up after Xavier Shelton, a 6'1" sophomore made the nastiest block I've seen this season. A Bomber moved toward the basket and tried to put up a weak running jumper. Shelton reared back and swatted the ball way out-of-bounds. He sent that Bomber down in flames.

Mayfield had a small lead, 13-9, at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Mayfield got frustrated with Ballard Memorial's persistent zone, and the Cardinals started playing sloppy. Hockett had trouble finding his way into the zone, and at one point the Bombers had pulled within two. That's when Mayfield's Colby Sanderson, a 5'11" junior, decided to bomb the bombers. He nailed back-to-back three pointers, and in a flash, the Cardinals had a 23-15 lead. Sanderson tried to connect with a third long shot, but the ball rimmed off the basket. The Mayfield fans were chanting his name.

Mayfield had a 25-19 lead at halftime.

At halftime Mayfield's Coach Chris Guhy kept the Cardinals in the lockeroom for nearly the entire half. They didn't come back out onto the court until there was 50 seconds left on the clock.

They played the third quarter like Coach Guhy blistered them during the half. I suspect they might have to re-paint one of the lockerooms at Graves County High School this week. Hockett started finding his way into the paint, and the Cardinal's press forced the Bombers to turn the ball over. They also trapped effectively when Ballard tried to set-up their half court offense.

Mayfield outscored Ballard 21-11 in the third quarter to take a commanding 46-30 lead.

I thought the game was over, and in the fourth Mayfield pushed the lead out to 19 points two different times. Ballard Memorial -- this seemingly lowly team with only two victories on the season -- were not going to let Mayfield shoot them down so easily. They made a run at the Cardinals, led by Will "I-40" Mallory, who likes to go coast-to-coast and Brandon Bellamy. Late in the game, the Bombers cut the lead to seven points, but Mayfield was able to hold on to win, 62-55.

Mayfield will take on the winner of the Graves County vs. St. Mary's game on the 26th.

OBSERVATIONS

The Eagles' Nest: Graves County gym is a fantastic facility. I don't know how many fans it seats, but it has a lot seating, including good, steep wooden bleachers in the end zones. I had a second row chair back seat for which I paid $6.00. They had pennants for every team in the First Region hanging from railing at one end of the gym. It's well lighted and looks like a good court. That means that two of the best gyms I've been in this year are in Graves County (the best gym in the state is Mayfield's dome). Who says that the Jackson Purchase is all about football?

Proud Mary: "I left a good job in the city." Mayfield's band flat out rocks, and they are tied with Allen County-Scottsville's band for the best of the season. They whipped out the Ike and Tina Turner version of Proud Mary during warmups. The funniest headline I've seen recently was "Ike beats Tina Turner to Death." Ike Turner died in 2007. Anyway, the Cardinal band is large, loud, and good. There was no canned music piped in tonight, just the Mayfield band. At halftime they played The Commodores' "Brick.....House."

Flash Gordon: Hardly. Greg Gordon, the Ballard Memorial Bombers' 5'9" junior guard has the slowest three point shot in my life. It takes him forever to set up, cock, and fire. He hit one maybe two tonight. I could time him with a sun dial.

Gimme, Oh, Gimme a Redneck Girl: I wonder if Ballard's Brandon Bellamy has a brother and if they prefer girls with their names on the backs of their belts? He's too young to be an "Old Hippie" and probably not a bird on the wing.

Flighty District: The 3rd District features the Graves County Eagles, the Mayfield Cardinals, and the Ballard Memorial Bombers (B-17) variety. St. Mary is the "Vikings." They're the only thing flightless in this district.