Tuesday, March 10, 2008
Greenwood 57 - Bowling Green 49
Greenwood 57 - Bowling Green 49
I think most everyone that has played basketball or follows the sport understands the phrase "rubber match." It's usually used to describe the third meeting of opponents who have played twice and split the outcomes. Even though Bowling Green and Greenwood played four times this season and split them 2-2, I think Tuesday's Fourth Region championship game could be called a rubber match. It was a re-match of the 14th District Championship, which the Purples won 45-42. They played three times during the regular season, and the Gators won two of those games. The teams are fairly evenly matched.
Tuesday's championship would be a test of wills.
The two teams played evenly throughout the first half. The score was tied at 13 at the end of the first quarter. Dee Anderson seemed like he was going to do it all for the Gators with five points and four big rebounds. He was exerting himself against Bowling Green's D.L. Moore on the boards, even though Anderson is four inches shorter than the Purples' center. It was going to be a tough game.
In the second quarter, the two teams went back-and-forth with the lead. Bowling Green was able to contain Anderson, but Greenwood has a lot of tools on the offensive end of the court. Mark Lacy, Austin Reed, and J.J. Smith contributed for the Gators in the second quarter. Bowling Green, however, spread out their scoring the second and stayed with Greenwood. Charlie Williams gave the Purps the lead, 25-24, at halftime.
In the second half, Greenwood came out with the intensity on both ends of the court needed to win a regional championship. They played tough. They played to win. Bowling Green never really responded very well to the Gators' amped up play. In the third quarter, the Purples' defense was flat footed, and they slapped at the Greenwood players too much. The Gators emerged from the third with a 38-33 lead after outscoring Bowling Green 14-8 in the third.
I sensed it. Greenwood's players had an intensity that the Bowling Green's players seemed to lack. It was a honing intensity that allowed them to do everything right. Greenwood is scrappy, and they were going to fight to win the championship.
Things got a little ugly near the end of the game. Greenwood had the lead, so the Purples had to foul to get the ball back. The officials whistled them for intentional fouls on more than a couple of possessions. I have to ask this, aren't all fouls at the end of the game intentional? At least one of the calls was questionable. When Andre "Snoop" Graham fouled Mark Lacy at half court, he grabbed Lacy's uniform to keep him from falling after he fouled him. The ref called it intentional. I thought it was bogus.
I will say that Graham sort of set the tone earlier when he took a Greenwood player down onto the scorer's table. It made the officials on the ready to call the intentional foul. The calls down the stretch gave Bowling Green no chance to stop Greenwood, but, mostly, they made a difference in the final score and not the outcome.
Greenwood advances to the Sweet Sixteen with a 57-49 victory of Bowling Green. They take the season series 3-2. I missed only one of those five games. I missed the game in the Holiday Classic in December when the Gators and the Purples tangled for third place in the tournament.
D.L. Moore finished the game with 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Purples, and Jarren Nixon scored 12 points and grabbed four boards. Bowling Green shot 1-12 from behind the arc, but killed Greenwood on the boards, 38-21. They out-rebounded the Gators 19-5 on the offensive boards.
Dee Anderson was the Player of the Game, and he had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Anderson, who is a sophomore, made big plays in Tuesday's game. He had more than half of Greenwood's 21 rebounds, and he is 6'2". Mark Lacy added 14 points for the Gators, and J.J. Smith had 10.
OBSERVATIONS
A March Day: My family are Hilltopper fans. I got home from work to find my family watching the Lady Topper's down MTSU in the Sunbelt Championship game this afternoon. We picked up and went to Diddle for tonight's championship game. We came home and watched WKU's men win the Sunbelt Championship, also over MTSU, to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Folks, that's spring in Kentucky. In there somewhere, I shot baskets with my little boy.
Saying Goodbye?: I'm not ready to shut down the Pick and Roll. Next week I will be in Lexington for the Sweet Sixteen, and I will be giving updates at the end of the sessions. They won't be nearly as detailed, but I hope I can capture some of the flavor of Kentucky's Mardis Gras. Stay with me folks.
However, there are some farewells. I've enjoyed watching the Fourth Region games this season, and I've become a big fan of a lot of the players and coaches in this region. There are a lot of tough competitors in the region, and it makes me sad to see some of them go. Some I will get to see next season, but others will move on and move up. I kind of hate to see it all wind down. I'll miss spending Friday afternoon trying to figure which game I'm going to go see. I've had a blast, but it's not quite over.
Sleepy, Sleepy: the KHSAA official at tonight's championship game caught up on some much needed sleep. I saw him at the press table nodding off when they tipped it up tonight. I hope he catches up on things by reading the Pennyrile Pick and Roll.
All Tournament Team
Tim Coffey - Russell County
Rayco Bryant - Franklin-Simpson
Bryon Ellis - Russell County
Matt Riley - Barren County
Donnie Bigbee - Russellville
Bryson McFall - Russell County
Jarrett Jenkins - Greenwood
Billey Williams - Bowling Green
Tevin Barksdale - Bowling Green
Dee Anderson - Greenwood
J.J. Smith - Greenwood
Lee Hubbard - Barren County
D.L. Moore - Bowling Green
Mark Lacy - Greenwood
Tuesday's championship would be a test of wills.
The two teams played evenly throughout the first half. The score was tied at 13 at the end of the first quarter. Dee Anderson seemed like he was going to do it all for the Gators with five points and four big rebounds. He was exerting himself against Bowling Green's D.L. Moore on the boards, even though Anderson is four inches shorter than the Purples' center. It was going to be a tough game.
In the second quarter, the two teams went back-and-forth with the lead. Bowling Green was able to contain Anderson, but Greenwood has a lot of tools on the offensive end of the court. Mark Lacy, Austin Reed, and J.J. Smith contributed for the Gators in the second quarter. Bowling Green, however, spread out their scoring the second and stayed with Greenwood. Charlie Williams gave the Purps the lead, 25-24, at halftime.
In the second half, Greenwood came out with the intensity on both ends of the court needed to win a regional championship. They played tough. They played to win. Bowling Green never really responded very well to the Gators' amped up play. In the third quarter, the Purples' defense was flat footed, and they slapped at the Greenwood players too much. The Gators emerged from the third with a 38-33 lead after outscoring Bowling Green 14-8 in the third.
I sensed it. Greenwood's players had an intensity that the Bowling Green's players seemed to lack. It was a honing intensity that allowed them to do everything right. Greenwood is scrappy, and they were going to fight to win the championship.
Things got a little ugly near the end of the game. Greenwood had the lead, so the Purples had to foul to get the ball back. The officials whistled them for intentional fouls on more than a couple of possessions. I have to ask this, aren't all fouls at the end of the game intentional? At least one of the calls was questionable. When Andre "Snoop" Graham fouled Mark Lacy at half court, he grabbed Lacy's uniform to keep him from falling after he fouled him. The ref called it intentional. I thought it was bogus.
I will say that Graham sort of set the tone earlier when he took a Greenwood player down onto the scorer's table. It made the officials on the ready to call the intentional foul. The calls down the stretch gave Bowling Green no chance to stop Greenwood, but, mostly, they made a difference in the final score and not the outcome.
Greenwood advances to the Sweet Sixteen with a 57-49 victory of Bowling Green. They take the season series 3-2. I missed only one of those five games. I missed the game in the Holiday Classic in December when the Gators and the Purples tangled for third place in the tournament.
D.L. Moore finished the game with 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Purples, and Jarren Nixon scored 12 points and grabbed four boards. Bowling Green shot 1-12 from behind the arc, but killed Greenwood on the boards, 38-21. They out-rebounded the Gators 19-5 on the offensive boards.
Dee Anderson was the Player of the Game, and he had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Anderson, who is a sophomore, made big plays in Tuesday's game. He had more than half of Greenwood's 21 rebounds, and he is 6'2". Mark Lacy added 14 points for the Gators, and J.J. Smith had 10.
OBSERVATIONS
A March Day: My family are Hilltopper fans. I got home from work to find my family watching the Lady Topper's down MTSU in the Sunbelt Championship game this afternoon. We picked up and went to Diddle for tonight's championship game. We came home and watched WKU's men win the Sunbelt Championship, also over MTSU, to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Folks, that's spring in Kentucky. In there somewhere, I shot baskets with my little boy.
Saying Goodbye?: I'm not ready to shut down the Pick and Roll. Next week I will be in Lexington for the Sweet Sixteen, and I will be giving updates at the end of the sessions. They won't be nearly as detailed, but I hope I can capture some of the flavor of Kentucky's Mardis Gras. Stay with me folks.
However, there are some farewells. I've enjoyed watching the Fourth Region games this season, and I've become a big fan of a lot of the players and coaches in this region. There are a lot of tough competitors in the region, and it makes me sad to see some of them go. Some I will get to see next season, but others will move on and move up. I kind of hate to see it all wind down. I'll miss spending Friday afternoon trying to figure which game I'm going to go see. I've had a blast, but it's not quite over.
Sleepy, Sleepy: the KHSAA official at tonight's championship game caught up on some much needed sleep. I saw him at the press table nodding off when they tipped it up tonight. I hope he catches up on things by reading the Pennyrile Pick and Roll.
All Tournament Team
Tim Coffey - Russell County
Rayco Bryant - Franklin-Simpson
Bryon Ellis - Russell County
Matt Riley - Barren County
Donnie Bigbee - Russellville
Bryson McFall - Russell County
Jarrett Jenkins - Greenwood
Billey Williams - Bowling Green
Tevin Barksdale - Bowling Green
Dee Anderson - Greenwood
J.J. Smith - Greenwood
Lee Hubbard - Barren County
D.L. Moore - Bowling Green
Mark Lacy - Greenwood
2 comments:
Thank you for your commentary during the season. You have great writing ability and as a parent of a player, we appreciate you taking your time to give your opinion and analysis of the game. We have enjoyed reading your posts.
Thank you for reading. I've had an absolute blast going to and writing about the games this season. I'm going to miss it. Pennyrile Pick and Roll will definitely be back next year.
I wish I started this years ago.
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