Monday, March 10, 2008
Game One: Bowling Green 57 - Russell County 48
Semifinal
A lot of people I talk to think that Bowling Green likes to run and gun on the basketball court. I've never found that to be the case this season. Most of Bowling Green's I've watched have been low scoring affairs. I find this to be true: as goes the Purples' defense so goes the Purples. If they play tough defense, they can dictate the tempo and control the game. If they get lazy on the defensive end, they struggle and usually lose.
Monday night, I saw a little of both of Bowling Green tonight. Their defense came in flashes, but it was never quite enough to finish off the Lakers until the late in the game.
Bowling Green and Russell County seem to be on the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of style of play. Bowling Green attacks the basket and looks to slash into the lane to create offense. Russell County is methodical. Bowling Green is athletic while Russell County depends on fundamental basketball to get them through a game. I always love to see these two kinds of teams square off against one another, especially when advancing in a regional tournament is at stake.
Russell County made it to the semifinals last season and met their end against Warren Central. The steady play and experience of players like Bryon Ellis, Bryson McFall, and Timmy Coffey made the Lakers a tough opponent, especially for a Jekyll and Hyde team like the Purples.
Bowling Green pressed and played man-to-man throughout the ballgame, but the Lakers kept finding ways through the pressure. They're also good at drawing fouls.
D.L. Moore never made his athletic ability an issue for the Lakers until later in the game. He wasn't getting rebounds and he wasn't working for his shots. It doesn't matter if Lebron James laces up against the Russell County brand of Lakers, he's going to have to work for his shots. Their zone defense has no holes in it, and they collapse on the ball like a Las Vegas hotel that's outlived its usefulness.
Russell County outplayed the Purples in the first half and took a 24-22 lead to the break.
The two teams played even in the third quarter, each scoring 14 points.
They played back-and-forth to open the fourth quarter, but I noticed that Russell County showed signs of fatigue. Bowling Green Coach D.G. Sherrill shuttled players in and out of the ballgame so much that my head was spinning, but the Lakers didn't have as many bodies to throw out on the court.
The Purples controlled the fourth quarter, outscoring Russell County 21-10. They advanced to the regional final with a 57-48 victory.
Tevin Barksdale was Player of the Game and had 16 points. Billey "Lando" Williams had 14 points and Jarren Nixon had 11.
For the Lakers, Bryon Ellis had 16 points, and this kid would not back down. He really earned my admiration in this game, this tournament, and even from last year's tournament.
OBSERVATIONS
Bowling Green Fan Support: Quicksand offers better support. The Purps has some great fans, and I don't want to bust on the ones who show up for the games. There were very few students there tonight. I've seen more student support at a chess club match. Greenwood will have 30 times the number of students at tomorrow's championship game than Bowling Green.
March Madness: I was watching games on the court. I was trying to catch parts of the Middle Tennessee-South Alabama game on the televisions in Diddle Arena. It's just not enough to keep up with one or two or three games on a March evening. It's Kentucky's Mardis Gras! I can't imagine not keeping up with basketball in March.
Armies of Cheerleaders: My gosh! When I was in high school, Male High had six or seven cheerleaders. Now, schools have scads of them. Between games tonight at Diddle Arena the four schools had about 30 cheerleaders a piece trying to get out of or get into the end zones at the arena. I read where every fifth person in the world is Chinese, but I'm starting to think that every fourth person in the world is a cheerleader.
That reminds me of a funny cheerleader story. At Male High, our cheerleaders did this cheer on the court in which they shouted, WE ARE...MALE BULLDOGS! Just think about that a second and listen to it in your head. I always laughed out loud.
Game Two: Greenwood 67 - Barren County 65
A few more broken hearts went into the asphalt for the Road to Rupp on Monday night. These hearts were from Barren County, and either Bowling Green or Greenwood will drive right over those broken hearts on I-65 when their bus trucks them up to Lexington.
Greenwood pounced on Barren County early. They played tenacious man-to-man defense and kept constant pressure on the ball. They took a commanding 9-2 lead on Barren County, but the Trojans made a run of their own, and all was not lost. Greenwood had a 15-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
From there, Barren County outplayed the Gators through most of the rest of the game. Although Lee Hubbard was scoreless in the first quarter, he strapped his Trojan teammates to his back and carried them through the second quarter, scoring 12 of Barren County's 17 points in the frame. Greenwood held on to a 30-27 lead at halftime. Mark Lacy, who doesn't look to score a lot of points for the Gators, led the Greenwood scoring with a 11 first half points.
The second half made for a classic basketball game. Both teams went after each other with the tenacity that is only reserved for post season play. I'd have to say that Monday's semifinal game was the best game I've seen all season.
It resulted in a heart breaker for Barren County, though. I felt like they outplayed Greenwood through most of the game. They outscored them in the second and third quarters and built a 65-60 lead with just a couple of minutes left in the game. They quit attacking the basket, though, and seemed like they wanted to put it in the deep freeze. That's a dangerous decision against Greenwood because the Gators are so very quick. Mark Lacy and Austin Reed (Thing 1 and Thing 2) are too quick and too well equipped to always have to pass back to the point against them. Not only are they quick, but they have great leaping ability. One would think it would be easy to throw over them, but that is a terribly wrong assumption.
Greenwood went after the Trojans like a wicked band of Spartans. Barren County's five point lead evaporated, and their hope of advancing to take on Bowling Green evaporated. Greenwood bookended the game with a first quarter flurry and a fourth quarter rally and won, 67-65.
Mark Lacy was Player of the Game and scored 22 points while dealing out six assists. J.J. Smith added 13 points along with Dee Anderson.
OBSERVATIONS
Lee Hubbard Fan Club: Count me as a member. Hubbard scored 22 points on Monday night and grabbed nine rebounds. This guy would be a steal for Campbellsville or Lindsey Wilson. I could see him getting significant minutes for the Austin Peays of the world. At the end of each Barren County game, teammates, opponents, cheerleaders, coaches, equipment managers, and whoever kneel at the jump circle and Lee leads them in a prayer. I've enjoyed watching him play.
The Joint Was Jumpin: The Barren County fans and the Greenwood fans are great. They are loud, too. My ears are still ringing after tonight's ballgame.
Ben Hubbard Update: Regular Pick and Roll readers will recall my report on Barren County's Ben Hubbard hitting his head on the court and walking around in a daze afterward. It was a scary moment. He played tonight, and when Dee Anderson fouled him on a layup, he made the shot. The Barren County fans gave him a standing ovation.
Fourth Region Tournament: The folks that put this thing together do a fantastic job. It's great basketball in a great venue and a lot of great people doing a lot of hard work. I'm always sad to see it shut down and tomorrow will be the championship between Bowling Green and Greenwood.
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