Bowling Green 81 - Townsend (TN) 54

Citizens First Classic, Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

Early in the season I'm frustrated by the lack of rosters and programs. I don't have the same access the "real media" has, so I have a tough time coming up with players names and a tougher time coming up with stats.

Hmmm. Townsend High School? I once camped near Townsend a couple of years ago. That may be all I can tell you about their basketball team. I hate that, and I refuse to identify players only by their numbers. I talked to one of the organizers of the Citizens First Classic about the lack of programs (the tournament had a good program last year) and he said, "When teams don't send me rosters, I can't put together a program."

Bowling Green and Townsend matched each other throughout the first half of the game. Townsend opened a listless, but the coach (I have no idea what his name is, but for the sake of this entry I'll call him "Bobby") blistered his team during an early timeout. He screamed, "Where's your fire?" People shifted in their seats a little and starting looking around at each other in a nervous sort of way. Somebody asked me, "Do you think he's gonna throw a chair?"

His tongue lashing worked? They picked up their defense and started executing their offense, and they made a run back at Bowling Green. The first quarter ended with the two teams tied at 17. My father would say, "Eight minutes in and nothing accomplished."

I noticed that the point guard for Townsend played in some sort of agonizing pain. I thought he had abdominal cramps from maybe eating too much Split Tree Barbecue before the game. Another soul speculated that he had a broken rib, and another thought maybe he had a broken rib. Who knows? The kid was in pain, but "Bobby" didn't take him out of the game. Maybe the kid was determined to play.

The two teams played even through the second quarter and looked like the half would end with the score tied at 34. Bowling Green got a late turnover but missed a layup as the time expired. However, one of the officials called a foul on Townsend, which allowed Bowling Green to take a 36-34 lead to the locker room.

A Townsend fan shouted at the referee, "No one would make that call in a thousand year." I thought it was a bad call, too, but our friendly Vol neighbors need to keep the football south of the border. It doesn't translate well onto the hardwood.

Bowling Green dominated the second half. Joe "Automatic" Gorman had the longshot working, and the entire Purples team had their transition game clicking. They kept stretching the lead by hitting baskets, layups, and playing tough defense. They held Townsend to five third quarter points while scoring 22. By the end of the quarter Townsend players' tongues were wagging.

Bowling Green continued their tough defense throughout the fourth quarter. D.J. Ray, Vic Smith, and Dominique Britt all played tight full court defense. Charlie Williams stayed active at the top of the 2-2-1 defense. Townsend didn't have a chance.

At one point, Townsend's coach pulled a kid out of the game, and when the kid got to the bench, he yelled, "You don't know what you're doing out there." He continued, but I don't feel like I have to transcribe the entire dialog.

The player's mother yelled from the stands, "Quit embarrassing my boy you..." Well, I have my standards on the Pick and Roll. She suggested that maybe he was a chasm full of donkeys. I will say this. The coach yelled at his players, perhaps to excess, but I never heard him use foul language. My wife always gets upset when she hears a coach yell at players. I always tell her, "It takes a thick skin to be an athlete." In my short and pathetic football career I thought a face mask was a handle for coaches to hold while they yelled at me.

I must point out that I've rarely heard James Haire at Elizabethtown yell at his players, and few could argue with his success.

I hate to do this to Joe Gorman, but the folks around the Fourth Region must learn to keep him from squaring up to the basket when he has the ball. Once his shoulders are square to the hoop he'll ring teams up every time. It's automatic.

Bowling Green won 81-54.

OBSERVATIONS

Whatever Happened to Pep Bands?: I know it's a Christmas tournament (refuse to use "holiday") and that bands won't be in attendance, but I miss the era of the pep bands. Even if the pep band is in the stands, they spend most of the time sitting there. Now, fans have to listen to horrible music played too loudly over the public address system. I know that youngster don't communicate verbally anymore, but some of us still use our voices and ears. I guess you can "txt mssg" through any amount of noise. I think at Bowling Green High they crank the loud music to force people out of the gym and to the concession stand. The years of travel have robbed me of good hearing, so when someone tries to talk to me over blaring music they sound like Charlie Brown's teacher. That's my crotchety old curmudgeon moment.

Frigid Cold: I don't know about everyone else, but I've had enough of the cold weather. I'm a native of South Florida, so I have thin blood. Christmas in Miami meant putting on t-shirts and cut-offs and playing football in the front yard with mi amigos, Jorge Gonzalez, Roberto DeLafia, Antonio Santana. I didn't know there was a world north of Lake Okeechobee and didn't realize it had to be cold to snow. That reality hit me when my family moved to Kentucky. Well, I can't find any good links to Cuban Christmas music, so I'll just link to Bing Crosby singing Mele Kalikimaka with the Andrews Sisters. I hope that will warm everyone.

Verbal Defense: Dominique Britt displayed some of the best "verbal defense" I've seen in a long time. He went started setting up a trap against a Townsend player and sounded as if he was barking at the kid. I laughed. I hear fans complain about trash talking and the like, but on the whole I think ballplayers -- of all sports -- are quiet these days. Heck, they're almost mute. We chattered all the time, especially playing baseball. Sometimes barking at an opponent can confuse them. THIS is for you Mr. Britt.