Bowling Green 64 - Christian Brothers (TN) 59

Auxillary Gym, Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

I'm getting too old to sit on bleachers for consecutive games. My back is aching tonight. I had another tough decision in the night cap at the Citizens First Bank Classic. Franklin-Simpson took on Mason County in the big gym while Bowling Green took on Christian Brothers High School from Memphis, Tennessee.

Everybody made some really bad assumptions about this team from Memphis. Because they are named Christian Brothers, everyone assumed that they were a religious academy with a weak team. Nothing could be farther from the truth. These guys had some good size and several good basketball players, and they gave the Purples everything they had.

Christian Brothers took an early lead on Bowling Green, and finished the first quarter with an 11-9 lead. The Purples fought back and had a 30-24 lead at halftime.

These two teams were a lot of fun to watch tonight because both like to push the ball up the court and attack the basket. A kid named Booher for Christian Brothers really caught my eye. I apologize for not having his first name because I never bought a program, and I couldn't hear his name when he went to the foul stripe. The kid is a good player and is unafraid to take the ball to the hoop. He had an impressive driving dunk in the second half with a couple of Purples in hot pursuit.

Bowling Green played sloppy during long stretches of the game. I find it amazing how some teams that press a lot hate to face pressure. You'd think they'd be used to it from practice, but sometimes it doesn't translate. The Purples don't like to be pressed, and they start playing frantically to get the ball up the court. They make bad passes compounded by bad decisions. I think they spend too much time looking for Behanan, and they need to relax and push the ball up the court and not worry where their star is.

DJ Ray does a good job with this, and he handles the ball well for a lanky guy. Ray has a quick move to the basket and has learned to take advantage of defenses sagging on Behanan. He's a good, smart ballplayer. Plus, Bowling Green is a young team this year. Ray along with Tommy Boyce and Joey "Gotta Getta" Gorman are the only seniors. They lost seven from last year's team.

I don't have the stats, but Chane Behanan was effective tonight. I understand he had a miserable game against Franklin-Simpson last week. What impressed me is that Behanan had a lot of blocked shots against Christian Brothers tonight. That's good defense.

Bowling Green grew a 13 point lead in the second half, but Christian Brothers came back and made it a game late, led by the Booher kid. He's a tough ballplayer, and I think he caught everyone's attention tonight. Late in the game, Brothers' point guard let DJ Ray get around him, which resulted in them picking up a foul in the paint. Booher didn't hesitate to let the point guard know that it was his job to keep players from slashing into the paint. That's good stuff.

Bowling Green hung on to win 64-59. The Purples are now 5-1 with a loss to Franklin-Simpson.

OBSERVATIONS

Fant-ing Spell: I saw George Fant at the Bowling Green game. He sat with the Kindred brothers from Metcalfe County. That's a lot of big fellows sitting in the bleachers. I can't wait for him and Behanan to go head-to-head this season...and next season.

Royals and Wildcats: I missed a good game between Mason County and Franklin-Simpson. The final was 52-50 with Mason County prevailing. That's a tough loss for the Wildcats. I think it's great that Bowling Green has two gyms and can have simultaneous games, but I always sense that I'm missing something big in whatever gym I'm not in. I was hoping for a Fourth Region sweep tonight.

Metcalfe County 50 - Adair County 47

Auxillary Gym, Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

The Citizens First Bank Classic at the Purple Palace in Bowling Green always leaves me having to make tough decisions. When I got there tonight Greenwood was taking on Louisville DeSales in the main gym while Metcalfe and Adair tangled in the purple and gold box that is known as the auxillary gym.

I figured that I'll have many opportunities to see Greenwood, who is playing better than any team in the Fourth Region at the time, so I opted to see the Hornets and the Indians play. Plus, I wanted to see Grant and Russell Kindred play for Metcalfe.

I was a little shocked when I went into the gym because the Hornets were tricked out in blue and white uniforms. I've always seen them wear the maroon ones, and for a second I thought I had stumbled into the wrong game.

There's no love lost between these two programs. Although they are in different regions, they are geographic neighbors, and in Kentucky basketball proximity usually results in animosity. It's a good matchup to see in December.

I got to the game a little late because I couldn't pull away from watching Greenwood. When I got there Adair County had a three point lead and Metcalfe picked up their game a bit and wrestled the lead away from the Indians. The two teams sort of swapped baskets throughout the first half.

I really like the Kindred brothers. These two juniors have beefed up a little and have learned well from Coach Tim McMurtrey how to patrol the paint and how to open themselves up for passes to the lane. They know how to use their bodies and both have good hands and good sense on the court. They run the high-low post real well, and Adair County had no one who could keep them from getting the ball on either post. They keep the ball high and throw the ball high. It's really fun to watch them.

The Fourth Region is loaded with a lot of good players this season, and most of them are big fellows, too. There's exceptions like Cameron Hall at Glasgow and Dee Anderson at Greenwood, but Chane Behanan, George Fant, and Kindred brothers. There's too many good teams to catch this season, and I expect whatever team prevails in the Fourth to do some damage in Lexington in March. Everyone in the Fourth needs to watch out for the Hornets this season. They are well coached, have good interior size and play, and guards who can handle the ball well.

Metcalfe County pushed their lead out to nine points a couple of different times in the second half but couldn't hold the Indians off. Adair closed late in the game, and Metcalfe gave them every opportunity to win it. Adair couldn't hit their shots as time ran out and lost 50-47. Their record drops to 3-4, while Metcalfe moves to 5-2 on the season.

OBSERVATIONS

Tim McMurtrey Flexibility Excercises: I don't know how old Coach McMurtrey is, but he is good at crouching down as low to the court as anyone could expect to. I don't know how he does it. If I crouched down as low as he does, my knees would snap. It's impessive.

Twin Towers?: Is it still o.k. to reference the Twin Towers when talking about two tall players on the same team? I thought about that tonight watching the Kindreds play ball. I started thinking about the World Trade Center and that awful day and became reluctant to refer to the two players by that nickname. I finally decided that the term would honor both the World Trade Center and the Kindreds. I think we can be proud of both...or is that all four?

Fudge at Christmas: Considering what an effective coach Mark Fudge is, opponents don't want that Fudge at the Holidays.

Bowling Green 72 - Glasgow 67

Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

If it wasn't so cold outside tonight, I'd swear it was March. The game at the Purple Palace in Bowling Green had a post season feel to it because two of the best teams and two of the best players in the Fourth Region went head-to-head. After the ballgame I went home and watched the Hilltoppers down the 24th ranked Vanderbilt Commodores, a game that also had a March Madness air to it.

I love it. It's like Christmas in December. Wait. Christmas IS in December. My co-hort, Chris Gregory, and I always say that the Sweet Sixteen is like our Christmas.

Glasgow is good. I just want to get that out of the way because everybody keeps talking about Warren Central and Bowling Green and Russellville and Franklin-Simpson being the best teams in the region, but a good discussion has to include the Scotties. They have a lot of tools at their disposal, including Cameron Hall, who is one of the best dead-eye shooters I've seen in awhile. The Purples learned early that token defense on this kid is not going to get the job done. A hand in his face is not enough to distract him from sending the ball straight through the net. I'm not sure any defense can stop him. He can shoot square to the basket, and he can shoot off balance. I believe that Hall could shoot the ball while he was strapped to the floor and blind-folded.

Glasgow also has Dean Glass, who is a deadly outside shooter, and Kerrington and Michael Bradley. Kerrington has a good soft mid-range baseline jump shot that is difficult to defend.

The Scotties jumped out to an early lead on Bowling Green, but never led by more than six or eight points at any point in the ballgame. They made it through the first quarter with a 16-15 lead on the Purples, but D.G. Sherrill's squad was making a run at them late in the quarter.

These two teams like to push the ball up the court. Bowling Green uses a cast of characters to push the ball, led by Tommy Boyce, Darius Clement, and D.J. Ray. Glasgow depends heavily on Hall, who has great skill at moving the basketball against any amount of pressure. He's a heady ballplayer, a trait he has inherited or absorbed from his father Jeff Hall, who was a crowd favorite during his days playing for Denny Crum at UofL. Jeff Hall is also the Scotties' coach, and he has Glasgow playing championship contender quality basketball.

Bowling Green has Chane Behanan. He's a 6'7" 225 pound junior who is blessed with multiple skills on the basketball court. The term gets useda lot, so I'm reluctant to write it, but Behanan is a man among boys on the high school court. He's big and quick and strong and smart and is going to be a major force in the Fourth Region. He's got good moves around the basket, and when he learns how to use his strength to his advantage, there's not many players in the region or the state, for that matter, who will be able to stop him.

I apologize for not having any stats on the game, and I'd hate to guess how many points Behanan had in the first half, but he got into the flow of the game and made a lot of big baskets in the second quarter.

Bowling Green took a 36-35 lead to the break.

It was a real treat to watch this game because both teams are good and have good players. Hall and Behanan are going to get a lot of press, but these are complete teams in many ways. Bowling Green is a little thin on experience, with only three seniors this season.

Both teams played a fantastic third quarter. They had big plays and big shots, and the Purples still clung to a one point lead, 56-55 at the end of the quarter.

I don't usually complain about officiating, but the officiating crew at Bowling Green tonight needs to learn that teams like Bowling Green and Glasgow are going to get physical. They're going to play in a big danged hurry, too. At the start of the third quarter, one official started calling a foul on every bit of contact he saw between the players. It was awful. In three minutes, he whistled five fouls. That's one referee. He should've been escorted off the court for committing such an abomination in such a intense, wonderful basketball game.

I don't pay money to see referees.

In the fourth quarter, the Scotties looked like they were running out of gas. Heck, both teams looked a little spent. These two teams seemed capable of mixing a fast paced game with a physical one. Play got a little sloppy, but D.G. Sherrill can go deep down his bench and still get good minutes out of reserves.

Bowling Green outlasted the Scotties, 72-67. It was a hard fought game for early December. I believe it was a preview for a March matchup at Diddle Arena.

I get giddy thinking about how good the Fourth Region is this season.

OBSERVATIONS

Fourth Region Banner: Before the game the Purples hoisted a new banner proclaiming their 2009 Fourth Region Championship. It was good to see some of the players from last year's team on the court because those guys played hard every game last season. It's too bad the officials screwed them out of beating Lex. Cath in the first round. Tevin had his feet planted...

Do Not Taunt: This should be a warning to Fourth Region basketball fans -- do not taunt Chane Behanan. It doesn't do any good. The Glasgow students chanted "OVERRATED" as Behanan shot free throws in the first quarter. He missed them, but then he went on a tear and made several baskets while grabbing some huge rebounds. He's not "OVERRATED." Trust me. Guys like Behanan don't even hear that stuff. If they do, they find a way to make the other team pay for it.

Big Doins at the Dragon Den: Warren Central hosts a big shootout on Saturday December 12th. Lots a of good teams. Hopefully, Christmas shopping won't get in the way and I can catch a couple of games.