By J. Trace Kirkwood
If Bowling Green Coach D.G. Sherrill changed his phone number, Blane Embry would find it. If he changed his social security number, Coach Embry would know how to work the system to come up with it. If Coach Sherrill changed his cell phone number, Embry could scan the airwaves and latch onto it and pull it from the sky.
You see Blane Embry always has Sherrill's number.
This year's Greenwood Gators seem to defy all basketball logic. They have two scorers -- Dee Anderson and Austin Disney -- but they have two guards who absolutely will not shoot the ball. I've seen them three times this year, and I'm not sure if Lane Embry and Daniel Turner CAN shoot the ball because I never see them take shots. Embry is a great ballhandler and great a cracking the full court press, and Turner can make some impressive spin moves to the basket.
Somehow, the Gators have managed to run out to a 13-4 start this season against some pretty stout competition.
For anyone who has seen the Bowling Green Purples play this season, it's easy to understand why they stand at 15-1 after last night's contest with Greenwood. Chane Behanan has made his presence felt in the Fourth Region and making himself known throughout the Commonwealth. He's gaining the attention of some fine Division I college basketball programs like Cincinnati, West Virginia, and WKU.
A lot of Division I college basketball coaches have D.G. Sherrill's number but in a totally different manner than does Blane Embry.
The Purples are not a one man show, however. Tommy Boyce is a solid point guard and is quick and knows how to use his speed to spider his way through other team's presses. D.J. Ray is a good shooter and has smooth moves to the basket. Mike Geegan and Tyson Halcomb round out a solid starting five. Scooter Hollis will prove to be one of the best athletes in the region by the time he's finished at Bowling Green High, and he is well on his way to proving it this season.
Bowling Green and Greenwood just don't matchup in my mind. Thankfully, they don't play the game on paper. It's played on hardwood, and that is why tough-minded teams like the Gators and crafty coaches like Blane Embry can surprise and scare teams like the Purples.
There's no stupid RPI to psych-out teams in high school. Thank God.
Greenwood and Bowling Green went after each other just the way I'd expect them to last night. The Gators played a high energy defense and a quick but mindful offensive attack in the half court. They stayed with the Purples, but Bowling Green used their athletic ability to pull away from Greenwood, and they went to the lockerroom at halftime with a 30-22 lead. Greenwood played gutsy, but was over-matched at times.
In the third quarter Bowling Green opened up a 15 point lead on the Gators, and I figured the mighty Purples were going to cruise through the rest of the game. Maybe they did to, which is a stupid and dangerous thing to do with a crosstown rival such as Greenwood because I've only seen them give up once. That's when Paducah Tilghman man handled them in the first round of the Sweet Sixteen.
Late in the third quarter the Gators scratched their way back into the contest through patience and the hot shooting of Austin Disney. Also, Lane Embry did a masterful job of cracking Bowling Green's press. At times, the Purples seemed to be trying to hand the game to the Gators through sloppy and careless play.
Fans must remember that both of these teams are young. Dee Anderson is the only senior in the starting five for Greenwood (I hope I'm right about that), and Bowling Green only has three seniors on its entire squad.
Greenwood closed the gap and took the lead in the fourth quarter. Bowling Green looked and acted defeated. The Purples showed a lot of poise, though. They didn't give up. They went toe-to-toe with Greenwood and wrestled the lead back from the big lizards.
It was tied at the end of regulation. Greenwood had a shot at winning it, but Daniel Turner missed a key free throw that would've given the Gators a one point lead with just seven seconds left. Bowling Green couldn't get the ball down the court to get the basket.
The lead changed hands throughout the overtime. Dee Anderson was fouled shooting a three pointer and could've tied the game to send it into another overtime. He missed all three.
There's a certain amount of irony here. I don't have any stats, but Bowling Green must have missed at least 15 free throws throughout the ballgame. Greenwood was pretty good at the line. They missed the foul shots when they really mattered, and Bowling Green's players showed some poise at the stripe late in the game, especially Behanan and Boyce. They're solid late in a game.
Bowling Green took victory and put it in the jaws of defeat and then finally snatched it out of the mouth of the Gators.
OBSERVATIONS
Tied to the Whipping Post: I'm not a coach, and I don't pretend to be. I'm just an interested fan who loves basketball, especially at the high school level. I'm still trying to figure out why Bowling Green didn't post Chane Behanan up on the much smaller lineup of Greenwood. The kid has All American talent and should be able to put someone like Cody Stumbo and Connor Raymer on the school bus and drive them all over the basketball world.
Can This Be True?: Dee Anderson was scoreless in the second half of the game? That's my tally, but I was keeping track of things in my head because in all the bother of suiting up like a danged Inuit to go to the game I figured out that I left pen and paper at home when I hit Rockingham Avenue.
Disney World: The Gators don't have to win the Super Bowl to go to Disney World. They're there every time they take the court. Austin Disney is a solid player. They should call him "Theme Park" or "The Magic Kingdom." Do I dare mention that the offbeat people in Austin, Texas, vow to "Keep Austin Weird"? "I" before "e" except after "c." Isn't THAT weird?
Band on the Run: Kudos to the Bowling Green Band for keeping their record perfect this season. I've yet to see them. I wonder if they know that there are sports other than football. It's really pathetic. It's O.K. I've heard their pep band at basketball games, and they play like and look like they have the enthusiasm of a bunch of banditos being led before a firing squad. The Purples have a great arena, a great girls team, a good boys team, and, yet, no pep band.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed: The top seed in the 14th District seems very small, but it will grow to be very large and important. If the number one seed doesn't play a depleted Warren East squad in the first round, I'll kiss the flagpole in front of the new South Warren High School on the next freezing night after the tournament.
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