Bowling Green 73- Warren Central 70

Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

I wrote a lot about this game when I got home on Friday night. I re-read it on Saturday morning and decided I didn't like it.

A teacher in high school once assigned me the task of writing a description of a painting by Monet, and I thought then that it was futile to translate a painting into words. Plus, I was looking at a reprint of the painting. Monet, along with many other artists, put a massive amount of emotion into their painting, and color re-prints of them serve them no justice. They only capture part of the feelings the artist put into the work. Then, I was charged with putting that into words. It was the equivalent of writing a book based on a cinematic masterpiece that is an original screenplay.

Years later, when I was in Washington, D.C., I had the privilege of viewing originals by Claude Monet and many other great painters at the National Gallery of Art. Wow! I didn't have a prayer as a lowly high school student trying to write a description of great painting. The texture and the direction of the brush strokes add a whole new dimension to a masterful painting that cannot be captured by a re-print or the shaky words of a stupid high school boy.

Why have I run out on this tangent? It's a basketball blog, afterall.

Friday night, at the Purple Palace in Bowling Green, this formerly stupid high school boy, who has grown up to be an equally stupid man, saw a masterpiece firsthand. I don't know if what I write here can capture the brush strokes and the emotion that was -- figuratively -- painted on the hardwood canvas of Kentucky's basketball culture.

I knew the game would be good, but I didn't know it would be as good as it was. I didn't want it to end. If they ever build a museum for high school basketball in Kentucky, a perpetual loop of Friday's game between the Dragons and the Purples should be on display, displayed with the same reverence as a piece of art.

Both teams play pedal-to-the-metal basketball. A shot clock would be pointless when these two Fourth Region titans walk out onto the court because they like to run. They like to gun. They both play good defense. They like to win. They aim at championships and not just the one handed out in Diddle Arena in March.

It was the best matchup in the Commonwealth. I scrolled through the KHSAA's website looking for results and didn't see one as exciting as the Purples and the Dragons.

Crosstown rivals: CHECK

Exciting Style: CHECK

College Prospects: CHECK, CHECK, and CHECK

Sweet Sixteen Potential: CHECK and CHECK

Intense Coaching: CHECK, CHECK

Postseason Implications: CHECK

Rabid Fans: CHECK

My family and I got to the game early, knowing that the place would be packed. It does a longtime Kentucky high school basketball fan's heart good to see a packed gymnasium on a Friday night. I was pleased to see that it was literally standing room only in one of the larger gyms in the state. Hundreds of fans lined the catwalks at either end of the Purple Palace to watch this one, and the emotion of the stands ebbed and flowed and shifted and switched just as the action on the court did the same.

The Dragons and the Purples go at one another like caged fighters fighting for their lives. In a way they are. The top seed in the district is coveted and important because the game between the middle seeds will eliminate a good team from the postseason.

Bowling Green opened with a lot of intensity and stretched out a eight or ten point lead on Warren Central. I can't remember. I made no effort to write down any notes because I didn't care too much about the details from this game.

The Dragons, as expected, fought back and tailed the Purples throughout the rest of the contest. Well, Bowling Green did open up a 13 point lead at one point in the second half. That's when George Fant and Jacob King went to work on the Purples. Fant became a beast on the interior with a couple of beautiful lob-to dunks. Warren Central never let Chane Behanan show his abilities because they keyed on him and put him at the foul stripe instead of letting him score from the floor.

In the fourth quarter, Central had the ball out under their own goal. I believe it was Jordan Shanklin who triggered a beautiful alley-oop lob to Fant, who grabbed the ball at its apex with one hand and jammed it through the rim all in one fluid motion. It was a nice play -- big time.

Central definitely keyed on Behanan, but they forgot about D.J. Ray, who is one of the most underrated players in the Fourth Region this season. Ray has got great moves to the basket and does it so smoothly that fans and players don't realize how quickly he is moving. He has a soft touch around the rim and knows how to use the glass to his advantage (a dying art in the sport). Ray pegged 25 points on the Dragons tonight and was the difference in the game. Everyone wants to talk about Behanan and Fant, but Ray played a heroic game tonight and hit some clutch baskets while Warren Central was making their signature late game run at the Purples.

Another unsung hero in this game is Brett Jackson. Jackson is the backup center for the Dragons, and he does a great job on the court because he's a cool headed young man. He made some big plays in the first half and did a good job at defending Behanan.

The Purples held on to win it 73-70.

Bowling Green is in the catbird seat for the top seed in the district, but the Purples still have to play at Greenwood and at Warren Central.

OBSERVATIONS

Band Aid: Someone must've told Bowling Green's band director that there was a football game at the high school because the band showed up. They're a great addition to a great basketball atmosphere.

Toppahs in the House: The Hilltoppers were at the Purple Palace in force last night. The entire coaching staff and I believe all the players were there. I know they're after Fant in a big way, and I'm sure that Behanan is hitting their radar screen, too. Yep! I'd like to see the two local players suiting up for the Hilltoppers. What I'd like more is for Ken McDonald to make note of the style of play he witnessed. It's much more fun to watch teams push the ball up the court instead of walking it up like they're part of a funeral procession.

I've got tickets to WKU's game on Saturday, which is good because I need some sleep. I may stay home and watch video of the Friday's game, much more entertaining.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does: I wonder who was the genius who told the Bowling Green cheerleaders to hold a practice in the main gym immediately following the biggest basketball game in the entire Commonwealth last night. They started unrolling mats and forcing hundreds of people to sides of the court and out the door. Fans from both sides were wanting to talk and visit and recount what they just saw because the game was really something to behold. Sheesh! They could've had their matts already rolled out in the auxiliary gym and hit their practice within seconds of the final buzzer. Here's the dirty secret about cheerleading: Nobody cares! Sure, their parents care. Their coach cares. A few wannabees in the crowd care. Boyfriends pretend to care.

I'm sure I'll catch some flak for that one.