By J. Trace Kirkwood
I made a terrible assumption at the start of the season. I assumed that Greenwood would be down this year and not a contender for the Fourth Region crown. All season I've said that teams like Bowling Green, Warren Central, Russellville, and Franklin-Simpson would control the region and that maybe a team like Glasgow could surprise those teams.
I'm starting to think that Greenwood is a contender. I'm just starting to, but I'm still kind of a skeptic.
There's a certainty about Greenwood every season: fans know what they're going to get with a Blane Embry basketball team. They are going to play good defense and make few mistakes on the offensive end. They never give up, either. Under Embry's tenure, that's what anyone can expect from the Gators from year-to-year.
The same thing can be said about the Willie Feldhaus's Russell County Lakers. Good defense? Yep! Protect the ball? Yep! Never give up? You betcha!
I always like these two teams because they are tough, so when I saw that they were hooking up in Gator Alley tonight I couldn't miss the opportunity to see them play, although the night was more suited for a polar bear instead of a Kentucky hayseed such as myself.
Coach Feldhaus had his team ready to play. Greenwood seemed flat in the first quarter. At first both teams couldn't have thrown a stone and hit the ground, but Russell County inched out to a narrow first quarter lead. Veteran players like Robbie Bell and Zach Carney led the way for the Lakers, and they did a good job of shutting down Greenwood's two key players, Dee Anderson and Austin Disney.
At the half, Russell County had a 30-21 lead and seemed to be in control of the game.
Greenwood outplayed Russell County throughout most of the second half, although the Lakers moved out to a nine point lead early in the fourth quarter. Greenwood outscored them by three points in the third quarter, narrowing the score to 38-31. Again, Anderson, who is one of the best players in the region, was instrumental in the Gators' gradual comeback in the second half. He is superb at getting to the basket on the dribble. He's good at putting the ball up in traffic and at drawing fouls.
Anderson has been one of my favorite players in the region since I first noticed him playing as a freshman. I wish he didn't mess with football because an injury cost him his sophomore year. I look at him as sort of a three year senior because of that lost year. I know he played, but he didn't play much and didn't play to his potential for a long time.
Greenwood played flat for a large portion of the game, but they finally made some big baskets down the stretch. I think Russell County started playing not to lose. I call it the prevent offense. They tried to stall the ball and run out the clock, but I think it backfired on them. They made some bad turnovers and didn't get many good looks at the basket down the stretch.
Greenwood pulled it out in the end and won 54-51.
OBSERVATIONS
Dee and Disney: Greenwood has to good players, Dee Anderson and Austin Disney. I don't see how they've picked up 13 victories. Disney is a good perimeter shooter, and as I've already stated, Anderson is a good slash and drive player (possibly the best in the Fourth). From there, though the Gators really drop off. Two of their guards are never shoot the ball. The Gators have always made me eat crow, so I might be up for a big steaming portion of it in March, but I don't see how they can contend with their lineup. I could be wrong.
Hack-a-Shag: Dee Anderson is sporting a new doo. He's always had close cropped hair, but now he's got a sort of dread-lock look. Anderson sort of struggles at the free throw line, so Russell County fouled him when they could catch him. Instead of "Hack-a-Shaq" it was Hack-a-Shag, referring to Anderson's hair. He looks good and plays better.
Lookout for the Lakers: Russell County has a lot of veteran players, and their loss tonight was just their second of the season. It's tough to play on the road in the region, so I still think they're pretty good. They always pop up at the end of the season and shock teams in March. Just ask Tim Riley and his Warren Central Dragons. They'll be at Diddle. Coach Feldhaus, I'm sure would like to have tonight's game back. It kind of got away from them.
An Early Welcome: The Pennyrile Pick and Roll looks forward to seeing games at South Warren High School next season. The Trojans? I know that "Warhawks" was one their choices for mascot, and it was the one I was pulling for as a nod to the old Westport Warhawks in Louisville when I was a kid. I was supposed to go to Westport but went to Male High instead. Also, I figured that the new high school would choose colors that were at least somewhat different from Warren Central's. Blue and silver? I thought they'd go with orange in their colors somewhere and be different from all the other schools in the region. I wonder which district they'll end up in. South Warren Warhawks would've been cool. Trojans? Not so much.
2 comments:
Thank you for the recap on all of the games, it's great to read about what's going on around the area....however, I must say I disagree with you in regards to Dee Anderson being a "3 year senior". If you recall, Dee's sophomore year was the year Greenwood went to state, and while he had more help around him then, there is no doubt Greenwood could not have made it that far without Dee that year.
Yeah, I probably overstated that about Dee. He's a great player and one of my favorites. Thanks for reading.
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