Fourth Region Championship, E.A. Diddle Arena, Western Kentucky University

Tuesday, March 10, 2008

Greenwood 57 - Bowling Green 49

I think most everyone that has played basketball or follows the sport understands the phrase "rubber match." It's usually used to describe the third meeting of opponents who have played twice and split the outcomes. Even though Bowling Green and Greenwood played four times this season and split them 2-2, I think Tuesday's Fourth Region championship game could be called a rubber match. It was a re-match of the 14th District Championship, which the Purples won 45-42. They played three times during the regular season, and the Gators won two of those games. The teams are fairly evenly matched.

Tuesday's championship would be a test of wills.

The two teams played evenly throughout the first half. The score was tied at 13 at the end of the first quarter. Dee Anderson seemed like he was going to do it all for the Gators with five points and four big rebounds. He was exerting himself against Bowling Green's D.L. Moore on the boards, even though Anderson is four inches shorter than the Purples' center. It was going to be a tough game.

In the second quarter, the two teams went back-and-forth with the lead. Bowling Green was able to contain Anderson, but Greenwood has a lot of tools on the offensive end of the court. Mark Lacy, Austin Reed, and J.J. Smith contributed for the Gators in the second quarter. Bowling Green, however, spread out their scoring the second and stayed with Greenwood. Charlie Williams gave the Purps the lead, 25-24, at halftime.

In the second half, Greenwood came out with the intensity on both ends of the court needed to win a regional championship. They played tough. They played to win. Bowling Green never really responded very well to the Gators' amped up play. In the third quarter, the Purples' defense was flat footed, and they slapped at the Greenwood players too much. The Gators emerged from the third with a 38-33 lead after outscoring Bowling Green 14-8 in the third.

I sensed it. Greenwood's players had an intensity that the Bowling Green's players seemed to lack. It was a honing intensity that allowed them to do everything right. Greenwood is scrappy, and they were going to fight to win the championship.

Things got a little ugly near the end of the game. Greenwood had the lead, so the Purples had to foul to get the ball back. The officials whistled them for intentional fouls on more than a couple of possessions. I have to ask this, aren't all fouls at the end of the game intentional? At least one of the calls was questionable. When Andre "Snoop" Graham fouled Mark Lacy at half court, he grabbed Lacy's uniform to keep him from falling after he fouled him. The ref called it intentional. I thought it was bogus.

I will say that Graham sort of set the tone earlier when he took a Greenwood player down onto the scorer's table. It made the officials on the ready to call the intentional foul. The calls down the stretch gave Bowling Green no chance to stop Greenwood, but, mostly, they made a difference in the final score and not the outcome.

Greenwood advances to the Sweet Sixteen with a 57-49 victory of Bowling Green. They take the season series 3-2. I missed only one of those five games. I missed the game in the Holiday Classic in December when the Gators and the Purples tangled for third place in the tournament.

D.L. Moore finished the game with 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Purples, and Jarren Nixon scored 12 points and grabbed four boards. Bowling Green shot 1-12 from behind the arc, but killed Greenwood on the boards, 38-21. They out-rebounded the Gators 19-5 on the offensive boards.

Dee Anderson was the Player of the Game, and he had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Anderson, who is a sophomore, made big plays in Tuesday's game. He had more than half of Greenwood's 21 rebounds, and he is 6'2". Mark Lacy added 14 points for the Gators, and J.J. Smith had 10.

OBSERVATIONS

A March Day: My family are Hilltopper fans. I got home from work to find my family watching the Lady Topper's down MTSU in the Sunbelt Championship game this afternoon. We picked up and went to Diddle for tonight's championship game. We came home and watched WKU's men win the Sunbelt Championship, also over MTSU, to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Folks, that's spring in Kentucky. In there somewhere, I shot baskets with my little boy.

Saying Goodbye?: I'm not ready to shut down the Pick and Roll. Next week I will be in Lexington for the Sweet Sixteen, and I will be giving updates at the end of the sessions. They won't be nearly as detailed, but I hope I can capture some of the flavor of Kentucky's Mardis Gras. Stay with me folks.

However, there are some farewells. I've enjoyed watching the Fourth Region games this season, and I've become a big fan of a lot of the players and coaches in this region. There are a lot of tough competitors in the region, and it makes me sad to see some of them go. Some I will get to see next season, but others will move on and move up. I kind of hate to see it all wind down. I'll miss spending Friday afternoon trying to figure which game I'm going to go see. I've had a blast, but it's not quite over.

Sleepy, Sleepy: the KHSAA official at tonight's championship game caught up on some much needed sleep. I saw him at the press table nodding off when they tipped it up tonight. I hope he catches up on things by reading the Pennyrile Pick and Roll.

All Tournament Team

Tim Coffey - Russell County
Rayco Bryant - Franklin-Simpson
Bryon Ellis - Russell County
Matt Riley - Barren County
Donnie Bigbee - Russellville
Bryson McFall - Russell County
Jarrett Jenkins - Greenwood
Billey Williams - Bowling Green
Tevin Barksdale - Bowling Green
Dee Anderson - Greenwood
J.J. Smith - Greenwood
Lee Hubbard - Barren County
D.L. Moore - Bowling Green
Mark Lacy - Greenwood

Fifth Region Tournament, Hart County High School, Munfordville, Kentucky

Monday, March 10, 2008

By Chris Gregory, Fifth Region Correspondent

Game One: Central Hardin 63 - Adair County 58

I am a huge fan of high school basketball if you haven't noticed by now, and I really don't have any connections with any certain team or players other than friends I've made during the season. But, in the last week or so it's been hard not to root for some of them. I like the underdogs, and I like coaches who have never been in situations like this before.

For instance, Central Hardin Coach J.C. Wright has put his time in on the sidelines in Cecilia. He and his team are the hottest things going in the Fifth Region. Monday night they were trying to get into the finals for the first time in school history. They've already accomplished one big feat this year by winning the 17th district tournament, a district loaded with good teams year in and year out.

The local odds maker who sat near me during the game told me that he liked Central in this game, against the defending Fifth Region champs. Adair has a good ball club, and I knew it would be a good game.

Adair controlled the tip and got the opening bucket. As usual, the Indians were very patient and looked for the best possible shot. Central was quick to run, wanting to get the upper hand by controlling the tempo. The Bruins had the hot hand in the first two minutes of the game, hitting every shot they attempted. Most were three pointers. On the defensive end, the front row fans were getting a lot of action because of the deflections by the Bruins. Central Hardin was building a lead, and I had only seen Adair play from behind one time this season. It wasn't good. It was when they played University Heights in the King of the Bluegrass, and they lost the game. Central Hardin was running past the Indians, leading after one, 25-14.

Adair County is loaded with talent. Three players were on the all region team, and Mark Fudge was Coach of the Year. They were not going to give in that easy. They did cut it to six points early in the second, but Central had a weapon in Daniel Linder, who was begging for the ball. He had the hot hand. They pushed the lead back to ten, and fans around me said that Adair would cut it in half by halftime. They did, thanks to Tony Harding making the "Charlie Brown Blockhead Play of the Game." He fouled Kalen Kimberland with 3.6 seconds left in the half. Kimberland made the layup and the following free throw. Central Hardin had the slim lead of 36-31 at halftime.

I thought Adair County had just played the worst half of basketball I had seen them play, and they were only down five. I have seen Adair play many more times than Central. I really didn't know the fire power Central Hardin possessed. Like I said, they have been the hottest team over the last few weeks in the Fifth. They picked a good time to come out of hibernation and put together a winning streak.

I wish high school basketball had its own TV station because this game would make an instant classic. The Indians had one more run in them. They just weren't going to roll over and play dead against the Bruins. Adair County kept their heads and knew they had it in them to win the game. Corey Helm, who was off the mark most of the night, hit huge back-to-back threes and tied the game with 2:29 to go. This would be the last run they could make. Central Hardin just wanted it more, and they deserved the victory. Adair County couldn't execute in the closing minutes. Central won by five, and we will have a new Fifth Region champion.

OBSERVATIONS

Huh? What'd ya say?: I hope Hart County uses the gate money they got this week to get a new PA system. It's horrible! The lady running the PA was OK, but I couldn't hear her. She sounded a lot like Charlie Brown's teacher, "wha wha, wha, wha." If you didn't know the players' names when they scored, you weren't going to hear it, either. Buck up Hart County!"

The Poppa Bear: Congratulations to J.C. Wright and his staff. This is the season that Central Hardin fans have waited. They are hot "WRIGHT" now. I feel like this team has been under the radar all year. They have a killer 1-3-1 zone defense, and teams find it hard to crack. Most fans I came across this season never mentioned the Bruins. It was always Adair, North or Bardstown as the favorites. I know they have not won the big game yet, but I'm just sying no one had them going this far.

Go Volunteers!: No not the ones in Knoxville. The Munfordville Fire and Rescue was in charge of the parking and did a great job. They probably don't get to see any of the games, but they were out there making sure your car was safe. They did slack up when people were leaving, which was kind of crazy. They should have helped out on that end as well. Overall, good job.

Game Two: Bardstown 52 - Elizabethtown 50

Folkls, these games are taking a toll on me. The excitement has been great for all of them, but the last game of the semifinals might have been the most excitement I've seen all year. If you have read the Pick and Roll all year, you know I have said to never give up on a James Haire coached team. They knocked off Green County in the first round, and they were ready to square off with the Runnin' Tigers of Bardstown in the semifinals.

Battle of the City Schools! Bardstown jumped out on E-town very quickly, and it looked like this game was oing to be over before we got out of the first quarter. The Tigers have great ball movement, and it had the Panthers gasping for air. Coach Haire had to use a timeout befor ethis game got out of hand. E-town managed just four points in the first quarter, and they were down by 11.

E-town showed some life in the second quarter. It may have been because the E-town girls team showed up after winning their final earlier on Monday. Chris "Go Go" Gohman was on a roll again tonight. He had his hands all over the ball. I didn't keep up with steals, but he must have hd a bunch. Bardstown helped E-town by not making any field goals for about two minutes. That seemed like a long time in this fast paced game. By the end of the second, E-town had cut the Tiger lead to four. Never count out a James Haire coached team. The Panthers were hanging tough in a physical game. The halftime score was 28-24, Bardstown.

Teams don't win a state championship just by the talent they have on the floor. James Haire is a great coach, and I have heard over the years that he can prepare for any team. He made adjustments at the half, and Panthers came out in the third ready to upset the Tigers. I call this an upset because most people had Bardstown in a landslide. E-town was in control, and everything was going in their favor. The tempo was a big factor in the third. At the 2:40 mark, E-town had their first lead of the night. I could see the momentum shift to the Panthers. The Bardstown fans seemed to wilt in their seats; E-town was not ready for this season to be over with.

I could spend an hour writing on the fourth quarter alone. It's the best quarter of basketball I've seen all this year. This game had been tight since the start of the third, and the fourth was going to be a slug-fest. Both teams were trading buckets and someone had to make a stop. E-town struck first, forcing Bardstown into a couple of turnovers. With a two point lead with 1:30 to go, E-town had the momentum once again, but, all of sudden, Bardstown stepped it up and tied it again with 25.2 to go.

Elizabethtown came down to their end of the floor and was going for the game winner. They turned the ball over. They fouled Bardstown's Demarco Phillips with 10.2 seconds to go in regulation.

Were we headed to overtime?

After Phillips missed both free throws, I thought were were. The Panthers grabbed the missed free throw and headed down the floor with time running down. At half court, Bardstown's Corey Hall, the senior leader, stole the ball, ran down the floor, and hit the game winning layup with 1.8 seconds to go. E-town's crowd just dropped in their seats, and the Bardstown fans rushed the floor. They were headed to the finals on a last second layup. It just gave me cold chills again writing about it.

Bardstown pulls out a very exciting game, 52-20.

OBSERVATIONS

Cheerleading 101: I have to give it up to the Bardstown student section. They were fantastic again tonight. The stuff they come up with is great. I was thinking that cheerleading must be 6th period over there in Bardstown. It's hard to put into word, but I will try. One cheer all the students lock arms and sway back and forth. Four guys stand up and the pep band strikes up the old Beach Boys tune "Surfin' USA," and it looks like the four guys are surfing in the crowd. Another one is the boxing match. One students comes out with head gear and gloves and stands on the floor. He the shadow boxes the crowd and they act like they're getting punched. Then, the student with the gloves connects with the KO punch. The whole crowd hollers "KO, KO, KO" to the E-town fans. It even had the refs smiling during a timeout.


The End Zone is the Place to Be: Hart County High has bleachers in one end of their gym. This is where the real fans sit. I sat there most of the tournament. It's full of old players, current coaches, and fans of basketball. Me being a youngster in the group, I learned a lot with the "Older Guys." I also handed out a lot of cards for this website. So, hello first time readers, welcome to our crazy basketball world.

Apologies from Pick and Roll: Chris sent me his story, and I was going to post it this morning. Pick and Roll is an early riser, which is the result of starting my working life in the grocery produce business. I had to meet deliveries at 4 a.m., and I walked to work (up hill both ways). When we switch back to Daylight Savings Time, I'm thrown for a loop. I slept too late this morning to get to Chris's excellent coverage, and I had to meet someone in Murray early in the morning. I apologize.

I quote the great philosopher, Grandpa Jones, "Daylight Savings Time is like cutting one end off a blanket and sewing it on the other to make it longer." By the way, did you know that Louis "Grandpa" Jones was born in Henderson County, Kentucky, but they always billed him as "The old man from the mountains..." I've been the Henderson County, thousands of times, but I have yet to see a mountain.

As always, Pick and Roll readers are appreciated.

Fourth Region Tournament, E.A. Diddle Arena, Western Kentucky University

Monday, March 10, 2008

Game One: Bowling Green 57 - Russell County 48
Semifinal

A lot of people I talk to think that Bowling Green likes to run and gun on the basketball court. I've never found that to be the case this season. Most of Bowling Green's I've watched have been low scoring affairs. I find this to be true: as goes the Purples' defense so goes the Purples. If they play tough defense, they can dictate the tempo and control the game. If they get lazy on the defensive end, they struggle and usually lose.

Monday night, I saw a little of both of Bowling Green tonight. Their defense came in flashes, but it was never quite enough to finish off the Lakers until the late in the game.

Bowling Green and Russell County seem to be on the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of style of play. Bowling Green attacks the basket and looks to slash into the lane to create offense. Russell County is methodical. Bowling Green is athletic while Russell County depends on fundamental basketball to get them through a game. I always love to see these two kinds of teams square off against one another, especially when advancing in a regional tournament is at stake.

Russell County made it to the semifinals last season and met their end against Warren Central. The steady play and experience of players like Bryon Ellis, Bryson McFall, and Timmy Coffey made the Lakers a tough opponent, especially for a Jekyll and Hyde team like the Purples.

Bowling Green pressed and played man-to-man throughout the ballgame, but the Lakers kept finding ways through the pressure. They're also good at drawing fouls.

D.L. Moore never made his athletic ability an issue for the Lakers until later in the game. He wasn't getting rebounds and he wasn't working for his shots. It doesn't matter if Lebron James laces up against the Russell County brand of Lakers, he's going to have to work for his shots. Their zone defense has no holes in it, and they collapse on the ball like a Las Vegas hotel that's outlived its usefulness.

Russell County outplayed the Purples in the first half and took a 24-22 lead to the break.

The two teams played even in the third quarter, each scoring 14 points.

They played back-and-forth to open the fourth quarter, but I noticed that Russell County showed signs of fatigue. Bowling Green Coach D.G. Sherrill shuttled players in and out of the ballgame so much that my head was spinning, but the Lakers didn't have as many bodies to throw out on the court.

The Purples controlled the fourth quarter, outscoring Russell County 21-10. They advanced to the regional final with a 57-48 victory.

Tevin Barksdale was Player of the Game and had 16 points. Billey "Lando" Williams had 14 points and Jarren Nixon had 11.

For the Lakers, Bryon Ellis had 16 points, and this kid would not back down. He really earned my admiration in this game, this tournament, and even from last year's tournament.

OBSERVATIONS

Bowling Green Fan Support: Quicksand offers better support. The Purps has some great fans, and I don't want to bust on the ones who show up for the games. There were very few students there tonight. I've seen more student support at a chess club match. Greenwood will have 30 times the number of students at tomorrow's championship game than Bowling Green.

March Madness: I was watching games on the court. I was trying to catch parts of the Middle Tennessee-South Alabama game on the televisions in Diddle Arena. It's just not enough to keep up with one or two or three games on a March evening. It's Kentucky's Mardis Gras! I can't imagine not keeping up with basketball in March.

Armies of Cheerleaders: My gosh! When I was in high school, Male High had six or seven cheerleaders. Now, schools have scads of them. Between games tonight at Diddle Arena the four schools had about 30 cheerleaders a piece trying to get out of or get into the end zones at the arena. I read where every fifth person in the world is Chinese, but I'm starting to think that every fourth person in the world is a cheerleader.

That reminds me of a funny cheerleader story. At Male High, our cheerleaders did this cheer on the court in which they shouted, WE ARE...MALE BULLDOGS! Just think about that a second and listen to it in your head. I always laughed out loud.


Game Two: Greenwood 67 - Barren County 65

A few more broken hearts went into the asphalt for the Road to Rupp on Monday night. These hearts were from Barren County, and either Bowling Green or Greenwood will drive right over those broken hearts on I-65 when their bus trucks them up to Lexington.

Greenwood pounced on Barren County early. They played tenacious man-to-man defense and kept constant pressure on the ball. They took a commanding 9-2 lead on Barren County, but the Trojans made a run of their own, and all was not lost. Greenwood had a 15-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

From there, Barren County outplayed the Gators through most of the rest of the game. Although Lee Hubbard was scoreless in the first quarter, he strapped his Trojan teammates to his back and carried them through the second quarter, scoring 12 of Barren County's 17 points in the frame. Greenwood held on to a 30-27 lead at halftime. Mark Lacy, who doesn't look to score a lot of points for the Gators, led the Greenwood scoring with a 11 first half points.

The second half made for a classic basketball game. Both teams went after each other with the tenacity that is only reserved for post season play. I'd have to say that Monday's semifinal game was the best game I've seen all season.

It resulted in a heart breaker for Barren County, though. I felt like they outplayed Greenwood through most of the game. They outscored them in the second and third quarters and built a 65-60 lead with just a couple of minutes left in the game. They quit attacking the basket, though, and seemed like they wanted to put it in the deep freeze. That's a dangerous decision against Greenwood because the Gators are so very quick. Mark Lacy and Austin Reed (Thing 1 and Thing 2) are too quick and too well equipped to always have to pass back to the point against them. Not only are they quick, but they have great leaping ability. One would think it would be easy to throw over them, but that is a terribly wrong assumption.

Greenwood went after the Trojans like a wicked band of Spartans. Barren County's five point lead evaporated, and their hope of advancing to take on Bowling Green evaporated. Greenwood bookended the game with a first quarter flurry and a fourth quarter rally and won, 67-65.

Mark Lacy was Player of the Game and scored 22 points while dealing out six assists. J.J. Smith added 13 points along with Dee Anderson.


OBSERVATIONS

Lee Hubbard Fan Club: Count me as a member. Hubbard scored 22 points on Monday night and grabbed nine rebounds. This guy would be a steal for Campbellsville or Lindsey Wilson. I could see him getting significant minutes for the Austin Peays of the world. At the end of each Barren County game, teammates, opponents, cheerleaders, coaches, equipment managers, and whoever kneel at the jump circle and Lee leads them in a prayer. I've enjoyed watching him play.

The Joint Was Jumpin: The Barren County fans and the Greenwood fans are great. They are loud, too. My ears are still ringing after tonight's ballgame.

Ben Hubbard Update: Regular Pick and Roll readers will recall my report on Barren County's Ben Hubbard hitting his head on the court and walking around in a daze afterward. It was a scary moment. He played tonight, and when Dee Anderson fouled him on a layup, he made the shot. The Barren County fans gave him a standing ovation.

Fourth Region Tournament: The folks that put this thing together do a fantastic job. It's great basketball in a great venue and a lot of great people doing a lot of hard work. I'm always sad to see it shut down and tomorrow will be the championship between Bowling Green and Greenwood.

Fourth Region Tournament (Girls), E.A. Diddle Arena, Western Kentucky University

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Franklin-Simpson 49 - Bowling Green 37
Fourth Region Championship Game

This is a first for the Pennyrile Pick and Roll. I was able to make it to an entire girls basketball game today, and I've lived to write about it. That's a joke. I have nothing against girls basketball. I never write about it because I have my limitations, and I have this crazy thing that a lot of people call a "job." No, I'm not talking about the "Job" of the Old Testament; I'm talking about the "job" that keeps Pick and Roll old and testy. I have to draw the line somewhere or I would spend too much time watching basketball. While I believe there's no such thing, my wife does. I apologize to fans of girls basketball because I sacrifice it to keep up with boys basketball.

If any readers wonder what goes into Pick and Roll decision making, click here to see some video of our last editorial staff meeting.

The Franklin-Simpson Lady Wildcats have been a team on a mission for the entire season. Coming into Saturday afternoon's game, they had only two blemishes on their record in 33 ballgames. They dropped a game to Muhlenberg North on December 28th in the Greenwood Classic, and they lost to Henderson by five on January 19th in the Shooting Star Classic at Muhlenberg North.

They took on the Lady Purples from Bowling Green, who beat a tough Barren County team on Friday night to reach the finals. The Lady Purples had something to prove, carrying a 22-10 records into the championship.

In the first quarter, it seemed like neither team would ever break the ice and score. They were nearly three minutes into the game before Cheyenne Brown scored for the Lady Wildcats. Bowling Green's Erica Smith and Alexis Lawrence responded with back-to-back three pointers, and it seemed that the Lady Purples had thrown down a challenge to Franklin-Simpson. the two teams traded basket and more than made up for the lack of scoring in the first three minutes of the game. Franklin-Simpson had a 12-8 lead.

The Lady Wildcats had a devil of a time with traveling calls early in the game. I guess they were over-anxious and started their moves before putting the ball on the floor. It can be tricky, and the calls made me realize why I'd hate to be a referee.

Bowling Green tied the game at 12, but the Lady Wildcats went on an 18-6 run and took a commanding 30-16 lead at halftime.

Franklin-Simpson's Kelleshia Cook, who's going to play college ball in COOKville, Tennesee, is a very good basketball player. Anytime there's chaos on Franklin's defensive end, Kelleshia Cook is going to be involved in it somehow. She makes important plays on that end of the court and out hustles everyone on the court. She gets to the loose balls. She gets the ball as it's going out-of-bounds when the other team has given up on it. She seems to be everywhere. She finished the game with five steals, which was half of the team's total.

The early part of the third quarter went badly for Bowling Green. They were frustrated and seemed to lose their composure. Kelleshia Cook hit a three pointer that put the Lady Wildcats up 42-22, and it seemed that they were going to crush the Purples like a big juicy grape. That wasn't the case. Bowling Green rallied and closed the quarter with an 8-2 run. They matched Franklin in the third with each team scoring 14 points.

Franklin-Simpson took control in the middle of the fourth quarter. Bowling Green trimmed the lead, but the Lady Wildcats went into an impressive stall offense that kept the Lady Purples' defense rushing around the court. They ran a lot of time off the clock and won the championship with a 49-37 victory.

Franklin-Simpson had three players with 13 points: Dominique Cook, Kelleshia Cook, and Chastity Gooch. Apparently, you had to have double o's in your name to score in double digits for the Lady Wildcats on Saturday. I guess Drea Gooch didn't get the memo because she only had four points.

Erica Smith led the Purples in scoring with 16 points. Bowling Green only shot 26.7% from the field and was a miserable 3-17 from beyond the arc. They shot 20% in the first half. They did out rebound the Lady Wildcats, 31-28, and had 15 offensive boards, which can be expected when a team has a terrible shooting night.

Franklin-Simpson's road to the Sweet Sixteen will be a short one -- in distance. The Girls' Sweet Sixteen is played at Diddle Arena starting on Wednesday. The Lady Wildcats play at 6:30 on Thursday evening and will play the Eighth Region Champ, which won't be decided until Monday night.

OBSERVATIONS

Purple Purpus: That's not a typographical error. The Lady Purples has a player with the last name of "Purpus." Purple's Purpus Plays with Purpose. Man! Say that three times real fast.

The All-Geography Team: Kristie Nation, Cumberland County; Cecilia Smith, Bowling Green; Katie Covington, Todd County; Savannah Hilliard, Franklin-Simpson; and Cheyenne Brown, Franklin-Simpson. That makes me wonder how many times a pass for the Lady Wildcats goes from Cheyenne to Savannah.

Superman Villain: Lex Lindsey? Oh, wait, that's Lex Luther, and although Coach Lindsey is a basketball genius, he's no villain. He seems to be a heck of a nice guy. He stomps on the court every time he wants the attention of his team. It startled me whenever he did it this afternoon. I'm worried that Lex is going to end up with shin splints if he's not careful. WKU might send him a bill for the repair of a few boards of the Diddle Arena floor, though.

Not Too Many Cooks in Franklin's Kitchen: The Lady Wildcats have Dominique Cook and Kelleshia Cook for players, but they also have Kelly Cook on the bench as an assistant coach. No one complains about too many Cooks in the kitchen in Franklin.

Pick and Roll Breaks Routine: I travel a lot during the week, and the driving can really wear these tired bones down. I like to press the couch on Saturday afternoons and usually drift off in a nap watching a couple of football schools play basketball on television. Four in the afternoon is prime nap time, but I was at Diddle instead. That's after sledding with my children for four hours on Saturday.

All Tournament Team

I must apologize because I missed one name as it was announced.

Alexis Lawrence - Bowling Green
Arial McKinney - Bowling Green
Paige Lee - Glasgow
Charli Fant - Glasgow
Erica Smith - Bowling Green
Brittany Payne - Franklin-Simpson
Courtney Thomas - Barren County
Kelsey Mitchell (Freshman) - Barren County
Dominique Cook - Franklin-Simpson
Ashley Rainey - Warren East
Chastity Gooch - Franklin-Simpson
Laura Fletcher - Cumberland County
Arienne Tarrence (Freshman) - Bowling Green
Kelleshia Cook - Franklin-Simpson

Fifth Region Tournament, Hart County High School, Munfordville, Kentucky

Thursday, March 6, 2008

By Chris Gregory, Fifth Region Correspondent

Game One: Elizabethtown 55 - Green County 48

Well, we're through the first round of the Fifth Region tournament. On Wednesday things went as planned with both top seeds winning. Thursday night, though, things would be more interesting because these teams were ready to get it on with one another.

Underdogs leave it all on the floor come tournament time. I love the way kids play hard for their schools. Most of them know they will not play at the next level, so they make the most of it this time of year.

The first game was between Green County and Elizabethtown. This game was a hard one to call. I really didn't know who would win this game, and at the start it looked like no one wanted it. Both were stone cold from the field. It was a very ugly game. One must take into consideration that no one on either roster has played in a regional game. The last time E-town was in the regional tournament most of these players were freshman and sophomores and didn't dress varsity. Green County is making their second appearance in 11 years. The coaches, on the other hand, have been in the regionals before. If you know about the Fifth Region, then you've heard of James Haire. He's been to plenty of tournament games. Toby Curry, Green County's coach, has been there before but only as a player. He led his 1995 Adair County squad to the Fifth Region championship game.

The coaches know how important this game is, but do the players?

Like I stated above, this one was ugly in the first half. The tempo favored E-town, but they could not find the bucket. In fact, no on could find it. I started to think that someone had put a lid on the goals. It was the lowest scoring first quarter I've seen all year. E-town led 6-4. That's not a misprint.

The second quarter was about the same with not much going on. Both teams had a lot of turnovers and missed field goals. Something had to give. Green County came into this game as one of the best scoring offenses in the state, but E-town was near the top in scoring defense. I kept waiting for something to happen. Finally, Green County made a "run" by this game's standards. They ran off four points. I mean this game was UGLY. Green County had the halftime lead, 16-15, in what was a struggle for both teams.

The Panthers stepped up the "D" in the third, and the scoring heated up as well. It actually turned into a shoot-fest between E-town's Chris "Go-Go" Gohman and Green County's Clint Henderson. These guys swapped shots like Pamela Anderson swaps husbands. It was turning into a game for a change. Green still hung onto the lead, 36-33.

Chris Gohman owned the fourth quarter and finished the game with 33 points, including six made free throws under 3:00 left in the game. Elizabethtown came back after trailing most of the game to knock out the first district champ of the tournament. They won 55-48.

OBSERVATIONS

Panthers in Charge: Elizabethtown controlled the tempo of this game from the tap. Green County wanted to run, but the Panthers would not let them. Even though the Dragons led most of the game, E-town never panicked and at the right moment took charge. They put Green County away, holding them well below their average of 70 points a game.

These Seats are Reserved: The E-town student section settled into their seats. All of them were sitting down minding their own business and not bothering anyone. Then, an administrator from Hart County made them move. They were in one end zone of the gym, and I guess it wasn't the right place for them to sit. This set off the E-town athletic director, and he told his students to get rowdy early. They booed the administrator every time he came around.

Going Back for Seconds: Folks, Hart County High School may have the best concession stand I've seen in a long time. On Wednesday I reported on the nachos supreme. Tonight, I took a closer look at the menu. To my surprise, they had homemade fried apple pies. Ah, man! They weren't as good as my Mamaw Gregory's but darn close. Editor's Note: I've had Mamaw Gregory's fried apple pies, so now I'm angling to join Chris at the Fifth Region tournament.

Second Game: Bardstown 72 - Taylor County 66

When the draw came out I knew this game would be a shoot-out. That was an understatement. I got so caught up in this game that I forgot to look at the score after the buzzer sounded. I do know that Bardstown had the lead. Both teams shot out the lights.

I hadn't seen a game like this all year. Each team had an answer for the other. Corey hall for Bardstown got things rolling early when he connected for five three pointers in the first half. His counterpart, Chase Cox, matched him shot-for-shot. He had four threes at the break, and Bardstown had a 37-28 lead.

I don't think these teams wanted to go to the locker room for halftime. They were afraid they might cool off. That was not the case. They started the third right where they left off. This game was living up to the hype people talked about all week. It's a shame that one of these teams had to lose. The game was like a ping-pong match, very fast paced. It seemed like it only took an hour to play this entire game. I looked back at the first half and the teams combined for 11 three point goals.

Taylor County worked the interior game as well. Leonard Macon was a force down low, and made Bardstown adjust many shots. He picked up about four or five blocks and scored at will. They just didn't give it to him enough. By this time, Bardstown had a five point lead, but Taylor County had one more run in them. With four minutes left in the game, Macon had a monster slam and the crowd went nuts. I thought it might be the turning point for Taylor, but Bardstown was too tough and won a great game, 72-66.

OBSERVATIONS

When It Rains it Pours: Tonight, I witnessed one of the best shooting displays I have ever seen. These teams combined for 19 made three point baskets. Corey Hall finished with six and so did Chase Cox. Cox is only a junior, so look out next year.

I'm Proud of My Mama: The Bardstown student section is led by "The Big Mamas." They are parents, aunts, and alumni who still have school spirit. They come up with all of the cheers and not ashamed of getting down with the students. I think they brought the whole school with them tonight. Although cold at times with chants like "maybe next year" and "so long seniors," they are fun to watch.

Really. Maybe Next Year: Taylor County loses only two players from this year's team. One is a reserve and the other is a starter. But their man two will be back. So, maybe the Bardstown fans were right, maybe next year. With Chase "Gunner" Cox at the helm and a big presence down low with Macon, Taylor County will be back to fight another year.

The semi-finals will be on Monday night so look for more reports.

Fourth Region Tournament, E.A. Diddle Arena, Western Kentucky University

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Game One: Greenwood 46 - Franklin-Simpson 31

Franklin-Simpson played Thursday's first round game with Greenwood with all the control of a Molly Hatchet song. Those wild-eyed Southern rockers always seemed to be out-of-control and sort of...well..."Flirtin With Disaster." High energy. Raw. If I was going to put a soundtrack with their game, I'd choose that song. I guess by the end of the game, I'd have to throw in Hatchet's song "Gator Country" or even "Dreams I'll Never See."

A little side note: A friend's mother was a professional singer and did vocals for commercials and radio promotions. She was in a recording session down the hall from Molly Hatchet when the band erupted into a drunken fracas that spilled out into the hallways of the recording label's offices.

The Wildcats played out-of-control for the entire game against the Gators. Both teams played tight defense in the first quarter, and Greenwood emerged with a narrow 10-7 lead. Greenwood scored 10 more points in the second quarter while holding Franklin-Simpson to just five points. The Wildcats shot 23.5% in the first half, making 4 of 17 field goals. They had 13 first half turnovers, but Greenwood had 11. The Wildcats were lucky to be down only eight, 20-12 at halftime. Cedrick Adams led Franklin-Simpson in scoring with three points. Dee Anderson led the Gators with five points.

The turnover bug continued to plague the Wildcats in the third quarter when they coughed the ball up six more times. Greenwood only had two turnovers in the third. Even though Franklin-Simpson couldn't control the ball, they outscored Greenwood in the third quarter by one point, 11-10. The Gators put 10 points on the board in the three quarters of play and held a 30-23 lead.

Greenwood controlled the fourth quarter and made Franklin-Simpson look bad. They forced the Wildcats to commit seven more turnovers, which made 26 for the entire game.

At the very start of the season, I explained to Pick and Roll readers that Southern women will not say that a baby is ugly. They cannot lie, either. When they see an ugly baby they say, "Bless its little heart." That's what the women down in Franklin would say about this "baby" tonight. It was ugly. It was mud fence ugly for the Wildcats.

Greenwood advances with a 46-31 win over Franklin-Simpson.

Rayco Bryant had 17 points and nine rebounds for Franklin-Simpson, while the next highest scorers were Courtney Dalcourt and Cedrick Adams with only three a piece. For Greenwood, J.J. Smith was the Player of the Game, and he scored 11 points while making some big plays down the stretch. Austin Reed and Mark Lacy each added seven points for the Gators.

Game Two: Barren County 60 - Metcalfe County 45

I finally got to see Trey Shirley play. I saw Metcalfe County play at Warren East on January 12th, which was a couple of days after Shirley was hospitalized with a serious illness. It was good to see him back out on the court, and he scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds before fouling out of Thursday's contest. He's a solid ballplayer.

Barren County and Metcalfe County are natural and intense rivals. They flat out do not like each other. When Metcalfe County came out of the locker room for pre-game warm ups, the Barren County players did not move out of their way. The players brushed shoulders and there were no friendly words exchanged between them.

The Trojans took control of this game early. They took an early lead and never looked back.

Metcalfe County played a 2-3 zone, and Trey Shirley patrolled the baseline of the zone. Whenever Blake Crabtree got the ball on the low wing, Shirley would yell at him, "Shoot it! Shoot it! Shoot it!" I guess he finally got under Crabtree's skin because he let one fly that bounced off the rim and backboard into Shirley's hands.

I've written about this before, but I can remember when players talked to one another all the time. There's hardly a word spoken on the court anymore. Players don't even yell at teammates when they're open.

Barren County's Lee Hubbard is a heck of a basketball player. He's one of those guys that I'd make sure I had on my team if I were choosing up sides. He can shoot from anywhere, and he is muscular and knows how to use his strength to get to the basket. He's also a good defender. He scored 21 points against the Hornets and grabbed nine rebounds. He also had four steals and two assists. I don't know if any colleges are recruiting him, and I don't really care. There are some guys who are great in high school but can't make the transition to the college game. Lee Hubbard is consistently the best player in the Fourth Region.

Will Warf led the Hornets in scoring with 16 points. Outside of Warf and Shirley, Metcalfe County didn't have many scoring threats.

Barren County, on the other hand, is a solid basketball team. They are solid at every position and have good, experienced guards. Matt Riley has a great sense of the game and is good at breaking down any kind of pressure. The Trojans have all the tools needed to advance to the final, win the region, and truck up the highway to Rupp Arena. They have to get past those pesky big lizards from Scottsville Road in Bowling Green, though. They play Greenwood on Monday night.

At the end of the game, when both coaches cleared their benches, we had a scary incident in the game. Ben Hubbard, Lee's younger brother, got a break away layup, but somehow got upended when Metcalfe's Russell Kindred blocked his shot. He hit his head on the court. I didn't really see what happened because it was on the opposite end of the court from where I was sitting.

I followed the action back up the court, but noticed that Hubbard was staggering around out on the court. He weaved around and came over and leaned against the press table, near where I was sitting. His eyes were dancing. The poor guy was knocked silly. Coach Steve Riley came over and retrieved the young man.

I guess he was alright. It's been a long time since I've seen someone knocked silly.

OBSERVATIONS

Funny Diddle Memory: When I was a student at Western, the men's restroom had round metal sinks in the middle of the room. Someone who needed to wash their hands stepped on a metal bar, which turned on the water. I never witnessed it myself, but I've heard stories about men stepping up to the sink thinking it was a urinal. My brother's best friend did that when they were students at Western in the 1970s. The guy was valedictorian of Trinity High School. Those old sinks are gone and replaced with less confusing ones.

Bowling Green Traffic: This has nothing to do with the ballgames, except that it nearly made me late for the first game. The traffic signal at Russellville Road and Campbell Lane was on the fritz when I was on my way to the ballgame. Oh my! Someone needed to announce, "assume crash positions" like they do when airliners are about to crash. My little boy has a figure-8 race track on which he tries to get the cars to hit each other. The intersection in Bowling Green was reminiscent of his little race track.

Wildcats Caged: The Franklin-Simpson basketball team refused to leave their locker room after the game. I don't know what was going on, but they were in there forever.

Trash Talking Refs: The officials for the tournament are from the Third Region. I'm surprised they can officiate games without Steve Sparks telling them what to call (just joking). I sat next to the three officials from Thursday's first game during the nightcap. One of them yelled at a colleague officiating the game, "get your head in the game." It became a big joke between them.

Tennis Shoes and Pink Ribbons: All Fourth Region coaches are wearing pink ribbons and tennis shoes to raise awareness of breast cancer. It is a tribute to Greenwood Coach Blane Embry's wife, who was recently diagnosed with the disease.

Don't Tell The ACLU: After Barren County's game, Lee Hubbard led the players, coaches, and cheerleaders of both teams in a word of prayer. The entire arena was quiet, and it was touching to see rival players kneeling and praying together. The Franklin-Simpson and Greenwood squads did the same thing after their game.

Fifth Region Touranament, Hart County High School, Munfordville, Kentucky

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Adair County 56 - Larue County 42
By Chris Gregory, Fifth Region Correspondent

On Tuesday night some of the 128 teams from 16 regions began their trek to Lexington to get a chance at being champions of the Bluegrass.

The Sweet Sixteen is known all over as one of the best venues in high school basketball. Where else can you watch basketball with 20,000+ of your closest friends? I know people in Kentucky with family in other states, and they are lucky to get four to five thousand fans to show up for their state's championship. And, if you want to talk about passion, I'm willing to bet the far, that people in Ashland know about teams and players in Hoptown, Paducah, Christian County and vice versa. In November, 2006, I attended a bluegrass music festival in Leslie County, and I told some people that I had driven from Elizabethtown. An older gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I had seen that Pettigrew "young'un play"? He also asked me if Ron Bevars was still at North Hardin. That, folks, is how passionate Kentucky is about its high school basketball.

On Wednesday night, my journey took me to the Fifth Region. As I arrived in Munfordville, I could tell it was regional tournament time. Fans flocked to the gym like it was the day after Thanksgiving and Best Buy had a sale on PS3's or X-Box's. It's funny how tournament time brings people out of the woodwork. You can go to these games all year and not see some of the people you do at the regional tournament. The only other place these people show up is the county fair.

Larue County came into this game knowing that they were the underdog. They were going to play the defending champs, Adair County. After seeing these kids play all year, I knew they were up for the challenge. It hit me in the first quarter, "We're playing in the Fifth Region tournament!!"

Larue County got some early open looks, but I guess they were a little tight because they were 0-3 to start. Adair, on the other hand, came out like they knew they were the show horses of the fifth. They junped out to a 7-0 lead and Coach Childress called a quick timeout. Larue settled down, and Christian Seymour hit a very long three as the buzzer sounded for the end of the first. The Hawks were hanging tough against the defending champs, only down seven after one.

When the teams came out in the second, the Larue players were convinced they could play with these guys, and I was right there with them. I always root for the underdog. The Hawks made an early run and cut the lead to two. Adair showed why they are the defending champs. They made their own run to close out the half leading 26-17.

The Indians must have been thinking, "go out in the second half and put these guys away; we need to rest our legs." Adair's Kalen Kimberland was all for that thought. He hit two threes to open the third and his running mates were right there with him. What was a nine point lead at the half had quickly turned into a 17 point lead for the Indians. Then, the Hawks must've been thinking, "Hey, let's pull out that peace pipe, guys." Larue County got good shots but just couldn't get over the hump. Adair led going into the last quarter, 39-26.

So far the game was going just like Adair wanted. They are a slow down team and sometimes will bore the fans. You look at them and wonder why they are so good. They are very well coached and very disciplined. In the games I've seen them they never shy away from their game plan.

The fourth quarter was exciting. Just when I thought Adair was going to blow out Larue, the pesky Hawks soared back into this game. At one point, they cut the lead to seven, but that would be as close as they would get. Adair was too tough down the stretch. Larue was forced to foul, and Adair does not miss free throws. Indians win 56-42.

OBSERVATIONS

Props to the Hawks: Larue County finished a good season and have a good core of players returning. They will be hungry. Juniors Christian Seymour and Bryan Bault led the Hawks on Wednesday night. Seymour played a heck of a game. I had him with 21 points, and he really stepped it up on the defensive end. Hold your heads up high Hawks. You played a good in a game that no one thought you had a chance in.

The 12th Region's Finest: This was the best officiated game I have seen in some time. They guys let them play but under control. I normally don't brag on refs, but I'll give credit where credit is due.

Note to Hart County High: I never paid much attention this problem until late in the fourth quarter. An old pal of mine, Prentiss Craft, said, "If you're going to host a regional tournament, make sure that all the light bulbs work in the scoreboard." He chuckled and said that it "just bothered him." Other than that, Hart County opened up the tournament as a very gracious host. They had a good flow through the concession stand and had a good staff on hand to help with anything. If you visit the Fifth, try the Nachos Supreme and a diet Dr. Pepper. Can't beat it.

Chiefs of the Tribe: Kalen Kimberland and Darrin Ballou. These guys had huge nights. Each had 21 points, and when it counted Kimberland hit his free throws. He finished the game 6 for 9 from the charity stripe. I get the feeling the team, as a whole, had an off night. Look for them not to be held down long. They will have to step it up on Monday night. They will face a very good and hot Central Hardin team.