Sunday, March 4, 2012

One and done: Boys' round of 64*

The KHSAA boys' basketball tournaments mostly stand down today, but one region will be determining its representative to the 2012 PNC/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet Sixteen® State Basketball Tournament:

Sixth Region, at Louisville Atherton High School and Bellarmine University's Knights Hall in Louisville--The participants in the 2011 championship--champ Mount Washington Bullitt East and runnerup Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park--play semifinals today, against Louisville Butler and Louisville Moore, respectively.

Ninth Region*, at Northern Kentucky University's Bank of Kentucky Center in Highland Heights--One of seven regions that have already advanced to the statewide round of 32*, the Ninth plays its championship today. Newport Central Catholic lost a four-overtime heartbreaker to Edgewood Dixie Heights in last year's Sunday-matinee championship. Today at noon Central, the Thoroughbreds try again--this time against Boone County. In the teams' only meeting this season, NewCath won by three at Florence on Jan. 11. (P.S.: I love Dave Cowens.)

Regions idle today:

First Region, at Murray State University's CSFB Center.

Second Region, at Madisonville-North Hopkins Senior High School.

Third Region*, at Owensboro Sportcenter--Muhlenberg County and Owensboro Apollo play for the championship Monday.

Fourth Region, at Western Kentucky University's E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green.

Fifth Region, at Central Hardin High School in Elizabethtown.

Seventh Region*, at Bellarmine's Knights Hall--Louisville Saint Xavier and Louisville Trinity play for the championship Monday.

Eighth Region, at Henry County High School in New Castle.

10th Region*, at Montgomery County High School in Mount Sterling.

11th Region*, at Eastern Kentucky University's Alumni Coliseum in Richmond--Scott County and Woodford County play for the championship Tuesday.

12th Region, at Pulaski County High School in Somerset.

13th Region, at Corbin's The Arena--Clay County and London North Laurel play for the championship Monday.

14th Region, at Knott County Central High School in Hindman.

15th Region, at the East Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville--Lick Creek East Ridge and Paintsville Johnson Central play for the championship Monday.

16th Region, at Morehead State University's Johnson Arena--Ashland Blazer and Rowan County play for the championship Monday.

35 comments:

  1. Boone County has become the first team to clinch a trip to the State Tournament, as the Rebels shook off their loss to Cooper in the 33d District Final to capture the Ninth Region Championship. Boone County (26-7) won three tight, low-scoring games at NKU: 51-43 over Holmes, 50-41 over Lloyd Memorial, and 54-49 over Newport Central Catholic. They now get to rest until Thursday, March 15, when they will play the winner of the 14th Region.

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  2. The Boone County Rebels captured their first regional title since 1996. Here are the last 10 Ninth Region champs before this year:

    2011: Dixie Heights
    2010: Newport
    2009: Covington Holmes (STATE CHAMPS)
    2008: Covington Holmes (state finalist)
    2007: Covington Holmes
    2006: Covington Catholic
    2005: Covington Holmes
    2004: Covington Catholic
    2003: Erlanger St. Henry
    2002: Ryle

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  3. Meanwhile, in the Sixth Region semi-finals, Jason Frakes of the C-J reports that Bullitt East leads Butler 41-37 with 1:27 left in the 4th Quarter.

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  4. Here are the last 10 winners of the 6th Region:

    2011: Bullitt East
    2010: Butler
    2009: Central (state finalist)
    2008: Central
    2007: Fairdale
    2006: Pleasure Ridge Park
    2005: Pleasure Ridge Park
    2004: Pleasure Ridge Park
    2003: Iroquois
    2002: Butler

    Remarkably, the Sixth Region -- one of two regions that covers Jefferson County -- hasn't won the state championship since Fairdale went all the way in 1994.

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  5. Butler led Bullitt East 22-8 after the first quarter and 27-19 at the half. But Bullitt East roared back in the second half, outscoring Butler 30-12. East advances to the Sixth Region final with a 49-39 victory.

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  6. Jason Frakes of the C-J reports that Moore leads PRP 7-6 with 3:15 left in the 1st Quarter.

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  7. Ray Watkins, who always does a great job of tweeting the quarter-by-quarter score of PRP games, reports that PRP leads Moore 16-13 after one.

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  8. Numerous folk at Bellarmine tweet that PRP leads Moore 28-20 at the half. Seems pretty dull so far.

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  9. Moore's making a run. PRP now leads 30-27 with 6:19 left in the 3d quarter.

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  10. PRP has now rebuilt its lead. They are up 36-29 over Moore with 3:53 remaining in the 3d.

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  11. PRP 39-34 with 2:40 left in the 3d quarter.

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  12. A little background on the schools. PRP was established in 1958, its colors are red and black, and its nickname is the Panthers.

    Moore Traditional School opened in 1968, its colors are blue and gray, and its nickname is the Mustangs. Its slogan is "Moore is on the move!"

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    1. I met another 17-year-old in 1985 who went to PRP, and I remember thinking she just seemed so totally at ease in the grownup world to which we are about to enter. I don't mean in any bad way at all. She just seemed completely ready to integrate into and cruise through college life, to easily merge into 10-hour days at some office and to do stuff like contribute to 401ks and get to Kroger on days when there were good prices on meat. The closer I got to that world, meanwhile, the more I wanted to play with my baseball cards.

      "Moore is on the move!" is an outstanding tagline.

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  13. As befits a "traditional" school, Moore has a dress code. The following items are not permitted:

    Belt buckles more than 2” x 2”
    Chains (other than necklaces)
    Cutoffs
    Denim clothing of any kind
    Gang-related clothing or symbols of any kind, including outfits of same color “Dickies” style shirts and pants (known as “soldiering up”)
    Gathered or rolled up pants or shirts
    No rubber bands or shoelaces on pants or shirts
    Gym bags, backpacks, and purses outside of locker during school day
    Headgear of any kind, including bandannas and scarves
    Jewelry/clothing with profanity, vulgarities, or pictures/writing which promote drugs, alcohol, or violence
    Open-backed or open-toed shoes or sandals. NO “HOUSE SHOES” or “SLIPPERS”
    PE shirts outside of gym classes except for Spirit Days
    Sleeveless shirts
    Stretch Pants, Sweat pants (unless in PE/Fitness classes)
    Sunglasses

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  14. PRP leads 44-40 at the end of the 3d quarter.

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  15. Jason Frakes of the C-J tweets that PRP has done s great job of keeping Moore from getting to the rim.

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  16. Moore last went to the state tournament in 1994, when the Mustangs were in the 7th Region. They also won the 7th region in 1980 and 1981, but they've never won the state crown.

    PRP is one of the great powers in the Commonwealth. The Panthers won the 6th Region in 1970, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, and 2006. But the 1989 Panthers were the only team to win the state title.

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    1. So just as Heath won its state football championship right after we left, PRP won its boys' basketball championship not longer after this girl left. I'll be darned.

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  17. Now it's getting close. With 5:33 to go in the game, PRP leads 48-46, but Moore has scored five straight points.

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  18. Meanwhile, in a battle for the Big 10 crown, Ohio State and Michigan State are tied at 66 in East Lansing with 2:17 to go.

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  19. Now PRP has pulled back away. The Panthers lead 55-50 with only 2:34 remaining.

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  20. But Moore comes back with a run of its own! Now PRP leads by only 57-56 with 1:21 left.

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  21. Cynthia Wales-Burr tweets: "Come on PRP!!!!! Get that W!!!!"

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  22. In East Lansing, Aaron Craft makes a huge jump shot for Ohio State to tie Michigan State a 70 with 43 seconds to go. Timeout MSU.

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  23. "officialPageofDonte" tweets "That Moore and prp game just got real".

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    1. Whichever team officialPageofDonte follows, I hope they advance, because I'd like to see more comments from him into the Sweet Sixteen.

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  24. Draymon Green, Michigan State's big star, misses a jump shot, and Ohio State grabs the rebound. Buckeyes call time with 24.7 seconds left.

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  25. PRP is up 59-56 with 7.6 seconds to go. PRP is at the line.

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  26. PRP wins! The Panthers fought off rally after rally from Moore, and finally prevail 61-56. They will face Bullitt East for the 6th Region championship on Tuesday night.

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  27. William Buford, who has 25 points for Ohio State today, buries a difficult shot from the top of the key to put the Buckeyes up 72-70 with 0.8 seconds left. Clark Kellogg says this was a "big time shot." The Spartan fans, who all wore white for today's contest, look quite glum.

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  28. Clark Kellogg says that OSU should put someone on the Michigan State player in-bounding the ball. If only he'd been there to advice Pitino in 1992.

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  29. Michigan State misses a three-point shot at the buzzer and OSU wins! The Buckeyes were down 15, but pulled out the huge road victory. The Big 10 race ends in a three-way tie, as Michigan St., Michigan, and Ohio State all finish 13-5.

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