Thursday, March 17, 2016

11 Games Left

Here are the scores from yesterday:

Murray 62, Buckhorn 35
Newport Cent. Catholic 48, (9) Lou. Trinity 33
(5) Bowling Green 75, Elliott Co. 59
(7) Lex. Dunbar 58, (2) Mercer Co. 55

In its last three games, Lexington Dunbar has beaten the number 8 team in the Commonwealth (Lex. Henry Clay), the number 3 team in the Commonwealth (Scott Co.), and the number 2 team in the Commonwealth (Mercer Co.)  Next up they get the number 5 team.  That's a tough draw.  But I don't trust anyone to seed the State Tournament.

Meanwhile, Newport Cent. Catholic has beaten the number 4 team in the Commonwealth (Cov. Catholic) and the number 9 team (Lou. Trinity).

Today is the second day of play in the Sweet 16.  This half of the bracket features only one team that was ranked in the top 10 at the end of the season.  It also features only one team from a major city.  Here's what we have on tap today (all times Central):

11 A.M.:
Lawrence Co. (29-4) v. Lou. Doss (27-5)

12:30 P.M.:
S. Laurel (27-6) v. (1) Christian Co. (29-2)

5:30 P.M.:
Mason Co. (23-10) v. Taylor Co. (24-8)

7 P.M.:
S. Oldham (28-5) v. Owensboro Catholic (22-9)

46 comments:

  1. I'm for Lawrence, Christian, Mason and OweCath. Then I'm for Murray, BG, Christian and OweCath. Then I'm for Murray and Christian, and then I'm for Murray.

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    1. Why don't you like Taylor County?

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    2. I'm fine with Taylor County, but I really love Maysville and Darius Miller.

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  2. Another team where both teams are cold to start. With 55.6 seconds left, Doss and Lawrence County are a combined 12-44 from the field. We're tied at 19-all.

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  3. Halftime: Doss 23, Lawrence County 19

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  4. All the high-school basketball games should be played during the work day.

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    Replies
    1. I'm going to follow more baseball this year.

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    2. I saw a thing today that the Masters starts in 18 days.

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  5. A message on the LCHS web page:

    "To make it possible for the students and staff of Lawrence County Schools along with the Lawrence County community to attend the upcoming Sweet Sixteen Boys Basketball State Tournament at Lexington’s Rupp Arena in support of the Bulldogs, all Lawrence County Schools will be CLOSED on Thursday, March 17, 2016. Lawrence County plays at 12:00PM. Any additional changes to the school calendar relative to the State Tournament will be announced immediately following the game on Thursday."

    The web page also says "One TEAM, One DREAM," which I like a lot.

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  6. Here's a statement from the Doss web page:

    "Our Vision: All Doss graduates are technology proficient, business literate, and college or career ready."

    Henry Watterson would be proud.

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  7. By the way, Ken Pomeroy ranks Stony Brook at number 83 in the country -- right between Mississippi State and Arkansas. So this is no walkover for Kentucky tonight.

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  8. The good news is that this is a pretty good game -- Doss leads 35-30 with 3:30 to go in the third quarter. The bad news is that the picture keeps freezing up.

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  9. With 2:16 left in the third, Doss leads 39-36, and the picture is frozen.

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  10. What a third quarter! Doss scored 20 points in 8 minutes. But Lawrence County scored 24 points, and the game is tied at 43 with 8 minutes to go. Lawrence County is being led by Brandon Richardson, who has 15 points after making 5 of 6 three pointers so far.

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  11. For the game, LCHS has made 8-16 from three-point range, and 5-21 from two-point range.

    Doss has made 1-14 from three-point range, and 15-24 from two-point range.

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  12. With 2:13 to go, Doss makes two FT's:

    Doss 56, Lawrence Co. 51

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  13. LCHS shoots a three, misses, gets the rebound, and scores a putback. Timeout LCHS.

    2:01 left:

    Doss 56, Lawrence Co. 53

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  14. Now they're doing a commercial for Murray State. "Like the thoroughbreds we are named for, we have heart and pride."

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  15. Doss ball with 2:01 to go. They barely get the ball in against Lawrence County's press, and Lawrence County fouls with about 1:50 left.

    1st FT: Good!
    2d FT: No good

    LCHS gets the ball, races to the other end, and Timmy Dalton makes a layup.

    1:35 left:

    Doss 57, Lawrence Co. 55

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  16. Oh, wow. Doss beats the press, and is racing up the floor when LCHS fouls again. But this time it's called an INTENTIONAL foul. So Doss gets two shots and the ball.

    Doss makes the two free throws to go up 59-55.

    Then LCHS fouls again.

    Doss makes two more free throws.

    1:21 left:

    Doss 61, Lawrence Co. 55

    That intentional foul has basically killed off Lawrence County's hopes.

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  17. And now Lawrence County is called for TRAVELING at the other end. Doss ball, and that will basically sink Lawrence County.

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    1. I listened to this sequence on my car radio in the parking lot of the Henderson Fantastic Sam's.

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    2. That intentional foul call was rubbish.

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  18. Jalen Hall keeps making FT's for Doss. He's 11-13 from the line in this game, and Doss leads 63-55 with a minute to go.

    Doss has scored 40 points in the second half.

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  19. Final:

    Doss 66, Lawrence Co. 57

    Doss out-rebounded Lawrence County 39-24 in the game, and I think that was the key difference.

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  20. I just want to point out that Tubby Smith is coaching Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament.

    In other news, here's Minnesota's record since Tubby Smith left after taking the Golden Gophers to the Round of 32 in 2013:

    2014: 25-13
    2015: 18-15
    2016: 8-23

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  21. More ice-cold shooting to open the second game. South Laurel -- I almost wrote "Laurel County" -- leads Christian County 17-16 with 2:17 left in the first half.

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  22. Christian County, the number-one team in the Commonwealth, trails South Laurel 21-20 at the half. The Colonels went 8-19 from 2-point range, 0-6 from 3-point range, and 4-6 from the line. South Laurel went 7-13 from 2-point range, 2-10 from 3-point range, and 1-2 from the line.

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  23. I'm surprised we don't see more teams in the State Tournament that can really light it up from the outside -- like a high school version of Golden State. You'd think somewhere, there'd be a collection of kids who could really shoot.

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  24. DOWN GOES COUNTY! DOWN GOES COUNTY!

    South Laurel -- the last remaining team in the Tournament from Eastern Kentucky -- upsets the number-one team in the Commonwealth, 53 to 50. Christian County had a 47-46 lead with 1:56 to play, but South Laurel made a 3-pointer to take the lead, and then the Cardinals hung on for the victory.

    So the teams that were on top of the polls all season -- Christian County and Mercer County -- both fail to make the quarter-finals.

    Now -- time to go look for snacks.

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    1. This one, too ... I caught the end of the Doss-Lawrence game at the Henderson Fantastic Sam's on my way from Madisonville to Evansville, and I pulled off to the same parking lot to catch the end of the South Laurel-Christian game on the way back home.

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  25. Christian County made one of its last five field goals, while South Laurel made six of its last eight.

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  26. So the winners of the 1st, 4th, 6th, 9th, 11th, and 13th regions have advanced to the quarters so far. The winners of the 2d, 7th, 12th, 14th, 15th, and 16th regions are out.

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  27. Taylor County and Mason County are about to tip off, and the TV picture is frozen again.

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  28. Taylor County, disregarding the frozen picture, jumps out to an 8-2 lead with over 5 minutes left in the first quarter. Mason County calls time.

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    Replies
    1. I saw a note on Twitter that Clem Haskins has been at the state tournament both of its first two days.

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  29. This should be a game between a blue team and a red team. Mason County has done their part, showing up in their white-and-blue uniforms that look remarkably like something Tilghman would wear. But Taylor County has black uniforms with red trim, which is not the same.

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  30. On the other hand, the black unis are working. Taylor County leads 16-6 with 3:47 left in the first.

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  31. Right now, Taylor County is running Mason County out of the gym. With 2:48 to go in the first quarter, the Cardinals lead 18-6. Mason is only 3-15 from the field.

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  32. This game is being played at a frantic pace. In the first quarter, Taylor County took 26 shots. They only made eight of them, but that is still better than Mason County has been able to do. After one quarter, Taylor County leads 20-11, which was the score at halftime between NCC and Trinity.

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  33. Taylor County is just too much for Mason County tonight. With 2:52 left in the second quarter, the Cardinals lead Mason County 36 to 15.

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  34. With 6:45 left in the third quarter, Taylor leads Mason 47-28.

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  35. And that's all for me tonight. I'm signing off.

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  36. All four of the teams I was rooting for yesterday lost.

    Go, Newport Central Catholic.

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