One close game yesterday -- thanks Eric for the coverage on McCracken County. And four impressive winners:
(4) Elizabethtown 65, George Rogers Clark 44
(5) Lou. Ballard 61, (8) Bowling Green 53
(10) Ashland Blazer 80, Knox Cent. 44
Ft. Thomas Highlands 63, McCracken Co. 53
Until yesterday, I was pretty confident that the E-Town/Ballard winner would capture the state championship. But Blazer and Highlands have both been really impressive. Anyway, here are the semi-finals (all times Central):
Saturday, April 3:
10 A.M.: (4) Elizabethtown Panthers (21-2) v. (5) Lou. Ballard Bruins (21-2)
1 A.M.: (10) Ashland Blazer Tomcats (22-4) v. Ft. Thomas Highlands (28-4)
For this year, the KHSAA has gone back to its old format, with the two semi-finals early in the day and the final at 7 PM Central tonight. I love the old format -- I always thought it was cool that you had to win two games in one day to be the State Champions. So I'm glad to have it back.
I go into every tournament assuming that the Seventh Region will win the title, so I am surprised to report that E-Town leads Ballard 63-51 with 1:43 left in the game.
ReplyDeleteJust a huge day for sports. The KHSAA finals and the NCAA Final Four on the same day.
ReplyDeleteE-Town up 69-51 with 1:04 left and I'm calling this game for the Panthers. What an impressive team they are. Tom Leach just said that they are entertaining to watch, and he is right about that. They are small and quick, with great passing and shooting. Today they have simply been too quick for a very good Ballard team. Just a very strong performance.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time Tom Leach has called the KHSAA Tournament in 24 years, and this is the last game he's going to call. So there's a nice moment where the KHSAA Network people thank him for doing these games. What a kind thing for him to do. He didn't just do the games -- he did a lot of prep work and seemed to know all of these teams as well as he knows the teams in the SEC. If you didn't know better, you would think he'd been doing high school games all year. He is the best announcer in college sports, and we are all really lucky to have him.
ReplyDeleteE-Town wins 69-53, and the state champion will not be a private school or a school from Louisville.
ReplyDeleteAt the half, Highlands leads Ashland 36-32.
ReplyDeleteHighlands is up 51-44 with one quarter to go, and I think the Bluebirds just have too much offensive firepower for the Tomcats.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, back in December Blazer defeated E-Town 35-14 to win the 3A football title.
ReplyDeleteHighlands, which has long been a huge power in 5A football, went 5-6 this year. But they could make up for it now.
ReplyDeleteSo we will have a 3A school versus either a 3A school or a 5A school for the title. That's why we let everyone play for the state title. In most states, E-Town would never have had the chance to show what it could do against Ballard. Ballard would have cruised to the 6A title, and E-Town would have been left to battle Ashland for the 3A title. But that's really not fair.
ReplyDeleteHighlands leads 60-50 with 2:42 left, and Highlands will be going to the Final.
ReplyDeleteAshland's offense collapsed in the fourth quarter -- the Tomcats looked exhausted out there -- and Highlands rolled to an easy 66-50 win.
ReplyDelete