10 A.M.: (8) Ashland Blazer v. (14) Bowling Green
12:30 P.M.: (11) S. Oldham v. Jeffersontown
5 P.M.: N. Laurel v. Montgomery Co.
7:30 P.M.: (2) Great Crossing v. (9) Cooper
Unfortunately, the UK game will be going on when Great Crossing plays Cooper, so that game will not get the attention it deserves.
The first game today was a classic: the Ashland Blazer Tomcats and the Bowling Green Purples. Two famous schools with great programs who are used to being in Rupp Arena.
ReplyDeleteIt is 270 miles from Bowling Green H.S. to Ashland Blazer H.S.
ReplyDeleteIn all-time classic, BGHS beats Ashland Blazer 80-74 in overtime. The Purples have played two games in the Tournament so far, and they won both of them in overtime.
ReplyDeleteNow we have the South Oldham Dragons against the Jeffersontown Chargers.
ReplyDeleteThis is another great game. J-Town leads 56 to 51 with one quarter left.
ReplyDeleteIt is 15.6 miles from SOHS in the Oldham County Suburbs to Jeffersontown H.S. in the Jefferson County Suburbs.
ReplyDeleteWith 4:57 left in the game, J-Town leads South Oldham 63 to 57.
ReplyDeleteWith 2:13 left, J-Town leads 72-71. SOHS ball. This is one of the best high school games I have ever seen. The quality of play in this tournament has been extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteSOHS hits a three-pointer -- they've scored 17 points in less than three minutes. J-Town comes back and misses a three-pointer -- gets the rebound. Misses another three-pointer -- gets the rebound. Draws a foul. Timeout with 1:39 left. SOHS leads (for now) 74 to 72.
ReplyDeleteJ-Town -- their players are wearing black uniforms that say "The Town" -- makes the first FT and misses the second. But J-Town gets the rebound and is fouled again. This time J-Town misses both FT's -- but they get another rebound. They miss a driving shot in the lane -- but the rebound is tied up. J-Town has the arrow, and this time they score. J-Town leads 75-74 with 1 minute left.
ReplyDeleteThe Town?!?
DeleteJ-Town commits a foul with 1 minute left. SOHS takes the ball out of bounds. J-Town commits another foul with 55 seconds left. SOHS takes the ball out again. With 37 seconds left, and J-Town desperately trying to prevent a three-point shot, SOHS drives to the basket and scores. South Oldham leads 76 to 75 with 37.8 seconds to go. What a game!
ReplyDeleteI thought last year's tournament -- which came down to Lyon Co. and Harlan Co. -- was one of the best ever played. This year's tournament is even better.
ReplyDeleteSOHS is 15-38 from three-point range.
ReplyDeleteSOHS comes out in a zone -- but jumps on the point guard, creates another tie-up, and this time the arrow favors SOHS. They have the ball and the lead with 25 seconds to go.
ReplyDeleteJ-Town fouls with 15.6 seconds left. SOHS takes the ball out.
ReplyDeleteJ-Town fouls again with 14.6 seconds left. SOHS takes the ball out again. The next one should send SOHS to the line.
ReplyDeleteWith 11.7 seconds left, J-Town fouls again. Now SOHS will shoot one-and-one.
ReplyDeleteThey don't have one-and-one, so SOHS will shoot two. They miss them both. Now J-Town can win. They come down and get the ball into the lane, but try to make one extra pass, and the pass goes awry. In the scramble, J-Town is called for traveling. SOHS gets the ball back with 3.4 seconds to go. SOHS still leads 76 to 75.
ReplyDeleteJ-Town has outrebounded SOHS 44-21. If they had simply taken any shot, they probably could have scored off the rebound even if they missed.
ReplyDeleteSOHS inbounds the ball, J-Town can't commit a foul in time, and the game is over. South Oldham wins 76 to 75 in one of the best games I have ever seen.
ReplyDeleteSo South Oldham will meet Bowling Green tomorrow morning in the semifinals.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching Cooper Flagg last night and watching the games in the KHSAA, I'm starting to think that we may on the verge of a new golden age of basketball. The sheer talent I've seen this year is some of the best I can remember.
ReplyDeleteBasketball is so much fun. I played Thursday night for the first time in months, and I loved every second.
DeleteThe evening session has begun with the Montgomery Co. Indians facing the North Laurel Jaguars.
ReplyDeleteIt is 86.6 miles from Montgomery Co. H.S. in Mount Sterling to N. Laurel H.S. in London. Most of that trip is on I-75 South.
ReplyDeleteAt the half, N. Laurel leads 34 to 31.
ReplyDeleteI'm preparing for the UK/UT game by listening to "Ridin' the Storm Out."
ReplyDeleteIf I'm right, Cooper Flagg will have to beat Alabama, Houston, and Florida to win the National Championship. If he does that, he will go down as one of the greatest college players in this century. The only two freshman to pull off that sort of trick in this century were Carmelo Anthony and Anthony Davis. They both turned out to be pretty good.
ReplyDeleteLast night, he definitely looked as though he could do it.
ReplyDeleteWith one quarter to go, Montgomery Co. leads N. Laurel 52 to 50. This is the best State Tournament I can remember.
ReplyDeleteThat is, it's the best in terms of the overall quality of the games. Last year's tournament had a spectacular ending, as did several tournaments in the 1980's, and the tournament where Christian Co. beat Rowan Co. in the final.
ReplyDeleteIt's still possible that Great Crossing will roll to an easy triumph. But the general quality of the games has been extraordinary so far.
ReplyDeleteOK, so Montgomery Co. beat North Laurel 69 to 66. Another great game!
ReplyDeleteThe last quarterfinal features the Great Crossing Warhawks against the Randall K. Cooper Jaguars.
ReplyDeleteIt is 62.8 miles from Cooper to Great Crossing, straight down I-75.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good day to mention that Rick Bozich -- a committed IU fan who has always loathed UK and all its works -- has a column arguing that Mark Pope was the right coach for UK.
ReplyDeleteAfter tonight, by the way, UK's record in games officiated by Doug Shows will be 99-46. In the last two seasons, the Cats have gone 4-7 with Shows on the floor, including two losses in the SEC Tournament and one loss in the NCAA Tournament.
ReplyDeleteAfter one quarter, Great Crossing leads 14 to 12.
ReplyDeleteWith 2:21 left in the first half, Great Crossing leads 21-14.
ReplyDeleteGreat Crossing leads 22-16 at the half. This is a tough, physical game in which neither team has looked very sharp.
ReplyDeleteMichigan State leads Ole Miss 65-63 with less than a minute to go. There is a real risk that Michigan State gets to the Final and loses to Duke by about 18 points.
ReplyDeleteHere are Duke's appearances in the National Title Game:
ReplyDelete1964: Lost to UCLA
1978: Lost to Kentucky
1986: Lost to Louisville
1990: Lost to UNLV
1991: Beat Kansas
1992: Beat Michigan
1994: Lost to Arkansas
1999: Lost to Connecticut
2001: Beat Arizona
2010: Beat Butler
2015: Beat Wisconsin
The bottom line is that you don't want to see a team from the Midwest up against Duke in the Final.
With one quarter to go, Great Crossing leads Cooper 36 to 28.
ReplyDeleteGreat Crossing wins 49 to 36, and they advance to the semifinals.
ReplyDeleteSo here are tomorrow's semifinals:
ReplyDelete(14) Bowling Green v. (11) S. Oldham
Montgomery Co. v. (2) Great Crossing
So far, in its march through the Tournament, Great Crossing has eliminated:
No. 5 Lex. Bryan Station (59-56 in the 11th Region Semifinals)
No. 3 Lex. Frederick Douglass (59-57 in the 11th Region Final)
No. 9 Cooper (49-36 in the State Quarterfinal)
In other words, Great Crossing had to win five games in a row to get to the State Semifinals, and three of those games were against teams ranked in the Top Ten.