bigbird

I was not sitting too far away from the kids I think you are talking about and I think it was actually some Temple kids who transferred with their new school friends cheering for Temple. There seem to be more relationships between Temple and Silverdale because of recent transfers. I have no clue about the David Brainerd kids. There were some TTU students in the stands getting rowdy also. The truth is, everyone likes to see Grace lose /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" /> Just so that unruly student section will shush /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" /> Of course, they earned the right to holler last night...

Congratulations to Grace on a well played game against Temple. Grace was the better team on the floor tonight. I said earlier that the key to Temple's win was James Kemp getting his points. Well done, Grace! Temple played hard and never quit and I was very proud of the effort on the floor. The players came out hard during the first few minutes and I thought that Grace was in for a brutal show of Temple's prowess but then it was like someone flipped a switch and the team that took the floor during the beginning of the game went on vacation and left us trying to play catch up the rest of the game. Thanks Grace and Temple for the adrenaline fix. I had been "jonesing." /cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="B)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" />

Does it have anything to do with the Padeia Proposal, the philosophy upon which the school was built?

The key for Temple to win against Grace on Tuesday is James Kemp. Jeremy Sexton is going to do what he always does, but if James does not get enough attempts from beyond the arc, it makes it hard to win. If Jeremy, James, and Brandon Andrews are all on, I seriously doubt any single a team in the state can beat Temple.

Give us a break on the whole recruiting thing. Temple may very well have been guilty of recruiting but they were never charged with that crime. Whatever crimes they were charged with they have paid their dues and as far as I know, none of the people involved with the problem are at the school. Those of us who are left had nothing to do with it and, I for one, am getting weary of immature people who have run out of intelligent things to say continuing to throw out ignorant charges in the middle of an excellent discussion about basketball. The rivalry between CSAS and Temple has been for a long time, very classy and respectful. It would be nice to keep it that way. I could not say the same thing about the Grace and Temple rivalry until this year. This is the first year in some time that the rivalry seemed at least cival. I am grateful for that. There is some very exciting basketball ahead for our region. Does anyone have butterflies, yet?

Temple could just as easily be the team packing it in early. CSAS played Temple really well at Vance and Grace beat them by three at Grace. The region title will definitely come down to the three (no offense to the other teams who make it to region). I do not think that Temple will go home early but I also thought CSAS would win tonight and did not think Grace would beat Temple at the last match up.

I think CSAS will win this one. It does not matter which Grace team shows up, the same gritty, scrappy CSAS team always shows up. Grace has been playing excellent ball lately but I think they have a melt down on 3rd Street. Winning or losing this one does not matter. The only one that matters is the one at region.

I thought that the district 5 games started on Thursday, February 19.

CSAS definitely has its share of athletes and I agree with you whole-heartedly that they are the most dangerous team in the region. Grace should know that better than anyone since the Patriots ended their season prematurely the last two years. It looks to me like this year's region tournament will be the most closley matched we have seen in a while. Temple could just as easily be the one watching from the stands this year - something I would never have allowed myself to even think (much less say) at the beginning of the season... I did not see the game tonight but how well did the Patriots and Golden Eagles play?

When Grace and Temple played Friday night, it was one of the best games I have seen all season long. If Grace plays against CSAS the way they played us, I believe that Grace will win in a close one. If Grace plays the way they have been playing the rest of the season, they will lose. One thing that I respect about CSAS is that they seem to play consistently most of the time. I would agree that CSAS is peaking. I watched them peak over the course of the season when they finished runner up at the state tournament. I hope that Friday night turns out to be Temple's Silverdale.

Congratulations to the Eagles on an excellent win! You guys earned it. You played an almost perfect game and that was what it took to to beat the Crusaders. Temple played well also but I am not sure that they played nearly as perfect as Grace. John Mattheis had a good game plan against Temple, I guess. James Kemp was limited to one three all game long and very few attempts. Jeremy Sexton had zero threes. It is unusual for Kemp and Sexton to not have two or more. What a great battle with just over a minute in the game and down ten to make it a one bucket game at the end. Good job to the players off the bench who contributed significant minutes and also kept Temple in the game while Sexton sat because of foul trouble. It was absolutely the best game of the season and a great one to end the regular season on (Grace still has a couple more). Bring on District! I thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed the enthusiasm and excitement of Grace's student section! And as much as I hate to criticize, those guys really need to learn some class. The fans were great and the players were great but as for the student section, it really is uncalled for to hold up the newspapers and "boo" our players when they are being announced. I know some may think it is funny but I do not. It shows a lack of sportsmanship. The only other thing I would mention that I found disturbing was the student section screaming in our players faces as they walked off the court to the locker room. I wish that Temple had a student section with as much enthusiasm, who brought as much excitement to the event as Grace's student section does.

The Crusaders will get up for this game. If they play a furious first five minutes Grace will lose heart and Temple will cruise to a 10 plus point win.

I would definitely include CSAS and Grace Baptist in single a.

I strongly disagree with the word "way." But I also do disagree that Grace is/was more talented. Brandon Hermon is not more talented that Jeremy Sexton. Patrick Shaghnessy is not more talented that Jarrod Johnson (tall does not equal talent). Terrell Church and Fuquan Harper are not more talented than James Kemp and Brandon Andrews. Grace's bench is not deeper or more talented than Temple's (I think Temple proved that quite convincingly at the last matchup). We can disagree with each other. No problem /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

I disagree, strongly.

You are right. You only have to be better than the other team once regardless of how many times the other team beats you, like when Humboldt put UC out during the Region Semis in '07. What a shocker. UC took a long time getting over that, almost as long as Humboldt did getting over the semis against Temple that year. I remember that Kevin Skogen (The head coach that year) said he was very glad that the game did not go into overtime. I agreed. Temple had a 20+ lead at halftime and squeaked out a win at the end holding off a furious comeback by Humboldt during the second half. It kind of reminds me of last year's final except that Union City beat Mannassas. By the way, Kevin Skogen did not have a white goatee, he had a full beard with some gray. Greg Brown the assistant had a black goatee. Dan Wadley had a gray goatee at one time, I think. I have not seen Manassas or Humboldt play but I fear/respect them and all the other teams that will make it to the boro. Temple is very good and, from what I have seen on the court, I would favor them to win against any single a team in the state. Temple still has some weaknesses that ought not to exist this late in the season but they also still seem to have never really shifted into their highest gear, either. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out in the end.

I was impressed with the young patriots when Temple played them on Third Street but I was even more impressed with the higher level of confidence and their swagger when they played at Vance Gym. They were never afraid of us and they never quit coming at us until it was over. I think they will beat Grace.

Does anyone know who the other players are in Tennessee, single A that were nominated?

Isn't Jeremy the youngest of four?

You may remember that I posted after the first CSAS/Temple game about how quick and athletic the Patriots were, even though a young team. I was in awe tonight at how well the pats played. Their shot percentage was very high. They had a large number of turnovers in the first half which they converted to points. A couple of our boys were in foul trouble early. An excellent game plan by Dragoo and a good execution by the Patriots. If Grace is to win in the next two matchups with the Patriots, they had better pray hard and be on their game. Temple did not play their best for four quarters and it almost cost them the game. It is a very distinct possibility that it will be Temple and CSAS in the region finals. Wouldn't it be great to see both teams at state again?

I agree!

This year's team seems to not get up for games they know they are going to win. The senior heavy team two years ago came out strong against every opponent for 32 minutes. When they were juniors the previous year it seemed they came out strong at the beginning of every game and would get a big lead, then slow down. This year's team seems to come out a little too relaxed sometimes. I am not sure what you mean that this year's team is not near the team they have been in the past. Last night Temple won by 19. Last year Temple won by 21. I could not find a score for the previous year but I saw where Temple won by 18 & 11 in 05/06, by 36 in the regionals in 04/05, and by 23 in the 03/04 regionals. SP has a very athletic team. That #1 (Terrell Robinson?) did a really good job. What was the name of the really good player who graduated in 06?

I am pretty sure that Grace will win this one but I have to say that it would not be a shock to see the Pats squeeze out a win. I remember two years ago when they had a slow start with a younger team and picked up a lot of momentum as the season went along.

That sounds like a pretty fair assessment... I hope our boys never play again the way they did in Nashville. It was very frustrating for them and me. I am pretty sure that Josh Reaves did not play up in the Battle of the State, though. He broke his arm in the preseason scrimmage against Notre Dame and did not play in a regular game until about a week ago against Knoxville Grace?

I think Temple has yet to play their best game but the games against Walker Valley, North Cobb, and Grace were certainly a few of the best they have played so far. Overall, it was an excellent game just because our shot percentage was high, the bench proved everyone wrong, and our defense was excellent. Grace is a very good team but I just think we "out-defensed"them. I would love to see us not accumulating fouls so quickly like we did Friday night but I have to say it did not seem to hurt us much. The coach is doing an excellent job. I could definitely see this young man become one of the legendary coaches in the state. He is well on his way. Winning1, what did you think was the problem with our play at the "Battle of the State?"