mercury728

You're hoping for too much... cause there are no good refs in our region. Let me just say that it is nice to have a balanced discussion with opposing fans. Too many on this board wear rose-colored glasses; their team can do no wrong and it is all the ref's fault. Wrapping up this game, the complexity changed tremendously when Ray got his 2nd foul... sending him to the bench. Till that point, WHH was scoring down low, plus getting their fair share of boards and 2nd chance points. With the McEwen D having to sag back to protect the paint, WHH was able to have some good inside-out play, with their guards hitting some 3s.... riding off the emotions of the game. Ray's departure allowed McEwen to concentrate more on Bedwell. With more help D, Bedwell was slowed a bit, and the guard's shots weren't falling. McEwen begin winning the boards at that point, and WHH misses resulted in one and dones. WHH took some poor shots, and they committed some silly TOs as they tried to force passes. You could feel the momentum slowly turning as the lead was gradually chipped away, thanks in large parts to GM's drives to the rim. He attacked all night, and WHH was slow to help on D by closing down the lane once the first defender was beaten off the dribble. GM is why McEwen would win 7 out of 10 times these 2 teams play. You have to have smart guard play, by a solid ball handler who can break down a D with penetration, leading to a layup or a nice dump down low. WHH is still developing that aspect of their team, with their PG being a SOPH. WHH is dependent on their bigs, and if those guys can not keep themselves out of foul trouble, it will be a short post season for us.

Now - let's look at this objectively. First - if you are dribbling the ball, you can't clear out with your forearm or duck your shoulder and dribble into a defender. Some of the charges were legit. Garrett was called from some reach-ins too, as he was going for steals. Now, the last charge was questionable, and it could have gone either way depending on your vantage point. For what it is worth - I thought it was a block. In regards to fouls, WHH lost their 2 best players as well, both big men... and were left playing with a freshman big man. Let's also remember that the first 6 fouls of the game were called on WHH, and they also received 2 Ts. If you want to talk about acting, there is 1 certain McEwen player that put on a show, and anyone at the game knows who this refers to. He was allowed to get away with a lot, including slapping the floor and kicking the scorers table while throwing a fit. This happened to be the same player involved in the Reid tackle play. His huffing and puffing got him taken out of the game, and he looked like he was going to blow the proverbial gasket during other times of the game. In the end, there were bad calls on both sides. Touch fouls were called at times, when contact reminiscent of a football game was allowed to happen. Things have a way of evening out in most cases though, and it happened in this game as both teams were deep into their bench in OT. Let's also keep in mind that McEwen had to hit a long range, running and contested 3 just to get into OT. That shot is missed 99% of the time. With all this being said. McEwen is still the most complete team in the district from top to bottom. Guard play is strong, and it will carry ya'll far. McEwen is still the team to beat in the region.

Reid totally did not deserve the T... it was completely unjustified. He was essentially tackled during a transition play off a loose ball turnover. The McEwen player was holding his leg, almost in bear hug fashion, to prevent him from getting down court, after failing to come up with the ball after diving in on Reid. Reid kept trying to jerk his leg free. I don't blame the kid, because a foul was called late on the McEwen player, and he was slow to let go. Reid had just forcefully jerked his leg free and was in amazement that it took so long for the ref to blow the whistle. Most everyone thought the T was on the McEwen player at first, for diving into a player who was standing and in control of the ball. It was a slopply play, and there was a lot of that allowed to take place all night.

Vitulli was QB in last year's scrimmage, and Reid may have played a little at the end. Moore didn't move back to QB until a few games into the season.

I'm not so sure about that Rebel Boy. You're right, the game was tightly called... but more so on one team. The foul count was 7-1 by the end of the first qtr, with 3 WHH starters sitting on the bench. The only foul called on Huntland at that time was a charge. This allowed Huntland to stay in the game early, as WHH had already ran out to a double digit lead. The fouls quickly racked up against WHH at the start of the 3rd QTR, forcing the 2 WHH big men to the bench until into the 4th QTR. The WHH 5 was given 3 fouls in a little more than 4 minutes, and they were weak considering some of the contact being allowed. Again, once the guys had to sit, Huntland was able to make a run and take over the game. You're right about some make up fouls going aginst the Hornets later in the game. But by that time - the damage was already done and WHH was taken out of the game. It had been said prior that WHH wouldn't get many calls in that gym, and that certainly proved true during the critical parts of the game. 2/3 of the officiating crew was horrible. Too bad WHH couldn't have completed the 10A sweep over 9A. No credit was coming the way of 10A from the south part of the state. Seems to be that way each year... in both BB and FB. Good job 10A!

Good One BDP. Man - just imagine where we'd all be if the schools were not split. There is a lot of talent in this town. Put it all together, and we're talking perennial powerhouse. It is a shame.

Look Polo - you need to cut Brown some slack. I happen to know that he called ER to discuss the situation before the decision was made to allow the kid to play FB @ WHH. My understanding was that the ER administration was OK with this. Those who know Brown know that you will not find a more classy coach in the area. I will also say your comment about the timing of the move is missing some details, in that things were in the works prior, and not everything was done in one weekend as you imply. And by the way, you don't hear WHH folks complaining about the Bell kid, who lives 1.5 miles from Heritage, but he goes to ER for "ATHLETIC" reasons.

I don't know about that Ben. Yes it was homecoming, but I believe the game was called pretty doggone fairly across the board. I didn't see any calls on either side that left me shaking my head. Both teams shot themselves in the proverbial foot on several occassions. The unfortunate thing for WHH is that with the offense they run, they are unlikely to get themselves out of any big down & distance holes they create with holding, false starts, and the "offsides on the offense" calls they're plagued with. WHH is short on talent and experience, and they fall short on the basics of blocking and tackling. On the other hand, NCS is talented, and they are legit. I don't know if they can get past JB, but it should be a heck of a matchup.

I can say that Coach Brown did talk to some senior players in advance, and they were fine with Kent joining to team. Keep in mind that Kent already knew several of the guys on the squad. It is also my understanding that Brown called ER to talk to their administration before he made his decision, and they were OK with Kent playing. Look, the schools are close, but they're not extremely huge sports rivals. As far as the relationship between schools goes, nothing stopped ER from hiring a WHH assistant coach last season. Does anyone think Chatman didn't use that guy's knowledge of WHH to develop a game plan for last year's match-up. Of course he did... right down to the point where a certain WHH player was targeted for some extra chippy stuff on the side in an attempt to draw some 15 yd PF calls... which worked to perfection. Look, WHH has it's work cutout for it... especially with BDP across the road. There have been instances where players cross the line to play for Porter. In addition, WHH has lost players to JP2, BA, Ensworth, and of course the Bell kid to ER in the last few years. No one at WHH raises cain over stuff like this. It is time we have a quality player transfer INTO our program for a change, even if it is for half a season. We can certainly use the help.

Dang Pitchfork... ya'll got plenty of talent over there... it is just young. Ya'll need to leave some players for our side of town.

Speaking of Bell... doesn't he live in White House; about a mile from Heritage? The WHH running game would have been a potential monster if he wouldn't have went up to ER instead.

Hey Upperman Fans... what can we expect from your team this year? WHH is reeling after a big loss last week. Injuries are racking up, and quality depth is becoming an issue. What are your thoughts on how this game will play out?

I second New's thoughts. I was thoroughly stunned at the outcome of this contest. CA dominated in almost every phase of the game. The only thing WHH excelled @ was kick returns, and half of those were killed by penalties. WHH threw multiple interceptions and put the ball on the ground way too many times to stand a chance in this game. CA's offense excuted to perfection, and WHH couldn't tackle Betty White. Any good coach who has watched game film of WHH can easily devise a game plan to attack their defense. Even though H2OTown was beaten, they showed how to attack the base WHH defense. Every team since has done the same thing, and I expect Upperman to try a similar approach this week. Unfortunately, I also expect WHH to come out and play the exact same base D that they use week in and out. WHH has also become very predictable with the offense, which is extremely erratic due to a lack of cohesion and rhythm. Several of the WHH skill players have been switched back and forth between muliple positions week in and week out, which is frustrating to them as well. Some of this is due to injuries, which have hit WHH hard this season. To me, the players are not being put in the best positions to suit their strengths plus help the team... in most cases. Their youth (only 4 seniors left playing) plus extremely poor tackling and lack of overall team speed has been showing more and more since the season started.

Anyone have any thoughts about this week's game? I have heard that CA is an improving team. What should WHH expect from CA this year?

Wow... there seems to be a lot of confidence in the Eagles for this game. I saw the Page game, and I'm not sure if that confidence is founded. Eagleville does seem to have some scrappiness to them. Special teams may play a part in this game, especially if WHH can block a punt of two. I am going to go out on a limb and say WHH by at least 28 points, because I believe WHH has more playmakers offensively.

Thanks Eagle. Last year's game was a blow out; I think Heritage really caught Eagleville by surprise with their offense. Most of those skill players returned this year, so it will be interesting to see how the Eagleville D holds up. I hope mother nature doesn't play a part in this game. Looks like a 40% chance of rain on game night. What will the Eagleville offense look like this season?

OK all of you Eagleville fans, what should we expect this coming Friday night? I believe this will be a good game. WHH is still very much a work-in-progress, being very young across the board. What is the story on Eagleville?

What in the world is going on with ER? Can someone who attended the game give an analysis of what happened? According to some folks on this BB, ER still has a good amount of size and talent. What gives?

I heard on Saturday that the kid from Watertown is OK. He had no issues with movement of limbs, but he was having back spasms. Looks like there is no long term issues - good news.

I must say that I am shocked by the CA/Forrest result. I would normally think Forrest would be a minimum of 5 scores better than CA... on a bad day for the Rockets. Does anyone have info on this game? Is this a down year for the Forrest? What about NCS/Hillwood, which appears to have been a close affair? Is all of this talk being done by NCS fans being backed up, or does Hillwood suck anyway?

For those of us not overly familar with Coach Brothers, why is his addition going to make such an impact? I was under the impression he didn't accomplish much at JP2. If that was the case, why will NCS be any different? This is not a flame - this is an honest question. And - Why so quick to write off Heritage? East has some rebuilding to do too.

Pretty good projection Titansfan... but let's not be too quick to rule out WHH in the semi against McEwen. Heritage, who [on this board] were not expected to do too much this season, were 6 seconds away from a season sweep before the blonde bomber struck. Yes, I know that is why they play the game, but WHH feels like they really let this one get away. I believe they would very much like to have the opportunity to redeem themselves, and I would expect to see a higher level of intensity from WHH if these 2 meet again. Plus, I would not rule out a HC surprise either when they play McEwen. They're (HC) playing better of late, and they could present a real challenge to everyone except CA.

Thanks Ormeinkeig. As New Blue said, WHH got away from running the O, instead trying to let the air out a bit. They also went cold from the outside at the wrong time. And I haven't given any kudos to the McEwen big boy. He played well, and he has a nice soft touch around the basket. I was impressed with his shot, and he got up well for his rebounds. McEwen did a nice job of attacking the 2-3 zone, getting the ball right in the middle for a short jumper on too many occassions. The other thing is the WHH bigs still need to learn how to keep themselves in the game... literally. As I have mentioned before, they're only Sophs, but they got to know when to not give up the cheap foul. Every shot can't be swatted to the stands, and it's crucial to WHH's success for both of them to be in the game as much as possible. There have been too many games were one or both of them has been in foul trouble early in the 2nd quarter.

You're right New... there have been many times when we've tried to drain the clock, and it's hurt us in the end. There has been a game or 2 where WHH has started trying to protect a lead 4 - 5 mins from the end of the game, instead of continuing to run the offense. It is hard to protect the ball for several minutes at a time at this level of play. It always seems that you end up throwing the ball away, you get tied up, commit a lane violation, or get called for an illegal screen. It seldom works, and WHH doesn't shoot free throws consistently enough to hope that the points they get from the stripe will pull them through in a tight game.

Heritage really hurt themselves by allowing some 2nd chance points, having unforced turnovers, and missing the front end of several 1 & 1 opportunities. McEwen was able to keep chipping away, hitting some tough shots in the lane. To me, a couple of them were prayers, but they went in. WHH led the entire game, until one of the little blonde dudes hit a pro-range 3 with about 6 seconds left to give McEwen the lead. WHH tried to inbounds the ball quickly to get down court before McEwen could reset their D. The refs stopped play believing a TO had been called by WHH. They decided that no TO was called, but WHH then had to inbound and get the full length of the court against a D that was ready. Petrone had a fit because the refs stopped play for what was essentially anticpation of a time-out call. The WHH point drove to the base line and dished the ball into the lane to one of the big boys, but he was tied up and the clock expired. Not taking anything away from Mcwen because they played hard and kept themselves in it, but WHH did a lot to lose this game in the final 4+ minutes. 3-4 turnovers will kill you when you're trying to hold on to a narrow lead on the road in a contested district game.