D2 west region

[Edmund]

Briarcrest played very well. The coaching change they made will pay huge dividends for them this year and down the road. I believe they started one junior and the rest sophomores. Should be a good game today between the Saints and Byrne. ECS was never in the game, they were dominated on offense and defense by a much younger and smaller team that was better prepared and better coached. I thought Lausanne looked pretty good as well. Their guard play has improved to more than just Carlos Taylor, and I would expect it to be a close game with Harding.

[mhalionboy03]

Last year's Region Tournament was a Cinderella year, with sub-500 MUS and the young Lausanne team meeting up for the championships. This year, Lausanne comes in with much more respect, but will have to go through Harding to be able to defend their Championship. On the other side of the bracket, this year's Cinderella team, Briarcrest, knocked off ECS in the Quarter-finals and was pitted against Bishop Byrne, who knocked out MUS, in the Semi-finals. In the early game today, Briarcrest's fairy godmother granted its wish as the Saints pulled out a win over Bishop Byrne and secured a berth in sectionals next weekend. Then they needed an opponent. The Harding Lausanne game was a classic post-season game. Lausanne jumped out early and had a double-digit lead over the Lions throughout most of the second quarter. The Lynx led by 9 at the half. But Harding exploded out of the gates in the third quarter, and by the end of the quarter, they had tied the game. Lausanne got the ball first in the fourth, but Harding stole the ball and Mariun Price layed it in to give Harding their first lead of the second half. With a two point lead, Harding held the ball for about half of the fourth quarter. While many questioned this tactic, it was pretty smart. Harding's Trey Williams was carrying three fouls and Lausanne was having two much success getting the ball to Gasol for easy points. Harding travelled before they scored but forced a Lausanne turnover and went up two. Lausanne's Gasol continued to answer, however. Harding's Trey Williams hit a three-pointer to put the Lions up by 3 late in the game, but Gasol answered by going up strong, getting the basket, and the foul. Tied at 44 with under a minute left, Harding held for the last shot. Adam Rodriguez's shot from the elbow was a little too strong, but Trey Williams got the rebound with 2 seconds left but his put-back rimmed out. John Bradford picked that one up and the short put-back rolled off the back of the rim as time expired, sending the game in to Overtime. Gasol dominated overtime as he led the Lynx to a victory over the Lions. Lausanne clinched a trip to sectionals next weekend and will play Briarcrest for the Region Championship tomorrow night at 7:30 at MUS. Harding will play Bishop Byrne for third place and the final spot in sectionals tomorrow at 4:30 at MUS.

GO LIONS!!!

[TheEgoHasLanded]

I was really impressed with Gasol. I think Harding shouldn't have stalled in the fourth up by 2. They had momentum on their side, and Carlos wasn't in the game with 4 fouls...If I was Peters, I would be smiling, cus you could milk the clock to about 3 minutes, sub Carlos and play down 2 with 3 minutes in a game...there are worse basketball situations out there. Good luck to all the teams today as they play.

[Harding4ever]

I think it was smart because Lausanne was on fire. they shot 59% in the game while Harding shot 32%. We got the last shot and got fouled (no call, who cares) and then got a WIDE open layup and missed it. We were to tired after coming back and we werent going to get any calls with everybody in the gym against us. We beat Bishop Byrne by 10 earlier this year, hopefully we can do it again, if not its another Frodden season down the drain.

[mhalionboy03]

I agree with Harding4ever about holding the ball. Harding had all the momentum, but the refs were not calling fouls and Harding appeared a bit tired. As Lausanne showed late in the 4th and in OT, all they have to do is get it too Gasol for an easy basket. I look at like Harding had 3 chances to win the game in the last half of the 4th quarter. #1, MHA hit a 3 pointer to go up 3 and then Harding turned around and fouled Gasol on a made basket and he hit his FT. #2, Trey should have hit his 2 FTs that could have put Harding up by 2. #3, Harding got 3 looks at the basket in the waning seconds; all drew iron but none went in. I think it was excellent that we got that many good looks for a game-winning shot. They just didn't fall. I am very proud of Harding's 2nd half performance, especially in the 4th. We had 3 chances to win the game, and just couldn't pull it off. On the other hand, Harding did terrible in the 1st quarter and in OT. They had no answer for Gasol and played no perimeter defense. Carlos Taylor should have a hand in his face every time he shoots the ball. Lausanne did a good job early in the game blocking Harding's shots, especially the outside shots. The second half performance, was, again, just great. I predict that Harding will demolish Bishop Byrne today and clinch the sectional bid. Hopefully, Lausanne and Harding will win in Sectionals and Briarcrest will lose so that Harding and Lausanne will be able to meet up in the State Championship game. I want to play this team again, because I really believe that we can beat them. If anyone knows what day the West's third seed will play in Sectionals, please post it here or on the Sectional thread, thanks.

GO LIONS!!!

[CoachtFAN]

Harding did not play well in the 4th -- that is what sunk them. Sure Lausanne was beating Harding the whole game percentage and ref wise, but Harding came back 9 points in the third quarter to take the lead. They had so much momentum. Gasol was tired and Taylor was out. If Harding had played for the first few minutes, they probably would have kept scoring on that momentum. Instead they held the ball. That caused our guys to mellow out and Lausanne to get ticked off. Gasol didn't have to run around, and Taylor sat on the bench. This was the ideal time to take a commanding lead. Then when Taylor came back in and Harding was up by 6 or 8, we could have held it. But not at the beginning. Standing around passing the ball when the refs hated us was even more likely to get a violation on us like traveling (which it did). We should have just attacked and gone for the win. I did not like this idea of holding the ball as soon as it started. I was very disappointed that Coach Froedden did that. We can blame the refs for the game, and sure, a lot of it probably was their fault, but we had the lead near the end. We just made a poor choice, and so I can't place the ultimate blame on the refs. It was a poor choice in gameplan in the 4th quarter.

[CoachtFAN]

P.S. - Lionboy - read truthhurts' post... sectional brackets are released after all regional games are completed. read his post: http://www.coacht.com/boards/message.cfm?MID=266224

[Edited by CoachtFAN on 3-1-03 4:49P]

[TheEgoHasLanded]

I agree with you CoachTfan, and from what I understand, many of the parents agreed with your and my sentiments as well. Harding had the lead, the ball, momentum, and the best perimeter player for Lausanne on the bench...I didn't like the idea cus it got them out of the attacking mold, but hindsight is always 20/20...we could easily be sitting here saying it was the coaching move of the century.

[CoachtFAN]

Don't know many details, but Harding just lost to Bishop Byrne by 3 points. Down by 2, Coach Froedden ordered a 3 for the win instead of 2 for the tie -- unsuccessful. I'm guessing they fouled and Byrne made a free throw before the end to go up by three. I was told that Harding was shooting poorly the whole game.

[Edited by CoachtFAN on 3-1-03 6:27P]

[hunbilly]

i remember at the beginning of the year when harding fans were talking about how they were going to dethrone ryan from the state championship. i responsed by saying there were "pretenders" and they will be that way again. and as we all have seen, they have managed to choke again. it would be great if they could get out of there region once, so we could see how great they really are. have a fun offseason and try to come watch ryan win the state

[mhalionboy03]

Harding again came out the gates slow to start the game. In every game that I have seen this year, Harding has lost every single one in which they had a slow start to the game. They usually come back and have a good chance, i.e. loss to MUS in 3OT, loss to Lausanne in OT, loss to CBHS by 3, loss to Olive Branch, etc. The only game that Harding successfully rallied and won that I remember was the Hendersonville game at Bartlett. Today, Harding struggled shooting in the 1st, but Byrne didn't light it up either. Harding had a very good 4th quarter, rallying from a double-digit deficiet to pull with in 2 pts. with 30 seconds left and the ball. Trey Williams went to the baseline for a wide-open 3 pointer for the lead with about 10 seconds left. It was a little too strong and rimmed out and the put back was missed. Harding immediately fouled and Byrne hit only one FT. Down 3 with 9 seconds on the clock, no one was open so Williams took the 3 pointer with a hand in his face but missed, earning Byrne a trip to sectionals, 46-43. Harding's biggest problem, however, was not shooting, but rebounding. Byrne did a very good job of limiting the Lions to one shot and crashed the offensive glass.

In the other game, Lausanne rolled to an easy victory over Briarcrest. Marc Gasol was named to the All-Tournament team. So were Carlos Taylor and Barry Dickens from Lausanne. Trey Williams from Harding and Charles Hampton from Byrne were as well. There was also another player from Byrne and a player from Briarcrest on there too.

So, these teams go to Sectionals:

#1 Lausanne

#2 Briarcrest

#3 Bishop Byrne

Good luck to all the teams from the West!

 

P.S. Coachtfan, why are you so down on Coach Froedden. This is the first time since the 1970s that Harding has even been somewhat competitive in boys basketball. I'd say that Coach Froedden has done a darn good job building up this program. It stinks that he hasn't gotten a trip to Murfreesboro yet. Let's look back over the past 3 years at the games that have ended Harding's season. 2001 - loss to Father Ryan in Sectionals in overtime by 3 points. 2002 - loss to ECS in Region Quarter-finals in double-overtime by 2 points. 2003 - loss to Bishop Byrne by 3 points. That's a sum total of 8 points. None of those losses are even two possession ball games. Coach Froedden has had the team in a position to win for three years now. But he can't go out and play for them. You can't blame him for Billy May's 3 pointer at the buzzer with a hand in his face. Or for a terrible call at the buzzer. Or a three point shot from his best player that was just ever so slightly too strong. Teams get tough breaks. Harding just gets them more than others. I think that Coach Froedden is a wonderful Coach and I thank him for the three years of great basketball that I have seen from his club. I supported him in his victories and I'm not about to waver in defeat. Like Ego said, hindsight is 20/20. I'm sure Coach Froedden could now think of 10 different plays he could have called at any given moment of the game last night or tonight that could have changed the outcome, but under those circumstances, there isn't, you don't get to sit down and go through the playbook, or consult with the hundreds of coaches sitting in the stands, a.k.a. fans. A coach couldn't ask for better circumstances: you're best sharpshooter wide open on the baseline for three, your best player gets a putback, your Senior forward get one last chance; your best player is wide open for three on the baseline. That's good coaching, but players miss shots. We could very, very, very easily be sitting here calling him Coach of the Year. Instead, your dissing him. Not I. Congratulations, Coach, on a great year and a great job! Better luck next year.

GO LIONS!!!

[Edited by mhalionboy03 on 3-1-03 10:47P]

 

[frhsrules]

Hunbilly....FRHS rocks...Harding folks seem to be very proud as well...They are basically very cool and very spirited...cut them slack...and go IRISH...PS....their girls v-ball team beat ours to oust us out of the state tourney....after we UPSET harpeth hall....Harding Academy is a justifiably good school.