(Memphis) East 75 - Houston 61

[brownhut]

Houston came out smoothly running their offense going up by as much as 7 in the first and early into the second quarter, then East started being aggressive on defense. I looked up and saw Houston leading 21-14. I look up after East's run and it was East 34 - Houston 21. Houston never got close again.

With one minute left in the third and East up by 22, Houston started fouling to put East on the line. it didn't work. East remained up from between 19 and 25 the rest of the way until Houston scored at the end with East's subs in.

On Houston's behalf, they looked a bit sluggish after their quadruple overtime victory over Northside yesterday afternoon, but tonight the more talented team won.

Congratulations Houston on a great season.

[Guest thelane]

Good summary... the ot game certainly weakened Houston. However, East is REALLY good. They shoot the ball great. I think had HHS not lost the district championship game, it would be HHS and East coming to the Boro... HHS is better than Central and Melrose, but!

Congrates to Coach Mac and the HHS girls, 29-4... Good Luck to East.

[MemphisEastFan]

It was a really good game up until the second half where I really didn't understand Houston's gameplan. Early in the first half, Houston was finding some success dumping the ball down low for some easy looks. Then later, like brownhut mentioned, East started playing better defensively and got a comfortable lead. WHat happened next really boggles me. After halftime, Houston begins this "intentional foul" campaign and sends East to the line an ungodly amount of times. They were successful in stopping the clock alot; however, two things went terribly wrong for Houston. They didn't do anything with the ball when they got possession and East was making their free throws. Oh well...GO MUSTANGS!!!

 

Up next...the rivalry of the city...

 

EAST vs. MELROSE

 

[Guest thelane]

Maybe it had something to do with East holding the ball. HHS had to try and get the ball some way... Yes it did not work, but neither would just standing there watching Sims hold the ball under her arm. HHS did not make good use of their possessions either, no legs... East is a GREAT shooting team...GOOD LUCK EHS

[caramelcutiepie]

East didn't HOLD the ball...holding the ball is when you do it for long periods of time and is evident by a LOW SCORING game, which, in this case, is irrelevant. They just wanted to bring Houston out of the zone and I don't see anything wrong with strategy...the key is making a team play your game. East switched up and did so many things--they are one of the best coached teams in the area. They pressed full court, half court, penetrated to the basket and dished and just played GREAT basketball. What makes them so good is that they don't only have athletes, but athletes who are fundamentally sound--can defend, pass, shoot from the outside and understand the concept as a whole. A team like that would be hard for almost anyone to beat which is why I don't understand how Melrose won two times against them. The only weakness I see for East is having letdowns at certain points in the game...last year, they were a "quick-start" team and sometimes this year, they start off slow. I really like watching them play. They are confident in almost any situation (except for the 20 to 4 fouls for Lawrence county last year). Houston was not quick enough for East except for #10 who was the only one who wasn't scared towards the end. Houston is fundamentally sound but with the exception of #10 and #13 (boy is SHE GOOD),the athleticism is at best moderate. A lot of people place too much emphasis on athleticism and the other half place too much on fundamentals when the truth is, the better teams have a players that have more than a fair share of both, plus a little talent (like the Lady Vols). East got down early, but was used to getting down by playing in the tough district 16AAA. Houston probably had not had a test like that except for Kirby and they are good, but only dress 7 or 8 who are not similar to East experience wise or depth wise. I think that Houston would have been a problem for so many teams at state and its sad that they can't go because they really are a well-coached, good shooting and fundamentally sound team. I like the post players' footwork and grit, even though they are thin. I will agree with MemphisEastFan, though...I haven't seen play that dirty since the Boston Celtics team that had Danny Ainge or the Bad boy Detroit Pistons with Bill Laimbeer.

[defranco]

We all know that East is an outstanding team, possibly the best of all the city teams. But let's face it, Houston was exhausted from playing four overtimes less than 24 hours prior to the East game. Any team would be.

 

In the first period of Wednesday's semifinal, Houston showed it could handle East, but then fatigue set in. Houston and East had similar records, similarly tough schedules (do the research), and Houston hadn't lost by more than five points all year. The fact is, East was well-rested and dodged a bullet by facing a tired Houston squad. It would have been great to see these two powerful teams face each other when they were both at full strength.

 

Hey, no disrespect to East. But let's keep it real.

[defranco]

A couple people said that Houston played dirty against East. Are you friggin' kidding me?

[brownhut]

As a completely non-partisan observer of the game, i didn;t think that Houston's play should be considered dirty in any way. Yes, the fouls were awkward looking, but this was because the East girls were so fast and usually almost completely by the defenders before the foul had a chance to take place!

Seeing both teams for the first time, I was so impressed with Houston's ball movement and skills. I knew from the beginning that it was a shame for one of the teams to have to go home, but that was Houston's fault for not taking care of Kirby in districts.

When East turned up the "D" . . . whew!

As for East holding the ball, that was Houston's choice to control by either switching to man (not really an option) or extending the zone (which they soon did).

Great game!

[trojanbob]

Houston plays physical. The only bad foul in yesterday's game was on 23, after she made a bad pass and that was frustration. She and 13 will get in one or two hard shots on the other team a game. 22 is the one who will really give fouls that are uncalled for although yesterday she was just trying to follow the Coach's instructions and you could tell she thought it was a waste of time. Houston was tired but I agree, they should have taken care of business against Kirby.

[zonepress]

This was two of the best teams in the state. Too bad one had to leave... HHS didnot take care of business, but Kirby is also really good. East has great athletic ability and shoots the ball great. HHS has great passing and post play. I only wish they could have met under different conditions, Coach Jones at East "thanked" N.S. for the 4 ot game. She knew it helped her team. Coach McCrary knew all season it would come down to HHS/East, but he hoped in the Region Championship. GOOD LUCK EAST!!! bring back the "gold ball". Great season Houston, they return a lot of good, big players, and their Middle school team was 23-3, watch out.