Marion Co. Basketball Tourney

[ColtsKurt]

Well, I visited the Speedway HS gym this evening for the first time for the NC v Roncalli game. I think I have now attended all the traditional City and County school's gyms.

Not a bad gym, but has the most god-awful colors I've seen yet (lime green tiles up about 8 ' from the floor, then the brown and yellow school colors above. They should consider putting some decent lighting in there as well. It seemed dingy.

NC won handily, but I have to admit the Rebels were gamers, as expected. Had a 5'5" guard (#11) that was quite the pistol. Also had a 10th grader (#34) that filled it up pretty good. NC played a subpar game, couldn't hit from outside (except for 1 underclassman), and were horrible from the foul line, but their defense was way too much for the Rebels and the Panthers pounded it to the rim time and time again. Not sure what class Roncalli plays in, but they should be very competitive as their season progresses. A shame they had to match up with the state's #4 ranked 4A team in the opening round.
It was amazing the difference in the style of play between a northside urban, predominately black, big school team and that of a much smaller southside, predominately white, private parochial school that enjoyed a decided height advantage.

In the opening tilt of the evening, the Speedway Sparkplugs outlasted the Lutheran (yep, the ones CN allegedly threw a non-no against) Saints by two. It'll be another game of contrasts tomorrow evening at Franklin Central as the winners meet.

This is the first time for seeding of the top 4 teams (NC, Pike, WC, LN), which should ensure a very competitive round at Southport Fri eve.

This is ColtsKurt reporting LIVE from Speedway, well, actually from the far NEside, for the DBFF.

[BeaArthursPackage]

I really like the county tournament. Kiefer and Mitchell will both tell you it's tougher to win the county than the state, because of the number of good teams you have to beat in the span of about a week. With the seeding that might not be the case anymore, at least for LN, NC and Pike. I don't go to the finals or anything, so I kinda like the possibility of two powers playing early with the blind draw. In any event, that's still a pretty prestigious title to be Marion County champs.

[ColtsKurt]

NC tops LN in the first game @ 6 pm tonight at the fantastic Southport gym.

LN kept pounding it inside to their 6'10" dude and NC popped from in, out, wherever they could. The Wildcats built a 10 pt lead in the 3rd, but then the NC defense took control and LN wilted. NC had a 10 pt lead with 1:30 to go, but couldn't hit their foul shots down the stretch and held on for a 4 pt win.

Should be a good final tomorrow, but too bad no one will see it. Game time is 4:00 so it doesn't interfere with the Colts game, but that won't matter much. Attendance will be limited to parents of players for the most part, I expect.

[fbtj]

Originally Posted by ColtsKurt

NC tops LN in the first game @ 6 pm tonight at the fantastic Southport gym.

LN kept pounding it inside to their 6'10" dude and NC popped from in, out, wherever they could. The Wildcats built a 10 pt lead in the 3rd, but then the NC defense took control and LN wilted. NC had a 10 pt lead with 1:30 to go, but couldn't hit their foul shots down the stretch and held on for a 4 pt win.

Should be a good final tomorrow, but too bad no one will see it. Game time is 4:00 so it doesn't interfere with the Colts game, but that won't matter much. Attendance will be limited to parents of players for the most part, I expect.

The kid at Pike, Teague, is the real deal. IU's recruiting him hard, and I hope, for the sake of hoping, he'll end up there. But I think he'll end up at the masqueraded professional program in Lexington.

[ColtsKurt]

Originally Posted by fbtj

The kid at Pike, Teague, is the real deal. IU's recruiting him hard, and I hope, for the sake of hoping, he'll end up there. But I think he'll end up at the masqueraded professional program in Lexington.

He is a top flight recruit, smooth as pudding with a sweet outside shot. Has a strong pedigree working for him too.

The only rub on him is his build, which is lean, at best. When you compare Smith-Rivera and T. Johnson of NC's backcourt, they look like NFL caliber MLBs. (But hey, I guess a guy that wore #31 right here proved that you don't have to look like Hulk Hogan to do alright.)

[ColtsKurt]

LN & NC rematch tonight was a blowout. Can't imagine LN has ever suffered such a loss.

NC's defense was the biggest factor, but Terone Johnson scoring the initial 19 points for NC certainly had an impact. 99-55 was totally unexpected.

Now its time to see if LN folds and calls it a season or steps up and tries to salvage some pride. 44 points. That was ridiculous!