Valley @ Northwest 1-6-10

[independent2012]

That was very unfortunate not stopping the game,congrats to Hank,and the best of luck for the remainder of the year.

[Guru]

Congratulations to Hank. But must we be reminded that no matter how great an individuals performance is, that this is a team game. TEAM. And Coach Villinger (one of the finest human beings I have ever met) did not have an issue with Honoring Hank between regulation an overtime. At That point Scar said no to the honoring of his player. Ultimately in this situation either coach should not have a say. The final decision should be left up to the referees. Plain and simple. Some people need to set aside their emotions and see what really happened here. Hank is a very good High school player and should have been recognized in some way. But stopping the TEAM game in order for an INDIVIDUAL accomplishment to be recognized. Maybe an announcing of the accomplishment while the game was being played should have been done. But it wasn't. Nothing we can do about it now...

Congratulations to Hank Leslie. 1,002points.

And people, get real and stop hating.

[favabeans]

Congrats to Leslie for a great accomplishment.

The stopping of a game has been hashed over on the girls forum. It is the responsibility of the coach whose player is getting the 1000th point to use one of their own timeouts to stop the game for whatever type of celebration they want to do. It is not the responsibility of the refs or other coach to stop the game. You have 30 seconds or 1 min depending on the timeouts you have left to use. Yes, it is a wonderful thing for the player, but there is still a game that has to be played.

[N B Heat]

With that being said I wonder if Coach Scar was out of timeouts with only 14 seconds left that was more than likely the cause. They should have recognized Leslies accomplishment between the end of regulation and beginning of overtime.

[Bo_Diaz]

I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Coach V, but the NW people are more than a little overboard on this... They could have honored the kid, at a dead ball or between OTs or after regulation if NW had held on. You cannot put personal accomplishments ahead of the game, especially if it gives one team an advantage. If Scarberry had a TO left he could have used it, an annoucement could have been made, and all would have been well and good. But without the TO, Valley took the ball out without giving NW the chance to set up and drove the length of the court to get the game tying basket. IMO, NW overreacted to a situation that could have easily been solved by cooler heads... and if you don't go to the opposing coach as the kid is stepping to the line for the FTs and the game on the line. I'm sure Valley, would have been more the happy to stop in the 3rd qtr or early 4th or even recognize him between OT and regulation. The game was the attraction and Leslie's great accomplishment was coincedental. Congrats to the kid on being one helluva bball player and for the outstanding achievment! But as Herm says, you play to win the game... And that was not the time to stop for a ceremony.

[Bo_Diaz]

Does Villinger (You notice I didn't use the word Coach) realize he may have a kid in this situation soon? Yates is already one of the best players around. He should surpass the 1,000 point mark easily. How would he and his family, as well as the Valley fans, feel if he was treated with so much disrespect from another coach. Northwest tried to honor Leslie like every other athlete that hits the impressive 1,000 point club should be. The officials wanted to do the right thing also. But, the Valley staff was too ignorant to realize this is a game of young kids. It should be about the kids. They are also too ignorant to realize this would have given them a free timeout to set up a play. There is no place in high school sports for idiots like Villinger.
On a side not, it was a heck of a game. Both teams played a hard, clean game. Hank Leslie, I congratulate you on a great accomplishment. You have worked hard for and deserve your moment.

I'm sure the Yates family would be okay with the circumstances that happend on Wednesday if the game was not stopped... The biggest problem I seen was that something wasn't said or done after regulation or after the game. There was plenty of time for an annoucement... Valley did not stop anything from happening, except they would not allow a timeout to be called when NW did not have one to use in order to stop play for the announcement... I can't believe this is really an argument.

[my2cents]

Isn't Coach V the guy who runs a full court press up 30 points with 1 minute left in the game. nuff said.

[Slim Jim]

You couldn't have stoped the game for a couple seconds to announce it to the crowd? I see it happen all the time in girls games...Shame on NW and Valley for six weeks for droping the ball on this one...

[eaglegrad]

Northwest was not out of timeouts because after Valley scored with 1 sec. left to tie the game, NW called a timeout to set up a full court lob play if I am not mistaken.

[all-time athlete]

Northwest was not out of timeouts because after Valley scored with 1 sec. left to tie the game, NW called a timeout to set up a full court lob play if I am not mistaken.

they had 1 full

[falconater]

Then why didn't NW use a timeout to honor Leslie. Villinger's first duty is to his team not to honoring a NW player at the exact time and circumstance that NW wanted. Surely, NW's coach realized that Leslie was getting close. Didn't NW have a plan to honor him?

[independent2012]

Listened to game on radio,announcer said coach Scarberry,tried to get a timeout.

[N B Heat]

How was he denied a timeout ?

[independent2012]

How was he denied a timeout ?

valley must have inbounded the ball real fast,not allowing the ref to give Scarberry the timeout.

[marklduckworth]

I do not know any of the players or anything about the situation that many of you have described, but I do know COACH VILLENGER. You can read my name, and no, I am not a teacher and I have never worked for any school system other than to coach basketball. This is something I have done with passion for over 20 years.

Coach Villenger was a varsity asst. in Marietta, Ohio when I played as a senior in 1985. He then invited me to help him coach J.V. basketball in 1987 as a young 20 year old. I learned a great deal about what it takes to be a coach and how to deal with parents, alumni, players, etc. from Coach Villenger. I saw first hand how to conduct yourself with class. I saw coach spend his money on players,( money he didn't have at the time ) and go way above and beyond what would be required from a J.V. coach.

Coach moved to Arkansas from Marietta, and I did not see or hear from him for 20 years. Two years ago at the Coaches clinic in Columbus he heard my name announced for a door prize and he came running down to catch up with me. I told him how successful our teams had been over the years, and that I stole alot of his ideas and used them to be successful. It was then that he told me he had taken the job at Valley. I have been watching the scores since then.

Anyone who knows him at all can easily see his passion and love for the game of basketball. He took an interest in me as a player first, then as a person, and then as an asst. coach. There is no way I would have coached for all of these years if Coach Villinger would not have got me started.

You see people, society is running very short on men like Coach Villinger. I have no doubt what he did for me is no different than what he has done for many, many more along the way. I will always be thankful for Coach Villinger!!!!, and there is no way I could ever re-pay him.

My advice would be to rally around the program. His players have always over achieved and they always will. Be thankful you have a man like this in your school. I can promise you this: I know many coaches from the area and around the district and state, and they aren't getting in line to play against Valley and Coach Villinger.

Hang in there Coach from your old friend in Marietta !!!!!!

[Bo_Diaz]

Like I stated earlier, I'm not the biggest fan of the guy's coaching style or how he makes adjustments... But what I think in that respect doesn't matter. He is a very good man and he treats the kids well, and he's always been great to me and mine. And I'm a firm believer that wins and losses aren't the only thing that makes a coach. Heck, Coach Lowe was ran out of town for god knows what reason and that man won a ton of ballgames.

Mr. Duckworth
That is an excellent post and i couldn't agree more with what you said.

[thompsont2]

congrats to hank leslie!!!!!!!!!!

how was the scoring in this game was it all hank or did other players contribute

[smurray]

Where was the AD in all of this. Waverly's AD is always on top of this kind of stuff. If Leslie scored his 1,000th point at the foul line there would have been no stoppage of the clock and the game would not have been affected by honoring him at that time. Northwest players would have been more distracted than Valley.

Did everyone know at the exact time that he had scored his 1,000th?

[Winchell]

Doesn't matter if the clock was stopped or not. Both coaches have to agree. The head coach and A.D. informed the officials ahead of time and everything was ready.

[smurray]

Everything was ready for what? To recognize him? If everything was ready to recognize him than why didn't it happen? Did they know it was his 1,000th when it happened?