Wheelersburg @ Federal Hocking 1/3/09

[athens78]

Ha, Ha funny stuff. Will Federal be going to Wheelersburg next year.

[drrabbit]

Why doesnt the Whitley kid start? He killed West a few weeks back and I heard on the radio he went into the game at Portsmouth and hit a couple threes, and now a big game at Fed Hocking.

Personally, I would not describe a 2-point performance as killing any team and that was all he scored against West.

He had a nice game against Valley with 13 points and very nice game against Federal Hocking but those are the only two times he has been in double figures. Tyler Craigmiles has scored more than him in a game and has been in double figures as often and he also is not a starter. Offense is not everything and for this team, defense is way more important. Zaide is a freshman who has had to learn the defensive system. As he has improved, he has gotten more playing time and will be a heck of a player in Coach Barrick's system. He has a couple of weaknesses yet that he needs to work on but with experience, they will get better.

Zaide and Nick work well together--just like Cole and Andy. They seem to have a 'feel' for where their cousins are at and can get the ball to them, even in traffic. It adds a bit of zest to watching the games. Erica and Sarah Schmidt do the same for the girls' team.

[JayKay]

Drrabbit - you're correct that the chairs are a possible hazard. Also, no one should be standing as far out as the padding. No point in that when they are plenty of seats available.

[SportsFiend]

Why doesnt the Whitley kid start? He killed West a few weeks back and I heard on the radio he went into the game at Portsmouth and hit a couple threes, and now a big game at Fed Hocking.

I've watched Zaide play for a few years now. Incredible player and great sense for the court, his teammates, and the opposing team and he's only a freshman. With Barrick coaching him, I can't wait to see how he develops. He's also an awesome kid off the court...the nicest young man you'd want to befriend.

[alabama mike]

I enjoyed the nice little trip up to Stewart and meeting some of the fine folks at Federal Hocking. The announcer, time keeper and score keeper for the Lancers were very nice people to work a game with last night.

Coach Ellcessor (sp) had his troops ready to play against the Pirates. The Lancers controlled the tempo very well for 3 quarters and did basicially what they wanted to do on the offensive end in the first half. Stanley was very impressive on the inside. IMO, the Pirates showed a lot of determination and poise coming back and winning 56-43 after a sluggish start. Credit FH for causing that sluggish start. Good luck to Coach E and his youngsters the rest of the season.

It was good to see you again 93bulldog. It would have been nice to meet you as well steely dan.

[91blue14]

looks like burg got all they wanted geez thats a long trip

[drrabbit]

Just starting to edit the pictures but at least the game is written up.
I like this shot. BTW, this one was called a foul. Tyler (35) had stepped into the path.

[Foxworthy]

This was a very enjoyable game with a lot of great basketball execution. IMO it was an honor to have the Wheelersburg Pirates come to DC McInturf to play some hoops. I'm glad Alabama Mike found our group to be a hospitable bunch - we have a reputation here in Stewart of taking good care of our guests - even when our guests like to be critical.

The Lancers were ready to play and stuck to their game plan for the first 3 quarters. I'll go out on a limb and guess that fatigue and sense of urgency caused them to step away from that plan in the 4th quarter. Much credit goes to those players that tried to "push it" at the end for the Lancers even though they didn't stay within the offensive set that had worked so well all evening for them. In essence they lost their patience and possibly fell prey to some "parent background coaching" from the stands which is hard for high school students to screen out. When this group learns to trust their bench coach for the full 32 minutes they will make it over the top and win alot of games left on their schedule. All-in-all this was a great outing for this Lancer squad which was obviously well prepared and "schooled" for this game. It was good for the Pirates to experience some TVC regular season basketball which is tougher than most other leagues realize or want to accept.

The discipline of the Pirates and their coach was really a lesson in how great programs produce winning tradition. Stegman and your #14 freshman (name has left me) were outstanding. Your coolness down the stretch of a highly contested game was quite admirable. Seeing you "up close and personal" in a hs gym setting was a nice lesson in observation as compared to the Convo. The attention and execution down the stretch that your coach demanded was a real lesson in how HS basketball teams must run in order to be successful.

Now for the JV Lancers - a great win against a team that came in with 60 some wins and only 1 loss!!??!! Great defense by the Lancers and again great position defense in the over-time quarter by a group of kids that were undersized by the Burg but IMO had more floor quickness. Great job Lance Sharp for connecting on 22 points, most from behind the arc!!! Great job by the guards that were willing to give up the ball instead of dribbling it away down the lane Saturday night. I know there are 2 or 3 kids on this JV team that can light it up from long range if they can get good feeds from the guards which was some improved Sat. but still work to do. Same observation goes in that 4th quarter of the varsity game. Too much dribbling and not enough sharing. But keep working team and Coach E and Coach Amos, it will come even if "pine lessons" have to be reinstated to get the message across.

drrabbit I do not know you but obviously you come as a long time poster and highly respected. I'm sorry you didn't get shots or at least publish them to this point of the Wheelersburg Cheerleaders living on the opposite baseline all night from the wall thugs or taking up significant floor space while the Lancers tried to warm up. Interesting twist on your observations - if you were invited to my house as a guest I don't think I would be inclined to have you back. Also wondering if you have any pictures of the forearm shots to the throat that several of the Lancer players reported experiencing throughout the night? Those would be interesting to view.

[fbnut]

Did the burg cheerleaders pull up some chairs.

This was a very enjoyable game with a lot of great basketball execution. IMO it was an honor to have the Wheelersburg Pirates come to DC McInturf to play some hoops. I'm glad Alabama Mike found our group to be a hospitable bunch - we have a reputation here in Stewart of taking good care of our guests - even when our guests like to be critical.

The Lancers were ready to play and stuck to their game plan for the first 3 quarters. I'll go out on a limb and guess that fatigue and sense of urgency caused them to step away from that plan in the 4th quarter. Much credit goes to those players that tried to "push it" at the end for the Lancers even though they didn't stay within the offensive set that had worked so well all evening for them. In essence they lost their patience and possibly fell prey to some "parent background coaching" from the stands which is hard for high school students to screen out. When this group learns to trust their bench coach for the full 32 minutes they will make it over the top and win alot of games left on their schedule. All-in-all this was a great outing for this Lancer squad which was obviously well prepared and "schooled" for this game. It was good for the Pirates to experience some TVC regular season basketball which is tougher than most other leagues realize or want to accept.

The discipline of the Pirates and their coach was really a lesson in how great programs produce winning tradition. Stegman and your #14 freshman (name has left me) were outstanding. Your coolness down the stretch of a highly contested game was quite admirable. Seeing you "up close and personal" in a hs gym setting was a nice lesson in observation as compared to the Convo. The attention and execution down the stretch that your coach demanded was a real lesson in how HS basketball teams must run in order to be successful.

Now for the JV Lancers - a great win against a team that came in with 60 some wins and only 1 loss!!??!! Great defense by the Lancers and again great position defense in the over-time quarter by a group of kids that were undersized by the Burg but IMO had more floor quickness. Great job Lance Sharp for connecting on 22 points, most from behind the arc!!! Great job by the guards that were willing to give up the ball instead of dribbling it away down the lane Saturday night. I know there are 2 or 3 kids on this JV team that can light it up from long range if they can get good feeds from the guards which was some improved Sat. but still work to do. Same observation goes in that 4th quarter of the varsity game. Too much dribbling and not enough sharing. But keep working team and Coach E and Coach Amos, it will come even if "pine lessons" have to be reinstated to get the message across.

drrabbit I do not know you but obviously you come as a long time poster and highly respected. I'm sorry you didn't get shots or at least publish them to this point of the Wheelersburg Cheerleaders living on the opposite baseline all night from the wall thugs or taking up significant floor space while the Lancers tried to warm up. Interesting twist on your observations - if you were invited to my house as a guest I don't think I would be inclined to have you back. Also wondering if you have any pictures of the forearm shots to the throat that several of the Lancer players reported experiencing throughout the night? Those would be interesting to view.

[drrabbit]

>>a great win against a team that came in with 60 some wins and only 1 loss!!??!!<<

What team are you talking about?

It can't be Wheelersburg's JV. They are 3-3 on the year and most years we are happy if the Burg JV has a winning season. One of the wins was overtime and another was a 2 point game. So they have only won one game decisively so far this year.

As freshmen, last year, this group did manage a 12-5 record which was quite good but they have a starter from that group out injured this season. If they ever went 60-1 it was a junior high record but this group is missing four of their top players from that JH team to varsity and injury.

Sharp did have a nice night. He carried the team. Still if Wheelersburg had hit their free throws on JV and it wouldn't have been close. But then those players are still learning to carry an offensive load they never had to before.

[Catch One]

Fox, Sorry but I have to say, but what is it with you always blaming the
parents or parent coaches. They are not the one's to blame. Coach had a good game plan, but its called foul shots and fatigue. The kids got beat. So please get off the parents. Its getting old.

[yabbadabbadoo]

Not particular great as far as photographic technique goes but I was amused by the shot. And if you were wondering, no foul was called. That said, the reffing was pretty decent overall.

I think what it is is that the Burg player was about to jump to high and the FH player was just helping him stay down. On the other hand, how does a ref miss that call. I don't think that was one of those real quick fouls where he just barely had his hand on his head, his hand had to be on there long enough for the ref to see. Thye blew that one.

[athens78]

Fox, drabbit is first class. You seem to complain about everything. Is your kid now playing like you think or what? I've seen the Wheelersburg fans in other places and I've never seen on this site any of them be critical of anyone or kids. Wheelersburg is a class team and have a class fan base. Fox tell your kid or relative to practice more and he may get more time or get the ball more.

Would like to see Wheelersburg visit the Athens Bulldogs sometime.

[g w mclintock]

Fox, Sorry but I have to say, but what is it with you always blaming the
parents or parent coaches. They are not the one's to blame. Coach had a good game plan, but its called foul shots and fatigue. The kids got beat. So please get off the parents. Its getting old.

It's her common theme...

[alabama mike]

Wouldnt mind visitng the Athens Bulldogs sometime.

[Futurebkstar]

I think the Lancers are buying into Coach Ellcessor game plan. The Lancers are lucky to have a coach like E. He brings knowledge and enthusiasm. Now that the Fed Hock area should know that the school board chose the right man for the job. Imagine if he would have a really talented team(No disrespect intented for the boys playing now).

Great game and two very well coached teams. Good luck to the Lancers and Coach E the rest of the season.....

[floyd88]

Regarding the supposed foul by FH #11--looks like an optical illusion--look closely at the pic. Though it may appear his arm is hitting the Wheelersburg player in the face, his hand is coming down in front of the player and not touching him.

[yabbadabbadoo]

Any chance of these two meeting up in the sectional? I know they were in the same sectional last year, according to the OHSAA website.

Regarding the supposed foul by FH #11--looks like an optical illusion--look closely at the pic. Though it may appear his arm is hitting the Wheelersburg player in the face, his hand is coming down in front of the player and not touching him.

You are kidding, right? Look at the facial expression of the Burg player. You can clearly see in the pic that his head is being pulled back.

[Foxworthy]

drrabbit, I stand corrected on your Wheelersburg JV record. This info floated, and is still floating around Lancer Land last week and obviously I and my informants were incorrect! Take it as a compliment though because of the caliber of the Wheelersburg program we had no problems believing that at all. Good luck to them the remainder of the season, they are big boys and yes foul shots can make or break a game.

I remember watching Andrew Burleson play in 2001 at Athens and then in subsequent years at the convo. Great outside shooter, did he end up at Wright State? Not sure on that but knew he went on somewhere. Just wondering as he was a fine player to watch move on the floor with his size and agility.

[Foxworthy]

GW..............perhaps I am a "her" or perhaps I am a "he" or perhaps I am a "group" of basketball minds speaking out and supporting EVERY KID at FHHS. You will have to decide. While several others on the FH forums have seemed to echo my same sentiment which I'll not repeat again, you seem to enjoy picking on me. I'll take that as a compliment.

Go Lancers, Go players, Go Coaches, Go Parents, Go Cheerleaders, Go Administration. Learning never, ever ends and mistakes are our best teachers!! I know, I've made many in my life.