... now THAT was a basketball game !!! Logan Elm vs Warren for the Division II Southeast District Title ... 2 of the best coaches in Southern Ohio in Coach Maddox of Warren Local and Coach Stiverson of Logan Elm - both showed why they get it done on the court with key decisions at key times throughout the ball game tonight ... 2 outstanding TEAMs in the Warriors and the Braves - I believe the largest lead by either team in this one was 4 points ... 2 fantastic schools who supported their teams all season, and 2 fan bases that are second to none ... it all added up to a game that showcased what high school basketball Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line is all about ... Logan Elm 55 Warren Local 54 a final ...... what a strange game in many aspects - Warren Local seemed to be in control and in the lead in this one EVEN WHEN THEY WEREN'T - they played that solid of a floor game at both ends of the floor ... on the other side of half court Logan Elm never seemed to be in command of this one, never quite getting over the top to take control offensively, never quite getting THE stop to push a lead to more than one possession throughout ... YET when you look at the quarter breaks
Logan Elm WAS in control where it counted "on the scoreboard" - Logan Elm 13 Warren 12 after one ... Logan Elm 23 Warren 19 at intermission ... Logan Elm 36 Warren 34 end of three ... Logan Elm 55 Warren 54 a final ...... Warren defensively had "on the ball" pressure all night - forcing Logan Elm perimeter people to turn over the ball an uncharacteristic 17 times for the game ... LE for the second game in a row had difficulty getting the outside shots to fall in the first half and into a good chunk of the 3rd before Cory Whaley found the range from deep for 3 treys to KEEP LE in the game and Warren at bay going into the 4th ... on the Warren side of the court - as I said the Warriors of Coach Maddox controlled this one or at least played a strong enough floor game at both ends to have a chance to pull the upset as time wound down in the 4th period - the usual suspect perimeter game for WHS remained suspect as Warren was 2/6 from behind the arc ... when you look at the Napkin Stats for the Warriors they got the shots they wanted, got into the paint, led by
Grant Venham, Brandon Fivecoait, Clay Ellenwood - all three were getting the ball in scoring position in the box ...
Warren hit 12 of 18 field goals from the "block in" with Ellenwood and Venham hitting the WHS "long range" shots of 12-15 foot jumpers ... Logan Elm although struggling from the field from long range DID hit enough treys in the first 3 quarters (4/13) to offset a few of the possessions that ended in TOs ...
... all year teams look to figure out who their "go to" guys are, who wants the ball at crunch time - in tonights game there was no doubt who THE GO TO guys were/are/will be in this one ...
Adam Blake for Logan Elm the Division II SE District Player of the Year showed why he is "the man" for LE - 14 points in the 4th period, 3 triples, a regular & 1 ... when Warren's own "go to " guy junior Austin Cunningham (7 points in the 4th) would put WHS up by a bucket , or sophomore future "go to guy" Jeremy Hastie (7 points in the 4th quarter) put Warren in the lead Adam Blake had THE answer ... with all of the Adam Blake heroics to give LE a one point lead with under 10 seconds to go... Warren had the Braves right where they wanted them - only leading by one, WHS in possession, the "go to " guy in Austin Cunningham with the ball in his hands at crunch time, AC working his magic to get free for a floater on the left block - can't ask for more than that ...
Logan Elm 55 Warren Local 54 a final ... Pfloyd Napkin Stats - Warren LocalScoring ... Austin Cunningham 16, Brandon Fivecoait 13, Clay Ellenwood 10, Grant Venham 8, Jeremy Hastie 7
3 pointers ... 2/6 ... Cunningham/Hastie each with 1 a piece both in the 4th quarter ...
FTs ... 16/23 ... THE KEY napkin stat
10/16 in the 4th quarter ...
TOs ... 12
... Congratulations to the Warren TEAM - great season (19-5) ... outstanding game plan, and execution on the court ... the W was there for the taking ... looking forward to seeing the 2010-11 edition of the Blue ...
Pfloyd Napkin Stats - Logan Elm Scoring ... Adam Blake 23, Cory Whaley 14, Tyler Pritchard 8, Jake Thompson 6, Logan Hauserman 4 ...
3 Pointers ... 8/17 ... LE with 4 in the final quarter of action ... Adam Blake 4, Cory Whaley 4 ...
FTs ... 3/6
TO's ... 17 ... 17 possessions without getting off a shot ...
... Great TEAMS find a way to win ... LE IS one of those TEAMS ... lots of talk about this years version of the Braves NOT being as good as last years ball club - lets see , the Braves have gotten BACK to the Regionals after losing 40+ points from the offensive side , how? defense AND every person on the floor making themselves an offensive threat - a contributor that has to be accounted for by their opponents AND then you have a "given" floor leader in Adam Blake ... you have to have that one PLAYER who is willing to be "THE GUY" ... I don't think that there was any doubt coming into this season who THE GUY was going to be on this Logan Elm TEAM ... Congratulations to Coach Stiverson, the Logan Elm TEAM on their back to back District Championships ... "survive and advance" that's what it is all about ... the Pfloyd Tour will be in the Cheap Seats as you continue on your way down the tournament trail ...