ATHENS (7-1) vs WARREN (8-1): Jan. 8th

[Schnellfritz]

Let's go WARRIORS!!!!! Show some defense tonight....

[AxGrinder]

Athens up 31-25 at half.

[Raiderball]

Big crowd?

[Schnellfritz]

Warren wins in a "barnburner" 60-57. Way to go WARRIORS!

[93Bulldog]

let me just throw this out about the ending when the Athens crowd got upset over the 'no-call' on the winning basket. I don't know if it was a charge or not - definitely contact - but I'm not an official so I won't say if it was or it wasn't.

But lucky for me, I park my car in the back and I happened to walk behind the refs as they left the court and went back to their dressing rooms. And I do have a problem with the official who didn't make the call and his remarks about the play.

1st) he said to the other two refs "I didn't want to take it out of the players hands."
- UH, YOUR A REF, THE GAME IS IN YOUR HANDS FROM START TO FINISH. IF A FOUL OCCURS - YOU CALL IT NO MATTER IF ITS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OR LAST 30 SECONDS!

2nd) he said "they (Athens) had two chances to score and win the game down at the other end. they shouldn't be upset with me."
- UH, WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH IT? BECAUSE ATHENS HAD TWO CHANCES TO SCORE AND DIDN'T - THAT AFFECTS THE WAY YOUR GONNA CALL (OR NOT CALL) A CRUCIAL PLAY WITH SECONDS LEFT ON THE CLOCK?

...don't get me wrong, I'm not mad about the final seconds ... if a ref doesn't think it was foul, I'm totally fine with that ... but the ref saying "I didn't want to take it out of the players hands" bothers me ... he's basically openly admitting he will call the final moments of a close game differently than the rest of the game ... and IMO, that is just wrong.

... and BTW ... congrats to Warren, they played a great game - as did Athens.

[Schnellfritz]

let me just throw this out about the ending when the Athens crowd got upset over the 'no-call' on the winning basket. I don't know if it was a charge or not - definitely contact - but I'm not an official so I won't say if it was or it wasn't.

But lucky for me, I park my car in the back and I happened to walk behind the refs as they left the court and went back to their dressing rooms. And I do have a problem with the official who didn't make the call and his remarks about the play.

1st) he said to the other two refs "I didn't want to take it out of the players hands."
- UH, YOUR A REF, THE GAME IS IN YOUR HANDS FROM START TO FINISH. IF A FOUL OCCURS - YOU CALL IT NO MATTER IF ITS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OR LAST 30 SECONDS!

2nd) he said "they (Athens) had two chances to score and win the game down at the other end. they shouldn't be upset with me."
- UH, WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH IT? BECAUSE ATHENS HAD TWO CHANCES TO SCORE AND DIDN'T - THAT AFFECTS THE WAY YOUR GONNA CALL (OR NOT CALL) A CRUCIAL PLAY WITH SECONDS LEFT ON THE CLOCK?

...don't get me wrong, I'm not mad about the final seconds ... if a ref doesn't think it was foul, I'm totally fine with that ... but the ref saying "I didn't want to take it out of the players hands" bothers me ... he's basically openly admitting he will call the final moments of a close game differently than the rest of the game ... and IMO, that is just wrong.

... and BTW ... congrats to Warren, they played a great game - as did Athens.

No matter what, they will probably meet again and there will be even more on the line in that game.

[93Bulldog]

If they face again ... it will probably mean they are in the district finals ... which, I'm pretty good with that ...

[93Bulldog]

Lets see if this video link works ... http://telly.com/02IZCK

Its the last minute of tonights game ... thanks to Jason Arkley of the Athens Messenger.

[Spartan]

Wow the video is pretty clear.

[Gib25]

Watch the whole game on Channel 15. The game was called like it was a tournament game where body bumping and hand checking is sometimes allowed. The game is getting more and more physical. The players have to have so much composure not to retaliate. If the charge against Ibi was legit, then the last play was a charge. Overtime would have been nice to decide this great contest.

[Ironman92]

let me just throw this out about the ending when the Athens crowd got upset over the 'no-call' on the winning basket. I don't know if it was a charge or not - definitely contact - but I'm not an official so I won't say if it was or it wasn't.

But lucky for me, I park my car in the back and I happened to walk behind the refs as they left the court and went back to their dressing rooms. And I do have a problem with the official who didn't make the call and his remarks about the play.

1st) he said to the other two refs "I didn't want to take it out of the players hands."
- UH, YOUR A REF, THE GAME IS IN YOUR HANDS FROM START TO FINISH. IF A FOUL OCCURS - YOU CALL IT NO MATTER IF ITS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OR LAST 30 SECONDS!

2nd) he said "they (Athens) had two chances to score and win the game down at the other end. they shouldn't be upset with me."
- UH, WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH IT? BECAUSE ATHENS HAD TWO CHANCES TO SCORE AND DIDN'T - THAT AFFECTS THE WAY YOUR GONNA CALL (OR NOT CALL) A CRUCIAL PLAY WITH SECONDS LEFT ON THE CLOCK?

...don't get me wrong, I'm not mad about the final seconds ... if a ref doesn't think it was foul, I'm totally fine with that ... but the ref saying "I didn't want to take it out of the players hands" bothers me ... he's basically openly admitting he will call the final moments of a close game differently than the rest of the game ... and IMO, that is just wrong.

... and BTW ... congrats to Warren, they played a great game - as did Athens.

Just call the game as if you don't know the score or the time left (except when it's time to foul late in the game....don't say what you said he did.

[pfloyd]

Warren 60
Athens 57 final


... The Battle for top seeding in the Logan Sectional went to the Warren Warriors tonight as Warren sent the Athens Bulldogs to their 2nd home loss out of 2 tries this season Warren 60 vs Athens 57 ... a well played high school basketball game tonight at McAfee Gynasium between 2 quality teams in Southeast Ohio - both teams sporting some of the best underclassmen talent you will find Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line : Athens showcasing Joey Burrows, Zacchia Saltzman, Ibi Watson, Adam Leuhrman ... Warren countering with Michael Hall, Evan French, Reece Patton, Adam Lang ... I had a smile on my face knowing that ALL of these youngsters will be back for us to watch next year and beyond for Athens squad ...

... at no time during this one did either team have a lead they could sit on or a lead that would allow either to pull away - the outcome was destined to be decided in the final 15 seconds ... Athens took the early 1st quarter lead on the shooting of sophomore Joey Burrow (6 pts in the quarter) while Warren kept Athens within reach with the smooth stroke of Reece Patton (4 its in the first) ... Athens 13 Warren 10 after 1 quarter ... Athens warmed up from behind the arc in the 2nd as Burrow and Sawyer Summers combined for 3/5 shooting from downtown ... Warren found points from behind the 3 point line hard to come by as the Warriors were 0-9 in the first half ... the Warriors kept Athens in their sites on points in the paint from Dylan Leffingwell/Andrew Lang both with 4 points each in the 2nd ... Athens 31 Warren 25 at intermission ... Coach Maddox's squad made things immediately interesting as WHS started the 3rd on a 5-0 run taking the ball to the rim - Leffingwell/Patton/French ... Athens came back with Ibi Watson/Joey Burrows/Zaccia Saltzman building the Athens lead to 9 points before Warren's duo of Patton/French took care of the offense (15 pts in the quarter) bolstered by 5 Bulldog turnovers forced by Warrior pressure after made baskets ... Athens 46 Warren 45 after three ... the 4th quarter played out as close as the game was advertised - 2 evenly matched teams - at the 6:06 mark the scoreboard showed 50-50 ... Warren looked to take control down the stretch as WHS took a 4 pt lead at 3:20 on the clock 55-51 Warren ... Athens forced another tie a 55-55 on an Adam Leuhrman put back with 1:36 on the clock - time out Warren ... the Warriors set up the half court offense with French getting a perfect feed on the pick & roll - easy 2 pts Warren 57 Athens 55 ... the lead lasted 35 seconds as Athens deadlocked the score at 57-57 with 1:01 to play - can you say OT ... Athens had on opportunity to take the lead with under 20 seconds to play - a three point shot from the top of the key hit off the rim, rebound Warren, timeout Warren with 14.7 seconds to play ... coming out of the TO Warren swing man Michael Hall knocked down only his 2nd basket of the game Warren 59 Athens 57 ... Athens was able to get into the paint, get up a shot, rebounded by Evan French who made one of two FTs to end the battle for top seeding in the Logan sectional Warren 60 Athens 57 a final ...


... Pfloyd Napkin Stats - Athens ...

Scoring : Joey Burrow 26, Ibi Watson 11, Zacchia Saltzman 9, Sawyer Summers 6, Adam Leuhrman 3, Jared Elmore 2

3 Pointers : 6/20 ... Burrow 3, Summers 2, Watson 1

FT's : 9/11

TOs : 17


... Pfloyd Napkin Stats - Warren ...


Scoring : Evan French 22, Reece Patton 18, Dylan Leffingwell 9, Adam Lang 7, Michael Hall 4

3 Pointers: 1/17

FT's : 7/15

TOs : 13

[satchmo]

Thanks for the update - couldn't get to the game tonight. One thing - Summers is a senior (along with Elmore, the only seniors on the Bulldog roster).

[pfloyd]

... thanks satchmo for the info - no programs tonight at the game ...

[noreply66]

That was a nice game report.Where do you get this napkins from--the local McDonalds?

[Spartan]

Great picture in the Athens Messenger today.

[warriorfrosh]

93Bulldog- What a great tournament-level basketball game! I respect your passion and comments on this forum, let me make that clear....the calls at the end of the game could have gone either way...on the inbounds at 14 seconds left I said to my son, well either we win or it goes to overtime....well a lot happened in those 14 seconds....I kind of was hoping for OT so they would keep playing...well hopefully they will continue playing in the tournment...what I take exception to is your making public what are the private comments of the refs to each other after the game....basketball has to be the most difficult game to ref and these are guys are not robots...while trying to be objective their is always some subjectivity to the calls, such as the "flow of the game" is sometimes considered, right or wrong (such as allowing mutually more physical play between two high level competitors when it would be clearly unsportsmanlike if it happened in a game between a strong and weak opponent)......many calls are black and white but many are shades of gray (degree) and these guys are using their judgement and making decisions in a split second (and they're high school refs)....I'm an old wrestling ref from way back and the conversation in the refs locker room is just that, meant to be private and not public, let me just say stuff is said as a way to vent the stress, debrief, etc....refs have a code not to talk about games calls to coaches, their people, or fans, because they are often taken out of context and just used for fodder....so I wish you had not made public their intended-private conversation....

[freethrow]

Good point warriorfrosh and the picture in the paper and the video looked like a flop to me but when your not there live you can never be sure. Sounds like a great game.

[93Bulldog]

Maybe I shouldn't have posted what was said, but perhaps talking loudly with several people (I wasn't the only one walking out that way) wasn't wise either. Just as Joe Burrow had to learn a lesson last night - that just because he does what his coach tells him and takes a charge, its not always called ... the ref can maybe learn a lesson by not making loud comments in front of a crowd of people after games. One last thing, if it was a stranger, a ref I had never seen before, I might have not posted it ... but since I grew up with this individual, have known him for 22 years, played against him in high school, etc ... etc ... made posting what I did a little easier. AND I will see this individual sooner or later and we'll probably discuss it in person.

greatone ... a flop? ... lol ... one thing I don't see very often is high school kids 'flopping', this isn't the NBA.

[93Bulldog]

the conversation in the refs locker room is just that, meant to be private and not public. refs have a code not to talk about games calls to coaches, their people, or fans, because they are often taken out of context and just used for fodder....so I wish you had not made public their intended-private conversation....

if it was private - I would have never posted anything ... these comments were made walking off the court, out the door, down the hallway in front of several people.

big difference.