Boys Regional Semi Finals: Wheelersburg vs. Bishop Ready

[sportsnut mom]

Coming from a FHS fan, I had a row of Ready men behind me and they all said, "Whew we got away with that one!" -referring to the foul/intentional foul on Drew.

[Out of Bounds]

What about the 4 consecutive turn overs by Burg under 2 minutes. The intentional foul could have went either way. It wouldn't have surprised me either way. Call it an Ready fans are mad, don't call it and Burg is mad. Tough call either way. It was a great game from an ubiased fan and worth the $8. You say Burg played there worst game.....Both teams played exceptional defense. I would say that had something to do with it. Congrats to both teams.

[The Fan]

Matt Jenkins was fouled not once but twice!!! The intentional foul could have gone either way. Everyone is going to have their own idea on the intentional foul but Matt was fouled!!

[Jumpshot]

Other parts of the game that hurt could include that Bishop's guard drove right down the lane two times straight to make a layup at the end of the 4th qtr, and no help D stepped up to challenge, so he got a wide open layup. Usually Burg doesn't allow that. That hurt just before the three that put the Burg behind. And, yes, the shots didn't fall for Burg, while Ready made a really high percentage of three's from open looks (they are well-coached and set multiple screens and double screens down low for a shooter to get a good quick look, something Burg might want to consider doing more of in the future). And, yes, the Burg did turn the ball over a few times, but they have struggled all year off and on to set the good solid pick and get open at the out of bounds entry, then have to scramble around to get the ball in. But, usually they do ok at it. Spradlin didn't take one shot (maybe 1?) in the entire second quarter on offense, after a good shooting start out of the gate; I have always noticed, the Burg doesn't have set plays designed to get the ball to a shooter, any shooter on the team who might be shooting well (except for one or two quick hitters and they have been running it for three years now) no double screens when they need any certain players to get the ball. The guards are left to play one on one and create their own shots or shoot over people, so I don't think the Burg got one single open shot from the field all night. Defense is more carefully orchesrated than offense for this team. They couldl have used a few flashy offensive ideas. You could see the contrast in offensive preparations, b/c Ready had three or four offensive plays designed to break a shooter free for an open look, again and again... Minford also does a nice job of that with their offensive design.
But, I don't think the Burg played one of their worst games, just not one of their better ones. It would have taken a good game to win. Just an ok game from Burg left it open to whoever was ahead at the end. Finally, I agree that the intentional fould should have been called, but it wasn't, and neither was the last foul on the last shot of the game, and it is hard to hit a jump shot when someone smacks your shooting arm really hard. It still had a chance, though, and I don't really think even the shooter thought a call would be made on the last shot of the game. It just doesn't happen. You either make the shot or not and that ends the game. Sooooo, with all of that said, Bishop played a good game and won it. They shot great, defended well, were well-coached, knew the situation, and won. So, congrats to them! Best of luck in the regional finals, and if they go, at the state.
Anyone who has known this group of players from the burg knows they are good at basketball and they would go far. They have been contributing to Burg sports since they were little, every one of them. It was a really nice run, and only people who didn't know them would have expected less. They delivered again for all of us in the Burg.

Great job, kids; we will miss this group of seniors! Good luck in college, but I feel pretty sure each one of you will be outstanding adults, if the past four years is any indication. Your entire community is very proud of you and your class....again. On to baseball season, and let's make a run at the state there, too! Maybe we'll run into Bishop again on the diamond.

[yabbadabbadoo]

There is a difference between being down late in the game and fouling to stop the clock and grabbing a player, around the waist, making no attempt for the ball when that player has a wide open layup for the tie. The player did what the coach told them because they only had 4 team fouls at that point, but I would almost bet the coach about croaked when he saw how he fouled Drew. Then when it was called a normal foul, he let out a sigh of relief.

The other bad thing about that foul is that if Drew would have been able to get to the hoop, he would have definetly scored and then maybe BR would have panicked and called timeout, which they were out of. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Like was said above, if they didn't call the intentional foul they surely weren't going to call a foul on that last shot. Like was said, kind of hard to shoot a jumpshot when someone smacks your shooting arm. Not complaining about the two non calls because Burg just didn't play as normally as they did all season. Chalk some of that up to BR's defense, but to me, especially when the Burg came out to start the second half, they just didn't seem to be in to the game. They had no enthusiasm at all and they had the momentum going into the half with the tip by Andy Stegman to end the half.

Good luck to Bishop Ready against Garaway. Should be a great matchup for the right to go to Columbus.

[TheMalteseFalcon]

I would probably agree with that statement but, I think that Minfords baseball team will beat Wheelersburg.

LOL... That's not what you THINK...... that's what you PRAY !!

[TheMalteseFalcon]

There is a difference between being down late in the game and fouling to stop the clock and grabbing a player, around the waist, making no attempt for the ball when that player has a wide open layup for the tie.

Sorry to disagree, Yabba, but I DON'T see the difference. Any time you just grab a player, or push him, or hack him with NO ATTEMPT at going for the ball, it is an intentional foul (by definition) whether you are trying to stop the clock or prevent a score or whatever. The key word here is "INTENTIONAL".
Had the ref called it as he should, there would be those that claim, "the ref decided the game", when, in fact, the ref DIDN'T decide the game. The player who committed the 'intentional' foul decided the game. The ref simply called a foul a foul... which he is supposed to do by the rules.
This is exactly why I don't subscribe to the "let'em play" line of thinking.
When calling gets subjective depending on who is ahead or who is behind or how much time is left in the game, this result is EXACTLY what you will get.

[burgfan2]

We can discuss this all we won't but it won't help. Ready made the play and Burg did not. That's how the game was played. Yes the foul was by defenition "intentional" but it wasn't called that way. Do I think the better team won that game. No disrespect to the Ready players but no I don't. I think Burg had one of it's worse shooting night but that's how the cards fell. Good luck to Ready the rest of the way and congrats once agian to the seniors not only on a great season but a great career at Burg.

[thenino]

We can discuss this all we won't but it won't help. Ready made the play and Burg did not. That's how the game was played. Yes the foul was by defenition "intentional" but it wasn't called that way. Do I think the better team won that game. No disrespect to the Ready players but no I don't. I think Burg had one of it's worse shooting night but that's how the cards fell. Good luck to Ready the rest of the way and congrats once agian to the seniors not only on a great season but a great career at Burg.

Yes, Burg did not have a great shooting night but CBR played really well on defense too.. Some credit should go to them.

[TrojanXplosion]

I would probably agree with that statement but, I think that Minfords baseball team will beat Wheelersburg.

LOL... That's not what you THINK...... that's what you PRAY !!

Whatever you say (Burg Grad 77 word) SKIPPY !

[BlindWhiteHat]

When it comes to tourney time, you don't get any "do-overs". If you play poorly, you will likely go home. That is what happened to Wheelersburg. No reason to blame it on a noncall at the end. Fact is, Wheelersburg didn't play well enough to advance.

[burgfan2]

Oh yeah Ready played good defense which caused some bad shots and took Wheelersburg out of their element but usually Burg responds well to the pressure and plays ver calmly. This time they seemed to panic in a way and force shots. That is very uncharacteristic of them.

[sportsnut614]

The burg losing 7 seniors, I heard the Mayo's and Sullingers were moving to the river

[alabama mike]

8 seniors, not 7. As for the game, we made 4 critical mistakes with less than 3 minutes to go in the game, with a 6 point lead. BR capitalized on those mistakes, stepped up and made plays when it counted. The Knights are to be credited for their composure.

[seasick80]

Great job by BR 3 pointers. Put me in my place. I didnt think they could be that good at the Convo. proved me wrong.

My experience this game was that I went to the 2nd street footer stand in Portsmouth and Burg was up 13-4. Shooting lights out. I get my hotdog and return to the truck to hear burg is down 20-13. Burg was 4 of 5 early then they said 1-8 from the field. No big deal, only down 7, but what caught my ear is that Burg was very open on those shots and couldnt hit a lick. That is why I said BR couldnt win in this Convo and Burg players are throwing rocks. IF THEY HIT 50% of those shots from 1st to 2nd qtr they are up at the half. Then you would think to see the classic 3rd qtr run by Burg to blow the game open. Didnt happen period. Burg went totally COLD late 1st till the tip in at the buzzer.

Cudos to BR for beating the Burg. Great defense and smoking layups late in the game. Good coach and good kids. Great job.

Great job all year to Burg and Ready. Garaway got away with it. Good luck to both teams and maybe we will see the river rats vs the big city d3 team next year, FOOTBALL AND BBALL. Does Ready have a baseball team? LOL!