#2 Chillicothe vs. #1 Poland Seminary........State-Semifinal

[akwhitewater]

Good Luck Cavs....you knocked out my beloved Vikings so I def want to see you go ALL THE WAY!!! Guess what? They are webcasting so I can hear it from here and will be rooting for ya all !!!

[brutally honest]

A popular topic for Chillicothe's downfall is that Poland will wear them down with the press and will always stay fresh due to their constant subbing. I, however, think that Chillicothe won't get tired(even though they don't go deep on the bench) for a simple reason: this game is on TV and that means TV timeouts. With more rest every few minutes Chilli will be able to leave their horses out on the floor without much risk of fatigue. I believe their downfall will be Poland's outside shooting ability.

Poland takes it 78-71

[Dshanton3]

brutally honest...thats the first time i've heard anyone mention that and its the first time i've thought about it myself. that is a great point!! i forgot all about TV timeouts. how do they work for high school games? every 4 minutes? If so coach Kellough must walk the fine line between calling the rest of his allotted timeouts to rest the players and not calling too many to ruin a rhythm if they get one. good point.

I agree that if Poland shoots the lights out of it they will be trouble for us. but what i hope comes into play here is they probably havent seen a defense like ours that makes you work so hard to get your offense going. we are going to score, that will limit them from their fast break open look opportunities. can they make them when they have to set up in the half court and run an offense to get a good look? we'll see i guess. if they do, they may win.

[beezee420]

good point brutally honest. i to didn't even think about the tv timeout thing.

D3-it will be interesting to see how coach k handles those situations. and not only just coach k either. the kids i think will be the ones who will have to adjust the most to it. they are not used to getting breaks in the action every so often. will it help them in being more rested, or will it hurt them by getting them out of their rhythm?

[TrojanXplosion]

Go Cavs !....I'll take the Cavs by 10

[jm128693]

I am not 100% sure, but I don't think the OHSAA uses the TV timeout rule. If the rule is in place, the coaches will have to rethink the way they normally use their timeouts. Interesting point!!!

[trojandave]

jm128693: I was thinking the same thing about TV timeouts. When I was watching the D1 girls final, I don't recall any TV timeouts. Every time there was a timeout, it seemed as if it was called by one of the coaches.

If there are TV timeouts, Chillicothe's rest is Poland's rest also. It works both ways. I still feel that the Cavaliers bench will be tested more against the Bulldogs than in any other game this year. Poland plays a style that CHS has not faced this year.......an all out, up and down the court game. Even Dunbar, North College Hill, and Brookhaven did not play this style. Now those schools may have had better individual athletes, but their style of play apparently is quite different from Poland's.

The highest scoring game for Chillicothe all year......both teams combined......was the second Portsmouth game, won by CHS 93-70. And that was not a complete up and down game style like Poland wants to employ.

I don't want to see the Cavaliers "trade" baskets with Poland with the hopes of just trying to outscore them eventually. As has been the case all year with CHS, defense sets the tone, and the offense finishes off the opponent. I hope to see Chillicothe follow that same pattern vs. the Bulldogs.

GO CAVALIERS!! BRING HOME THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!

[Sweet Pea]

There ARE tv timeouts. They occur the first dead ball after the 4 minute mark of each quarter. I watched a couple of the girls finals and it is still that way.
In watching the boys finals the last few yrs - these tv timeouts really have an affect on the games. They can kill a teams momentum - which is bad if you are the one on a run...or good if you need to change the big mo...

good luck chilly!

late
sweetpea

[vc chica 02]

Good luck from Vinton County - bring a state title back to southeast ahia, we're lacking in those around here...

[Orange and Brown]

GO CAVS

[Bobcat Thunder]

Info about each team from the OHSAA:

Chillicothe (23-2)
Location: Chillicothe
Nickname: Cavaliers
Boys Enrollment: 335
Final ‘08 Ranking: 2nd
State Appearances: 2008, 1930, 1924
Head Coach: Gary Kellough
School Rec.: 54-18 (3 yrs.)
PPG: 74.3; OPP: 47.5
F 34 Ray Chambers, 6-7, Sr., 15.5 ppg
F 32 Seth Dawes, 6-5, Jr., 8.1 ppg
G 24 Anthony Hitchens, 5-9, Sr., 21.3 ppg
G 5 Stuart Beverly, 6-1, Sr., 9.4 ppg
G 14 Caleb Knights, 6-1, Jr., 6.4 ppg

Poland Seminary (25-0)
Location: Poland
Nickname: Bulldogs
Boys Enrollment: 337
Final ‘08 Ranking: 1st
State Appearances: 2008, 2007, 2002, 1972
Head Coach: Ken Grisdale
School Rec.: 248-101 (15 yrs.)
PPG: 88.8; OPP: 60.2
F 5 David White, 6-4, Sr., 7.3 ppg
F 24 Ben Donlow, 6-4, So., 11.4 ppg
G 3 Anthony DeFelice, 5-11, Sr., 12.2 ppg
G 10 Niko Fatimus, 6-0, So., 13.5 ppg
G 32 Ben Umbel, 6-3, Sr., 15.4 ppg

[brutally honest]

I'd like to ask one of you with membership on the other site to do me a favor. Would one of you please mention my earlier post on there? I have been reading about this game on both sites and no one on their forum has mentioned it and I'm not sure anyone knows about it. It would certainly spice up the discussion over there and its getting slightly boring to read the same post over and over(especially since they have over 100 replies on the topic).

Thanks for the help. It is greatly appreciated!

[tropicalbreeze]

The 1st thing I notice about the starting line up for Poland is the scoring averages. As a team don't they average over 80 points? If so, the starting line up only averages about 48 of the 80 or so points. That's 30 points from the bench, Wow. It's hard to imagine Hitchens getting tired, I've seen him play a number of times, and seems to get stronger as the game progresses. Can Poland get their usual 3's against the aggressive Chillicothe "D"? Will the constant pressure of the style of play cause open looks later in the game (for Poland)? Can Chillicothe limit the number of T/O's? Man, i can't believe I'm going to miss this game. The intrigue of the match ups will make this game a chess match which is the type of game I love to watch! Not only the kids need to preform at a high level, but Coach Kellough will have to be at his best also! From reading about Poland, it sounds (obviously), that teams just can't play at their level for 32 min's! Let's go Cav's!

[Hitchbone64]

tbreeze,

Humpty is like the energizer bunny. Early in his career he struggled with cramping up alot. I have not seen that at all this year. He can go 32 minutes if needed, but the TV timeouts and good strategic time outs from Coach K. will help. If TV timeouts are at the 4 minute mark, I believe our guys will get plenty of rest. Even though our rotation is not near as deep as Polands, our 6-7 get quite a few minutes and everyone gets a blow if needed.

I don't think Poland will get near the open 3's that they normally do, but if all 5 can shoot it then they will get open looks. I would prefer we match up with their best with our best and make the others knock down shots. I am particulary interested in their sophs. I am not sure if they played in the State last year, but there has to be some level of nerves. While the crowd will be wild and the stage is so much bigger, I don't know if anything can be much more intense then playing at Zanesville. That game was a big stepping stone for us from a crowd factor and not losing it. The other games were on neutral courts, so IMO that game took us to another level.

Thanks for the support and heres to Chilly getting Southeast Ohio a team in the Final Two. I believe the kids will lay it on the line, and hopefully the next post I have tomorrow night will be a victory one. Regardless, I will be on line giving my update.

GO CAVS!!! REFUSE TO LOSE!!! TAKE NO PRISONERS!!! 5 DOWN!

[Army]

Go CAVS.....refuse to lose from Japan

Roll Big Blue and White to Victory

Go SEOAL

Army

[Lamont Cranston]

Getting ready to make the trip up north with "little Lamont"... gonna watch Libbey/Graham before the Cavs play. Chillicothe Cavaliers: 3 years of hard work have put you in this position today. I thought Seth Dawes hit the nail on the head in yesterday's Gazette... this will likely be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Do what got you here, play with heart, pride, and intensity. Win or lose, you have made Cavalier history. Present and past members of the community are darn proud of you!!!! Good luck, and Go Cavs!!!!

[Dshanton3]

heading up now as well. LETS GO CAVS!!!!

[beezee420]

if you are unable to make it to the game today you can watch all of the games on the web.

go to
http://www.ohiohssports.com/

GO CAVS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Judge Smales]

Good Luck and Go Cavs!

[yabbadabbadoo]

12-11 Cavs end of the 1st.

Man, what an up and down game. Poland is relentless on defense and our playing about 10-11 players.

Chiili beeter be in shape because Poland players are getting alot of rest and are not missing a beat.