Final - 3/6
16th Region Semifinal at Morehead State University
East Carter----16--12--13--18---59
Ashland---------9---9--14--17---49
East Carter: Barnhill 20 (14 reb), Bair 13, Adams 8, Buck 5, Robinson 5, Clay 4, Genung 4.
Ashland: Skaggs 19, Gregg 12, Delaney 9, Withrow 7, Whetsel 2.
--------FG----3Pt----FT---Reb---TO--Fls
EC----22/42--3/-8--12/16---34---17---14
ASH---18/52--2/16--11/14---23----9---19
Ties: 0----Lead changes: 2
=====
Ashland (22-7)
16th Region Championship - Mon 3/8 7:30pm
Fairview (23-7) vs. East Carter (22-5)
[SIZE=2]- Fri 2/12: East Carter 46, Fairview 38 ([/SIZE][SIZE=2]at Fairview)[/SIZE]
winner will play the 14th Region champion at 12:00pm on Wed 3/17 in the opening game of the first round of the Sweet 16 in Lexington
Congrats East Carter, Good Year Ashland!
Congrats East Carter :Thumbs:
Good win for East Carter. Baker is a solid coach that has developed enough depth over the course of the summer and season to allow him to rest his key players without getting killed while they are out.
Barnhill is a difference maker. He is, without question, the best low post player in the region. Soft shot, plays strong, rebounds well, fans the ball out when double teamed, hustles - and sells popcorn at halftime.
Bair is a rock for them on the perimeter. He drives when you overplay him, and finds the open man. He shoots the pullup jumper well, and plays solid defense. Too strong to be stopped by one defender.
Adams is a quiet, but very steady gaurd. Not flashy, but always in the right place, keeping his head up.
Buck did a solid job tonight, without being splashy. Made one heck of a catch on a pass that hit him in the ankles. Nice three when EC needed it. Solid defense.
The best team won tonight, and the best coach had his team prepared. You have to take your hat off to EC.
Congratulations, East. Good luck on Monday against Fairview.
Congrats to East Carter.
I'll be rooting for them in the finals, as that's who I picked to come out of the 16th.
Congrats East Carter. Barnhill is a great player. Like Squid said, by far the best post player in the region. Smooth, smooth.
Ashland's game plan nearly worked as they ran players in and out the entire game with intense defense. East Carter showed the effects late in the 4th.
LCDawg Wrote:Congrats East Carter. Barnhill is a great player. Like Squid said, by far the best post player in the region. Smooth, smooth.
Ashland's game plan nearly worked as they ran players in and out the entire game with intense defense. East Carter showed the effects late in the 4th.
I would disagree with your critique, when Ashland finally got a few shots to start falling they got it to within 3. East stepped on the gas and blew it back out to 10 without too much trouble. I know what you're saying but I didn't think they looked that tired, Bair was able to dribble or pass through the pressure pretty well.
Ashland wasn't able to put any pressure on them from the wing offensively and I thought that really hurt them over the course of the game so, East had things their way. East is a strong club too, that alone won't get you beat but a team has to be able to do the things that got them there.
Squid Wrote:Good win for East Carter. Baker is a solid coach that has developed enough depth over the course of the summer and season to allow him to rest his key players without getting killed while they are out.
Barnhill is a difference maker. He is, without question, the best low post player in the region. Soft shot, plays strong, rebounds well, fans the ball out when double teamed, hustles - and sells popcorn at halftime.
Bair is a rock for them on the perimeter. He drives when you overplay him, and finds the open man. He shoots the pullup jumper well, and plays solid defense. Too strong to be stopped by one defender.
Adams is a quiet, but very steady gaurd. Not flashy, but always in the right place, keeping his head up.
Buck did a solid job tonight, without being splashy. Made one heck of a catch on a pass that hit him in the ankles. Nice three when EC needed it. Solid defense.
The best team won tonight, and the best coach had his team prepared. You have to take your hat off to EC.
Congratulations, East. Good luck on Monday against Fairview.
So, you're saying that Ashland was outcoached and not simply outmanned?
I agree with Gapman on how the game played out.
The single biggest factor in the game was Barnhill, and his ability to score inside. He was able to defeat the double team most of the time, and he is extremely unselfish about fanning the ball back out if he doesn't have a shot. Bair (and Adams) did an excellent job against the press, while Buck played a solid floor game.
On the Ashland side of the ledger, I don't think we ever really got into a rhythm, and Delaney never did get untracked. I would have liked to see him stay on the floor for longer stretches, to give him the opportunity to find a groove.
OU812 Wrote:So, you're saying that Ashland was outcoached and not simply outmanned?
Sure. As a coach, when you lose, if you think that it was only the players on the floor that lost, you're only kidding yourself.
The better team won last night. No shame in that. It isn't like East Carter was a weak sister that had no business being on the floor. They were (are) a solid team that is very well coached.
Squid Wrote:Sure. As a coach, when you lose, if you think that it was only the players on the floor that lost, you're only kidding yourself.
The better team won last night. No shame in that. It isn't like East Carter was a weak sister that had no business being on the floor. They were (are) a solid team that is very well coached.
For what it's worth, I think Ashland is very well coached. As for being outcoached, I don't think that it was the case at all. Not to say that there weren't adjustments that I'm sure coach Biggs might look back and regret not making. I think after watching the game that they were simply outmanned. Bad matchup for Ashland, plain and simple. No answer for Barnhill. Gregg simply can't guard him. No shame in that, no one in the region can either. East Carter didn't struggle with the pressure much and they couldn't simply play East in the half court. Solid season for the Tomcats, and it's been a pleasure watching Will Skaggs, he's the heart and soul of that squad and will be impossible to replace. Good luck to East, here's hoping you make a return to Rupp. It's only been 24 years since you've been unless I'm mistaken. Looking forward to the final Monday.
OU812 Wrote:For what it's worth, I think Ashland is very well coached. As for being outcoached, I don't think that it was the case at all. Not to say that there weren't adjustments that I'm sure coach Biggs might look back and regret not making. I think after watching the game that they were simply outmanned. Bad matchup for Ashland, plain and simple. No answer for Barnhill. Gregg simply can't guard him. No shame in that, no one in the region can either. East Carter didn't struggle with the pressure much and they couldn't simply play East in the half court. Solid season for the Tomcats, and it's been a pleasure watching Will Skaggs, he's the heart and soul of that squad and will be impossible to replace. Good luck to East, here's hoping you make a return to Rupp. It's only been 24 years since you've been unless I'm mistaken. Looking forward to the final Monday.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that Biggs is a bad coach. I'm not qualified to pass judgement on a coach at that level. I do feel qualified to say that I thought Baker did a better job last night.
I agree completely with your assessment of Ashland not having an answer for Barnhill. At least, not in a man to man defense. I don't know if a 2-3 zone would have been the answer, but Lewis County was pretty effective with it the night before. Ashland simply doesn't play a 2-3 zone, so we'll never know if that would have slowed Barnhill down.
I also agree with you on Skaggs. He is probably the best point gaurd Ashland has had in 20 years (maybe more). I don't know who the point will be for Ashland next year, but the fans (and coaches) better get used to seeing them struggle in situations that Skaggs simply played through. He didn't have a great game every night out, but he absolutely made everyone around him better. Much better.
OU812 Wrote:For what it's worth, I think Ashland is very well coached. As for being outcoached, I don't think that it was the case at all. Not to say that there weren't adjustments that I'm sure coach Biggs might look back and regret not making. I think after watching the game that they were simply outmanned. Bad matchup for Ashland, plain and simple. No answer for Barnhill. Gregg simply can't guard him. No shame in that, no one in the region can either. East Carter didn't struggle with the pressure much and they couldn't simply play East in the half court. Solid season for the Tomcats, and it's been a pleasure watching Will Skaggs, he's the heart and soul of that squad and will be impossible to replace. Good luck to East, here's hoping you make a return to Rupp. It's only been 24 years since you've been unless I'm mistaken. Looking forward to the final Monday.
If by outmanned you mean that Barnhill is more skilled than Gregg I'd have to agree with you. A good senior against a good soph. not much to argue about there. Ashland's normal production from the wing would have likely carried the day as was suggested earlier had things gone better for them in that department, but it didn't happen. Bair is stronger than Skaggs too, but he doesn't get the ball up the court any faster or better. The game was winnable from Ashland's perspective but things would have had to go right. Ashland did close it to 3 points at the end so they were up to it IMO.
I think Ashland's problem are they are committed to one style of play- period, worked pretty well for them against most teams, but against East Carter it was doomed to failure if they couldn't turn the guards over. Against lewis, they were able to give a lot of help as they packed the zone in, against a man to man, Ashland didn't give near as much help which gave Barnhill way too much space and just about an automatic two every time he got it on the block. Ashland played harder than any team in the region, but you can't win a championship with no inside game. Fairview will be a much tougher matchup for East Carter and I would expect that the Fairview coaching staff will copy some of Lewis County's game plan against East Carter. Look for the game to
go down to the wire and probally be decided by how the fouls fall, and who can hit free throws, which would give a slight edge to East Carter.
fp_atl Wrote:Final - 3/6
16th Region Semifinal at Morehead State University
East Carter----16--12--13--18---59
Ashland---------9---9--14--17---49
East Carter: Barnhill 20 (14 reb), Bair 13, Adams 8, Buck 5, Robinson 5, Clay 4, Genung 4.
Ashland: Skaggs 19, Gregg 12, Delaney 9, Withrow 7, Whetsel 2.
--------FG----3Pt----FT---Reb---TO--Fls
EC----22/42--3/-8--12/16---34---17---14
ASH---18/52--2/16--11/14---23----9---19
Ties: 0----Lead changes: 2
=====
Ashland (22-7)
16th Region Championship - Mon 3/8 7:30pm
Fairview (23-7) vs. East Carter (22-5)
[SIZE=2]- Fri 2/12: East Carter 46, Fairview 38 ([/SIZE][SIZE=2]at Fairview)[/SIZE]
winner will play the 14th Region champion at 12:00pm on Wed 3/17 in the opening game of the first round of the Sweet 16 in Lexington
I believe the winner will play the 4th region champions, not the 14th region.
Congrats to East Carter!!
gapman Wrote:I would disagree with your critique, when Ashland finally got a few shots to start falling they got it to within 3. East stepped on the gas and blew it back out to 10 without too much trouble. I know what you're saying but I didn't think they looked that tired, Bair was able to dribble or pass through the pressure pretty well.
Ashland wasn't able to put any pressure on them from the wing offensively and I thought that really hurt them over the course of the game so, East had things their way. East is a strong club too, that alone won't get you beat but a team has to be able to do the things that got them there.
I get what you are saying, but me, personally, as a non-biased fan, thought Barnhill and Bair looked pretty gassed towards the end and rightly so. Ashland beat and banged on them the entire game.