Russell 61

**FBALL** · 01-10-2009, 12:57 AM

Russell pulls this one out against their bitter rival Ashland. Great atmosphere and a very entertaining game to watch no matter which side you were on.

Coach Kidwell and staff deserve some recognition for there work with this young team. Nice adjustment by the staff going box in 1 on Delaney in the final minute to clinch the win.

Delaney shot lights out for the Tomcats. If you leave that kid open he is going to drill them.

Player of the game had to be Brandon Boyd for Russell. He drilled six 3's in the game and stroked the ball well all night.

**Stardust** · 01-10-2009, 01:06 AM

Congrats Russell, nice win.

**Stardust** · 01-10-2009, 01:07 AM

Ashland Blazer 12 17 12 19 60

Russell 18 10 20 13 61

Ashland Blazer (10-5) -- Skaggs 7, Delaney 23, Bowling 1, Whetsel 10, Bonner 13, Johnson 4, Hornbuckle 2.
Russell (2-10) -- Boyd 22, Ross 9, Taylor 6, Skaggs 8, Stapleton 9, Alexander 7.

**FBALL** · 01-10-2009, 02:43 AM

Ashland really has a tough couple of weeks comming up. They needed this win. They play Rose Hill on Tuesday followed by games with Fairview and Boyd County. Then a four game stretch of Ironton OH ( who is a very good and athletic team), East Carter, Clark County and finally Elliott County on Feb 3rd. I don't see Ashland winning any of those last four games.

I gotta say the best part of the game tonight might have been hearing Dicky and Dirk leaving the gym whinning about the loss. That was priceless. I can only imagine how the Ashland radio broadcast and post game must have been.:Sad04:

racer4life · 01-10-2009, 03:50 AM

Congrats to Russell and Coach Kidwell on a great win.

**BlackcatAlum** · 01-10-2009, 03:54 AM

I take it back, this is the most surprising score of the night.

Congrats Red Devils!

devil58 · (This post was last modified: 01-10-2009, 04:00 AM by devil58.)

FBALL Wrote:Ashland really has a tough couple of weeks comming up. They needed this win. They play Rose Hill on Tuesday followed by games with Fairview and Boyd County. Then a four game stretch of Ironton OH ( who is a very good and athletic team), East Carter, Clark County and finally Elliott County on Feb 3rd. I don't see Ashland winning any of those last four games.

I gotta say the best part of the game tonight might have been hearing Dicky and Dirk leaving the gym whinning about the loss. That was priceless. I can only imagine how the Ashland radio broadcast and post game must have been.:Sad04:

Heard Dicky said this was "the most embarassing loss in Tomcat history"...His name is very appropriate!!! Biggs followed that comment with one of his own...He said, "No offense to Russell but if we can't handle what they threw at us 2nite how can we expect to handle Rose Hill?" No offense taken...We Won!!!! Smile

Hey Fball, Is this what one of the Ashland announcers looked like on the way out??? Big Grin

kybaseball · 01-10-2009, 03:58 AM

Congratulations on the big win Russell.

**Midee1** · 01-10-2009, 09:02 AM

devil58 Wrote:Heard Dicky said this was "the most embarassing loss in Tomcat history"...His name is very appropriate!!! Biggs followed that comment with one of his own...He said, "No offense to Russell but if we can't handle what they threw at us 2nite how can we expect to handle Rose Hill?" No offense taken...We Won!!!!

Hey Fball, Is this what one of the Ashland announcers looked like on the way out???

WOW That does kind of resemble Dicky But how could you stoop so low as to insult Walter that bad?

devil58 · 01-10-2009, 12:02 PM

Midee1 Wrote:WOW That does kind of resemble Dicky But how could you stoop so low as to insult Walter that bad?

Actually, I thought it was the spitting image of his sidekick!!! I'm sure if you go into Ashland Sporting Goods today you will see what I mean... Big Grin

**FBALL** · 01-10-2009, 12:11 PM

My God it looks just like Dirk. He even had that same expression last night as they were getting into the van in the parking lot. But I guess my laughing probably didn't help.

**FBALL** · 01-10-2009, 12:13 PM

devil58 Wrote:Heard Dicky said this was "the most embarassing loss in Tomcat history"...His name is very appropriate!!! Biggs followed that comment with one of his own...He said, "No offense to Russell but if we can't handle what they threw at us 2nite how can we expect to handle Rose Hill?" No offense taken...We Won!!!!

Hey Fball, Is this what one of the Ashland announcers looked like on the way out???

I would have to say that Dicky and Dirk are the two biggest embarassments in the history of the Ashland school system. I wouldn't let my son act and speak as immaturely as those two do.

EKY Sportster · 01-10-2009, 02:37 PM

WOW!! Either Russell is improving or had a great night or Ashland is self-destructing or had a terrible night. Might have been a little of both. Russell is terrible this year (unlike most years) and Ashland is above average. So not what you would have expected. But when these two play anything can happen.

Congrats Russell on the upset!!

**FBALL** · 01-10-2009, 07:31 PM

EKY Sportster Wrote:WOW!! Either Russell is improving or had a great night or Ashland is self-destructing or had a terrible night. Might have been a little of both. Russell is terrible this year (unlike most years) and Ashland is above average. So not what you would have expected. But when these two play anything can happen.

Congrats Russell on the upset!!

Ashland is not above average and really didn't play that bad. The just are quite simply not a very good team.

It was probably the best that Russell has played and they are a very young team that is improving. Russell can play with some teams and even beat them as long as they are shooting well. The problem is they are not physical enough and do not rebound well enough to overcome an off night shooting the ball.

EKY Sportster · 01-10-2009, 11:04 PM

FBALL Wrote:Ashland is not above average and really didn't play that bad. The just are quite simply not a very good team.

It was probably the best that Russell has played and they are a very young team that is improving. Russell can play with some teams and even beat them as long as they are shooting well. The problem is they are not physical enough and do not rebound well enough to overcome an off night shooting the ball.

I'd have to disagree with you FBALL, at least in terms of how I define "above average team". What I mean by an above-average team is a team that is in the (let's say) top 30% of their region. I know that Ashland can't compete statewide with this team and wouldn't be above average compared with them. But Ashland is certainly above-average in the 16th Region. They have a solid record, have played good against the lesser teams in the 16th and had only lost to Fairview (a very good team) prior to the Russell game. They then beat Fairview, so they look good to me, at least among the 16th Region teams, with only Elliott County, East and West Carter as definite better teams. Rose Hill, Fairview and Greenup Co. are competitive as well. Russell on the other hand has had nothing to brag about all season with the exception of beating a very down Boyd County team. So I stand by my posted opinion.

However, this game maybe shows that Russell is finally improving or that Ashland just can't get the Russell jinx off their back even in a Russell down year.

**FBALL** · 01-10-2009, 11:22 PM

EKY Sportster Wrote:I'd have to disagree with you FBALL, at least in terms of how I define "above average team". What I mean by an above-average team is a team that is in the (let's say) top 30% of their region. I know that Ashland can't compete statewide with this team and wouldn't be above average compared with them. But Ashland is certainly above-average in the 16th Region. They have a solid record, have played good against the lesser teams in the 16th and had only lost to Fairview (a very good team) prior to the Russell game. They then beat Fairview, so they look good to me, at least among the 16th Region teams, with only Elliott County, East and West Carter as definite better teams. Rose Hill, Fairview and Greenup Co. are competitive as well. Russell on the other hand has had nothing to brag about all season with the exception of beating a very down Boyd County team. So I stand by my posted opinion.

However, this game maybe shows that Russell is finally improving or that Ashland just can't get the Russell jinx off their back even in a Russell down year.

I see what you are saying and in some ways agree.

I think though if you have seen Ashland play that you might agree that they not a good team. They may be average in the 16th region but thats not saying much. Ashland has one shooter and Delaney and thats about it. They have some good athletes but they are a young team as well. They play decent defense but I don't think they have the depth or talent that Biggs needs to press like he wants to.

I know Ashland did beat Fairview once but I honestly think Fairview is a better team. I would rank Ashland right in there with Greenup County, Menifee County, and probably better than Rose Hill.

If I had to pick the top 5 in the 16th region it would go like this.

1 Elliott County
2 West Carter
3 East Carter
4 Bath County
5 Fairview

Russell is improving though still a year or two away from really being a factor. They are figuring out who can play and adjusting to a new coach. I think I can speak for most of the Russell fans and say that everyone is very pleased with the direction the program is heading.

**Benchwarmer** · 01-11-2009, 01:36 AM

Congrats Russell

mightydog · 01-11-2009, 04:08 AM

FBALL Wrote:Ashland really has a tough couple of weeks comming up. They needed this win. They play Rose Hill on Tuesday followed by games with Fairview and Boyd County. Then a four game stretch of Ironton OH ( who is a very good and athletic team), East Carter, Clark County and finally Elliott County on Feb 3rd. I don't see Ashland winning any of those last four games.

I gotta say the best part of the game tonight might have been hearing Dicky and Dirk leaving the gym whinning about the loss. That was priceless. I can only imagine how the Ashland radio broadcast and post game must have been.:Sad04:

Would love to have heard Vicky whining Sad