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I was rooting with all my heart for Magoffin County to win this game. And they played well enough to win. Paintsville's players testified to that with their celebration after the game.

Immediately following the game I felt the Hornets had been screwed by the refs - particularly for not calling a double dribble, charge, or walk on that last shot. I thought all three of those things happened.

But after a day or so for the emotions to settle and having had time to think about it more, I don't think the referees determined the outcome of this game. The players and coached did. That's the way it's supposed to be.

I watched film from THE PERFECT ANGLE on the last shot. Having watched it over and over again, I can't say Slone walked for sure. With that many views and still no certainty, there's NO WAY a ref could have or should have called a walk on that play.

The double dribble and the charge may be a differenct story.

But that no-call did not win the game for Paintsville or lose it for Magoffin. You can even throw out the missed free throws because both teams missed some key free throws.

What I think made the difference was the same thing (on a smaller scale) that cost Magoffin some games in the regular season. In the last couple of minutes Magoffin had some empty offensive trips. Rather than patiently running the offense like they had the whole game, there was some quick shots that not only missed, but gave the ball back to Paintsville.

Had Magoffin simply executed their offense during crunch time like they had throughout the game, Paintsville would not have had an opportunity to win on a last second shot.

Now concerning the refs in general and Todd Duff in particular, I was mad as heck at them immediately following the game. But once I settled down I realized that was simply my emotions getting the better of me. Those refs DID NOT take the game away from anybody.

I certainly disagreed with several calls. But even with my blood boiling for a Magoffin County win, I had to admit - even while the game was going on - some of what I thought were bad calls went against Paintsville. The game WAS NOT called in favor of nor against either team.

As far as Todd Duff in particular, I think he tried his absolute best to call a fair and accurate game. I think that's true of all three officials. The biggest mistakes I saw Todd make were when he made calls out of his area on plays that occurred right in front of one of the other officials. He did that twice in this game. One call went against each team. But even those mistakes may have been made out of a desire to make the right call. They were still mistakes, but that doesn't mean he was intentionally showinig favor to either team.

Todd Duff is not a horrible official like many people claim. He is a good official. I don't think this was one of his best games. But I still think he's a good official. In fact, I think this game had three very good officials.

The best thing I can say about the officials is they were fair (not one-sided) and the players determined the outcome of the game. That's all anyone can ask for from the officials. Perfection is just not possible. Besides, if an official or a crew actually called a perfect game I don't think the fans would recognize it because they are simply too emotionally invested in favor of one of the teams.

Great game!

Magoffin County should be, and is, very proud of this Hornet team. They have rebuilt this program from the ash heap. This loss does not change that fact in the least. This team will be remembered fondly and with respect for many, many years.

God bless you guys.

And congratulations to Paintsville.