[justabballfan]

For those who were wondering if Holmes was going to step it up come tourney time, I think tonight was your answer. Dogs flat out got after it at both ends of the floor, and if not for sitting their starters the last 12 minutes of the game, probably could've won by 40.

First quarter, Holmes scored 4 straight on back to back baskets by brothers Ricardo and Jeremiah Johnson in the first 24 seconds of the game. Beechwood responded with a bucket at the other end to make it 4-2, but Holmes would respond with a 13-0 run to make it 17-2 Dogs. During the run, JJ and Ricardo combined for 11 points, as both traded 3's on 3 straight possessions for Holmes. Beechwood would go on a mini 4-0 run to make it 17-6, but Holmes would close the quarter on a 7-2 run that was keyed by 5 Ricardo Johnson points, including a 3 at the buzzer to send the game in to the second Holmes 24, Beechwood 8.

Second quarter things would get a little interesting after Pittman picked up his second foul and was sent to the bench with 6:31 left until half and Holmes up 25-8 after a Herndon free throw. Holmes would increase their lead to 27-9 with 5:21 left and Beechwood would call a timeout. At this point, Ricardo Johnson already had 13 points. Both teams traded baskets the rest of the half and Holmes would take a 34-17 lead in to the half.

Third quarter, Holmes would score first to extend their lead to 36-17 but on the next possession, Pittman would be sent to the bench for the rest of the game with his 3rd foul at the 6:03 mark. Pittman's absence wouldn't slow the Dogs down though. In the next 5 minutes, Holmes' lead would swell to 29 points (49-20) after a 13-3 run that was capped by a Jeremiah Johnson jumper with a little over a minute to go in the third. After this basket, Henley put Herndon, Hayes, Gray, McClendon, and Rice in and those 4 would play the next 8 minutes. Beechwood would score back to back baskets against this group to make the score Holmes 49 Beechwood 24 at the end of 3.

Fourth quarter, Hayes scored the first 3 points for Holmes on 1 free throw and a tip in to make the score 52-24, but the Beechwood starters would go on a 8-0 run to close the gap to 20 at 52-32 against Holmes reserves. Holmes would go on a 5-0 run after this, keyed by 4 points from Hayes, to push their lead back out to 25 at 57-32 and with 256 remaining, Holmes would clear their bench. Beechwood would leave Maus, Hall, Nussbaum, and Cruse in during this time. Tigers closed the game on an 11-4 run to give you the final of 61-43 in favor of the Covington squad.

I really don't know what kind of team Beechwood has, but I will say that If Holmes comes out of the gate and plays at their potential on both ends of the court for the entire game it will be very hard for someone to stay with them. I think that in some of the games they've lost or the games that have been tighter than they should've been was due to Holmes slacking on effort a little, because it definetley wasn't due to lack of their talent and I sort of figured too they would step it up a little when post season started.