[lillianhidgepork]

Final. First decent team they have played all year. Mercy did not play well or it would have been worse. Hartlage exposed Perry's defensive weakness.

[RunItUpTheGut]

I hate to say it but it just seems like every year with the few exceptions such as Rockcastle, that mountain teams just cant beat lville and nky teams.
Thats not to say they cant compete. Perry could probably compete with anybody in the state but its a whole different world once you get out of the 13th 14th and 15th region.

We see it every year in the 13th with Clays recent dominance only to go to state and be beaten.

[kyprepfan0622]

From Courier-Journal:

After giving the eulogy at her grandmother’s funeral in the morning, Whitney Hartlage paid tribute to her on the basketball court Saturday night.

The Mercy Academy junior had 22 points and four assists as the host Jaguars beat Perry County Central 71-61 in the Raatz Fence/O’Shea’s Classic.

Mary Hartlage died Thursday at age 88 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

“She enjoyed going to the games,” Whitney Hartlage said. “I played harder knowing that she’s watching me now. It was tough … but (coach Mark) Evans and the team really helped me through it. They were there for me.”

Whitney Hartlage hit 5 of 11 3-point tries as Mercy (17-3), No. 5 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings, won its seventh straight. No. 4 Perry County Central (17-1) had been the last unbeaten girls’ team in Kentucky.

The Lady Commodores led 21-18 before the Jaguars closed the first half with a 21-9 run. Kayla Richardson scored seven of her 18 points during the run, and Hartlage added five.

Coach Mark Evans said the key to Mercy’s run was picking up the pace.

Sophomore Kayla Rankin, who had 31 points and 12 rebounds, scored to pull Perry County Central within 60-55 with 3:13 remaining. The Jaguars hit 9 of 10 free throws in the final 2:30 to seal the victory.

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[warmachine]

Watched Marion, Manuel, and Mercy. Got news for some of you fools that are haters, Perrys girls CAN WIN the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. None of those 3 teams I listed above are powerhouses by no means. Good yes, but very very beatable. Perry missed about 20 free throws last night against Mercy. And remember this, they played at MERCY. Perry makes some adjustments from here on out and they can bring home another title.

[UKisN1]

Better competition exposes weaknesses and allows teams to work on those prior to state competition. Let Mercy ride a bus to Perry to play and see if it makes a difference.

[BLT FAN]

Very few teams, if any, could beat Perry Central at home. They are among the states 5 best teams in my opinion, It is very difficult for mountain teams to win in Louisville. Come state tournament time they will be a tough out.

[LOOKAYANNER]

Final. First decent team they have played all year. Mercy did not play well or it would have been worse. Hartlage exposed Perry's defensive weakness.

Listen, this game was at Mercy with officials from their area calling the game. Let Mercy drive up to the mountains of SE Kentucky and see how the outcome is. It would be Perry by 10 to 15 in a win. Perry has very few weaknesses, and usually hit their free throws a lot better than in this game. There's very little difference between Marion, Manual, Mercy, and Perry.

[blue1424]

I figured Mercy would win, great win for them.

[blue1424]

Perry County Central 19 11 12 19 61
Mercy 15 24 16 16 71

Perry County Central (17-1) – Noble 6, Crawford 6, Napier 2, Back 6, Smith 10, Rankin 31.
Mercy (17-3) – Doherty 2, Hartlage 22, Co. Roush 11, Ch. Roush 15, Richardson 18, Dircksen 3.

3-point goals: Crawford, Back; Hartlage 5, Richardson, Dircksen.

http://www.highschoolsports.net/gamestat...ty/Girls/1

[EKYHoops]

Noble with 6 really surprises me. Rankin with 31 doesn't she is a beast inside. 5 point game with 3 minutes to go and Mercy hits their free throws like a top 5 team in the state should. Perry missed several free throws and played a great game away from the mountains. Both teams will make adjustments for the tourney, this was a great time for this match up for both teams. Good game by both, good luck in March!

[HD28]

Noble 6? That says a lot. And PCC would get beat 8 out of 10 times against any of the aforementioned teams IMO. PCC scores 61 and Rankin (a monster) has 31...?

[lillianhidgepork]

Listen, this game was at Mercy with officials from their area calling the game. Let Mercy drive up to the mountains of SE Kentucky and see how the outcome is. It would be Perry by 10 to 15 in a win. Perry has very few weaknesses, and usually hit their free throws a lot better than in this game. There's very little difference between Marion, Manual, Mercy, and Perry.

1. Last time I checked the state tourney was played in Bowling Green, not in Hazard.

2. From the game I watched Perry Central has alot of weaknesses.

3. You have already seen the difference in Perry Central/Mercy. You will see the difference next with Manual.

4. Oh wait if Manual would come to Hazard to play.....:biggrin:

5. Also one more thing...if you want these teams to come to Hazard then get on the phone with them. I overheard two coaches yesterday saying they were not dodging the good teams in the state, much less Perry Central.

[LOOKAYANNER]

1. Last time I checked the state tourney was played in Bowling Green, not in Hazard.

2. From the game I watched Perry Central has alot of weaknesses.

3. You have already seen the difference in Perry Central/Mercy. You will see the difference next with Manual.

4. Oh wait if Manual would come to Hazard to play.....:biggrin:

5. Also one more thing...if you want these teams to come to Hazard then get on the phone with them. I overheard two coaches yesterday saying they were not dodging the good teams in the state, much less Perry Central.

lilianhidgepork, are you saying that the home team does not have an advantage in games? I don't care what part of the state the game is played, it is the way it is.
Have you ever been to Rupp when UK plays, or seen Indiana at their place. Or Duke. Or Bobby Keith when he was head man at Clay County.

[lillianhidgepork]

Im not saying that at all. I just dont buy into it being worth 10 points unless the refs are very biased. But I have seen that in the mountains too.....13th region are the worst.

[OrangenowBlue]

Im not saying that at all. I just dont buy into it being worth 10 points unless the refs are very biased. But I have seen that in the mountains too.....13th region are the worst.

Amen! In regards to the 13th region officials.

[bballfanlcc]

Letcher Co Central travels to PCC Tuesday night well the score is 10-0 PCC according to all the post..LOL.. I would hope the Refs really don't favor home teams that would be taken the game away from kids...:igiveup:

[LOOKAYANNER]

Letcher Co Central travels to PCC Tuesday night well the score is 10-0 PCC according to all the post..LOL.. I would hope the Refs really don't favor home teams that would be taken the game away from kids...:igiveup:

I think most of the post are referring to out-of-region games, not games inside the region. Perry and Letcher are both in the 14th region.

In my opinion there's at least 10 point advantage for the home team when playing an out-of-region opponent due to getting nearly all of the 50/50 calls. Those blocks become charges when it's your team's on offense, and blocks when your team is on defense. Then there's the calls of which player last touched the ball when it went out of bounds if it is a close decision (you can't call it out on 2 different people so one has to be chosen, and it's not going to be the out-of-region team). Home teams are also allowed to press a little more aggressively than the out-of-region teams. I know from experience. I've seen some good 14th region teams go into the 13th region and get skinned alive, and I've seen the same happen to 13th region teams when they visit the 14th.
Coaches rate referees in their region for post season tournaments. They're not going to bite the hand that feeds them.

[lillianhidgepork]

I think most of the post are referring to out-of-region games, not games inside the region. Perry and Letcher are both in the 14th region.

In my opinion there's at least 10 point advantage for the home team when playing an out-of-region opponent due to getting nearly all of the 50/50 calls. Those blocks become charges when it's your team's on offense, and blocks when your team is on defense. Then there's the calls of which player last touched the ball when it went out of bounds if it is a close decision (you can't call it out on 2 different people so one has to be chosen, and it's not going to be the out-of-region team). Home teams are also allowed to press a little more aggressively than the out-of-region teams. I know from experience. I've seen some good 14th region teams go into the 13th region and get skinned alive, and I've seen the same happen to 13th region teams when they visit the 14th.
Coaches rate referees in their region for post season tournaments. They're not going to bite the hand that feeds them.

What you are describing is cheating by the referees.

[Strikeout King]

^ I think what he means is that some Region Refs will let you play while others will call touch fouls

[lillianhidgepork]

I think most of the post are referring to out-of-region games, not games inside the region. Perry and Letcher are both in the 14th region.

In my opinion there's at least 10 point advantage for the home team when playing an out-of-region opponent due to getting nearly all of the 50/50 calls. Those blocks become charges when it's your team's on offense, and blocks when your team is on defense. Then there's the calls of which player last touched the ball when it went out of bounds if it is a close decision (you can't call it out on 2 different people so one has to be chosen, and it's not going to be the out-of-region team). Home teams are also allowed to press a little more aggressively than the out-of-region teams. I know from experience. I've seen some good 14th region teams go into the 13th region and get skinned alive, and I've seen the same happen to 13th region teams when they visit the 14th.
Coaches rate referees in their region for post season tournaments. They're not going to bite the hand that feeds them.

No what he is describing above is cheating by the refs. I know alot of refs and they seem to agree with me.

[LOOKAYANNER]

What you are describing is cheating by the referees.

Out of region teams will not get the benifit of the doubt on 50/50 calls. It's been going on like that since they shot at peach baskets, AND... it happens all over the state, not just the mountains. It is what it is. Stop being so naive.

[Strikeout King]

I wasn't at the game nor seen it on ihigh so I don't know. I do know that when you go out of region you aren't gonna get any calls. Seen it happen way too many times. Model and Madison Southern are two of the worst places to go with Model being the worst

[LOOKAYANNER]

I wasn't at the game nor seen it on ihigh so I don't know. I do know that when you go out of region you aren't gonna get any calls. Seen it happen way too many times. Model and Madison Southern are two of the worst places to go with Model being the worst

That's what I'm trying to explain to lilianhidgepork. Blocking or charging calls are usually in the 50/50 category. So are out of bound calls. The visiting out of region team is not going to get many of those calls. Not at Mercy, Paducah Tilghman, Ashland Blazer, Hazard, anywhere. It doesn't matter where it's played. lilianhedgepork can call it cheating or whatever he wants to call it. I call it human nature that refs are not going to give a call that could go either way to the out of region team.....BECAUSE...the coaches in the regions rate those refs for post season assignments. They're not going to bite the hand that feeds them. It's been going on like that since the first referees blew through a whistle, and it isn't going to change.

[outsidein]

Just wondering who was actually at this game. If you were not at this game than not really sure on how you can judge if it was a poorly called game or not?? Just another question on how many of you all have ref any type of high school or college sport? I don't really think refs get together and say ok guys most calls go this way or most calls go that way. I do think you have some refs that don't really work hard to get in good positions and some that just are out of shape to get in position and some that need to get out because of there age. Lookayaneer you are correct as for Bobby it was tough down there. lol ... one thing about refs there either bad or good all depends on if your team wins or looses.