Sunday, March 10, 2013

Boys' State Final

For the second year in a row, the state title game comes down to the champions of the Seventh Region and the Eleventh Region.  Last year, the title game pitted Louisville Trinity against Scott County.  This year, we have Louisville Ballard and Madison Central.  The folks from Hoptown will disagree, but it's hard to deny that these are probably the two best teams in the Commonwealth.

This is their second meeting of the season.  On December 22, 2012, at the King of the Bluegrass Tournament, Ballard beat Madison Central 88-86.  If we get another game like that, this will be remembered as one of the greatest State Finals ever.

Further observations in the comments.

46 comments:

  1. "I can live, I can dream
    I can be who I want to be.
    I can live, I can dream
    I love Bowling Green."

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  2. Ballard has won the State Tournament in 1977, 1988, and 1999. Madison Central has never won it all.

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  3. A nervous and jerky start to the game so far, but both teams are starting to play better. With 2:18 to go in the first quarter, Ballard leads 10-8.

    There is an enormous crowd at this game.

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  4. Ballard is suddenly on fire from the outside. They are burying mid-range jumpers of the type almost no one takes any more. The Bruins are 7-13 from the field, and they lead 17-9 with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.

    Central time out.

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  5. That's the end of the first quarter. Ballard leads 17-11, and Dominique Hawkins (Central's big star) has zero points.

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  6. Ballard seems to have things pretty much in hand. They lead 25-18 with 2:23 left in the first half.

    Hawkins has finally gotten going for Central. He has 7 points and 6 rebounds. But Quentin Snider (a junior for Ballard who has already committed to Louisville) has 10 points on 4-8 shooting, and is looking very much like someone who will torment UK for years to come.

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  7. Snider hits an off-balanced 35-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to put Ballard up 34-22 at the half. He has 13 points to lead all scorers, and he appears to be the best player on the floor. U of L fans should be thrilled.

    It's hard to believe that Hoptown couldn't have done at least as well as Central. But it's also hard to deny that Ballard is, almost certainly, the best team in the Commonwealth.

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  8. In the first half, Ballard shot 15-29 from the field (51.7 percent), while Madison Central was only 9-29 (31.0 percent). Central has really struggled from the outside (they are only 1-6 from three-point range).

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  9. This game is pretty much over. Ballard leads 38-23 with 6:16 to go in the third quarter.

    Ballard's two best players -- Quin Snider and Kelan Martin -- are both juniors. Based on this performance, they will be heavily favored to defend their title next year.

    Central is basically here because they got 31 points and 12 rebounds from Hawkins in the quarter-finals against Holmes, and because Hawkins gave them 30 points and 10 rebounds against Hoptown. But in those two games Hawkins was living at the free throw line -- he went 17-20 from the line against Hoptown, and 9-12 from the line against Holmes. Today, however, Ballard has enough athleticism to guard Hawkins without fouling him.

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  10. Ballard leads 43-31 with 2:16 left in the 3d quarter.

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  11. Madison Central made a run to cut Ballard's lead to 45-41, but Snider was fouled on a three-point shot at the end of the third quarter. He made 2-3 free throws, and the Bruins lead 47-41 with eight minutes to go.

    Hawkins now has 15 points and 9 rebounds.

    Snider has 20 points and 5 assists.

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  12. Madison Central is now on a real charge. With 5:44 to go, they have cut Ballard's lead to 49-48.

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  13. Ballard misses the front end of a one-and-one. Madison Central can take the lead.

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  14. Ken-Jah Bosley hits a three! MADISON CENTRAL HAS TAKEN THE LEAD!! They are on a 28-11 run.

    5:14 left in the game. Ballard calls time.

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  15. With 4:50 to go, Ballard ties the game at 51.

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  16. With 4:29 left, Quan Taylor is fouled for Madison Central. He makes both FT's, and he now has 16 points and 11 rebounds.

    Central leads 53-51.

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  17. With 4:15 left, Lavonne Holland drives, scores and is fouled! He makes the free throw, and Ballard leads 54-53.

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  18. With 3:49 left, Hawkins is fouled away from the ball.

    He makes one of two free throws, and the game is tied at 54.

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  19. With 3:35 left, Ballard calls time.

    After the time out, Holland nails a three to put Ballard up 57-54.

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  20. With 2:50 left, Bosley misses a three-pointer for Central. Ballard ball.

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  21. With 2:29 left, Kelan Martin misses, gets his own rebound, scores and is fouled!

    Ballard leads 59-54, and Martin will be shooting a free throw after the official time out.

    Since Central went up 53-51, Ballard has had the ball three times. They made an old-fashioned three-point play. Then they made a three-point shot. And now they are working on another old-fashioned three-point play. That is championship basketball.

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  22. There were 20,125 at the semi-finals last night, which was a record for the semi-finals.

    There are 17,315 at the final, which is the largest crowd for the final in five years.

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  23. Martin misses the free throw.

    With 2:03 left, Bosley scores and is fouled. His free throw cuts Ballard's lead to 59-57.

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  24. With 1:35 left, Holland drives to the basket. It looks as though Quan Taylor blocked his shot, but the officials call goaltending.

    Ballard leads 61-57.

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  25. With 1:19 left, Hawkins is fouled by Martin. That's his fourth foul.

    Hawkins makes one of two FT's. Ballard leads 61-58.

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  26. With 49.5 seconds left, Snider is fouled. (Ballard was trying to run out the clock).

    He makes both free throws, and Ballard leads 63-58.

    Ballard calls time. Since falling behind 53-51, they have outscored Madison Central 12-5.

    Snider has 22 points and 7 assists.
    Martin has 19 points and 12 rebounds.
    Holland has 15 points and 4 rebounds.

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  27. With 32.8 seconds left, Hawkins is fouled on a drive to the basket. Great defense by Ballard, which forced Central to use up almost 17 seconds.

    Hawkins makes both FT's. Ballard leads 63-60.

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  28. With 26.9 seconds left, Snider is fouled.

    He misses the first free throw.

    He makes the second.

    Ballard leads 64-60.

    Madison Central calls time with 24.2 seconds left.

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  29. With 15 seconds left, Hawkins drives to the basket and scores.

    Ballard leads 64-62. Madison Central calls time.

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  30. Coming out of the time out, Ballard throws away the inbounds pass!

    The ball rolls out to mid court. Hawkins gets and and dribbles around. He loses the ball, but it bounces over to Bosley. From the corner, Bosley takes a three-pointer AND IT GOES IN!!!

    MADISON CENTRAL LEADS 65-64 WITH 2.2 SECONDS TO GO!!!

    Ballard calls time.

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    Replies
    1. James Pennington ‏@pennington_jl
      Ken-Jah Bosley on if today raised his recruiting profile: "I hope so. But if it didn't, oh well. This is worth it."
      3:27 PM - Mar 10, 2013

      Ben Roberts ‏@NextCats
      What was Dom Hawkins thinking when he lost the ball and Bosley picked it up?: "I'm like, 'Pass it back! Pass it back!'"
      3:27 PM - Mar 10, 2013

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  31. Ken-Jah Bosley has made 3-5 three-pointers, and he has 20 points. That last shot was like something out of a movie.

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  32. Ballard has to go the length of the court. They give it to Snider, he shoots from half court . . . .

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  33. One of the greatest State Finals ever.

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  34. . . . AND MISSES!

    MADISON CENTRAL HAS DONE IT!!! In the last 14:16 of the game, they scored 42 points. They go from trailing 38-23 to WINNING BY 65-64.

    Hawkins, who will probably be named Mr. Basketball, finishes with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

    Snider, who will be favored to be next year's Mr. Basketball, finishes with 23 points and 7 assists.

    This tournament also featured James Bolden, a sophomore from Covington Holmes, who will be a favorite for Mr. Basketball in 2015.

    What a game. What a tournament. What a season.

    Congratulations to the Madison Central Indians, who just won one of the greatest high school games you will ever see. This is their first state title, and they will never, ever forget it.

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  35. Kentucky should rally around the boys' and girls' Sweet Sixteens like a pre-1950 World's Fair and an NBC Olympics combined. There should be giant, lavish opening and closing ceremonies. There should be all sorts of ancillary events going on in conjunction. And it should all be telecast live on KET.

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  36. And "Madison Central" is again among the top-10-trending Tweets in the United States.

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  37. A lot of encouragement on Twitter for UK to offer a scholarship to Madison Central star Dominique Hawkins, who has professed himself a Wildcat fan. Coach Hall, by the way, confirmed on Joe B & Denny this week that he had basically shown Paul Andrews no recruiting interest until watching him all weekend at the 1982 Sweet Sixteen.

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    Replies
    1. Ben Roberts ‏@NextCats
      Sweet 16 MVP Dominique Hawkins: "It feels great to do this on this court."
      3:23 PM - Mar 10, 2013

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    2. Ben Roberts ‏@NextCats
      Sean Woods back to see Dom Hawkins. He can't be excited about all this extra attention. Morehead St. was in good shape w/ him.
      1:13 PM - Mar 10, 2013

      Matt Jones ‏@KySportsRadio
      Dominque Hawkins has earned a scholarship offer this week. Hope Calipari gives it to him
      2:54 PM - Mar 10, 2013

      Oscar Combs @wildcatnews
      Hard to imagine seeing Dominique Hawkins wear anything other than blue next 4 years. All heart...with talent.
      3:19 PM - Mar 10, 2013

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  38. This is the fourth time since 2003 that Ballard has lost in the State Finals. The pressure on that team to go all the way next year will be unbelievable.

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    Replies
    1. DEVANTE PARKER ‏@devante_parker9
      Idc what anyone says. They still got cheated like we did my junior year.
      3:33 PM - Mar 10, 2013

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