| Siegel, Oakland boys advance in Region competition |
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By: JEFF JORDAN, Special to The Post
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Posted: Saturday, February 27, 2010 11:05 pm
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Siegel PA man Jim Burns always asks Siegel Nation seconds before game time if they are ready. To my knowledge, they have never answered no.
Siegel jumped out to an early lead and never trailed in beating a well coached Shelbyville team (16-13) by a 54-44 margin in opening Region play.
Siegel (21-8) used a number of weapons in the first half including a zone and man to man defense, considerable full and half court pressure and some excellent board work. As a result Siegel forced Shelbyville into six first quarter turnovers and numerous bad shots. It didn’t hurt that Siegel blocked four shots in the first quarter and led 16-5 at the break.
After that, the game was about even. For the game, Shelbyville had 15 turnovers to Siegel’s 7 and Siegel narrowly won the rebound battle 33-32.
Siegel also beat Shelbyville by ten, 60-50 in a January game in Shelbyville. In winning this time, Siegel advanced to the second round to play Lawrence County at Shelbyville on Tuesday night at 6:00.
Oscar Butler finished the game scoring 16 points, 10 above his average. He scored every way possible, three 3s, a 2 pointer and 5 free throws. Marc Gooch had 11 including a thunderous dunk and Cedric Williams put in 14 including a loud dunk of his own. Williams has had a great year: he has scored 364 points on the year and pulled down over 260 rebounds. Cedric, a junior had 12 of his points in the second half.
In the other region games, Columbia (18-12) beat Riverdale (17-17), 58-32; Lawrence County (23-4) beat Smyrna (12-19), 72-54 and Oakland (26-5) spanked Franklin County (14-17), 66-44. Justin Ray led Smyrna in scoring with 10. Jamal Hughes and Kody Brown both had 15 for Oakland while Will Walker had 12 and Christian Adams tallied 10.
Eagleville dropped a road game at McEwen 60-49. Kevin Brown had 17 and Tyler Davenport had 11. The Eagles finished 20-7 in another great year for Coach Joey Reed and the Eagles.
Your schedule for the second round region games to be played at Shelbyville next week.
Monday: 6:00, girls – Blackman (21 – 6) vs Shelbyville (17 – 11): 7:30, girls Riverdale (24 – 2) vs LaVergne (26 – 3).
Tuesday: 6:00 boys – Siegel (21 – 8) vs Lawrence County (23 – 4): 7:30 boys Oakland (26 – 5) vs Columbia (18 – 11).
Some Notes:
If you win Monday or Tuesday, you play in the championship game and you advance to the sectional, one victory from Murphy Center.
Shelbyville’s Whit Taylor is the region tournament director next week.
The Shelbyville boys, in losing to Siegel Saturday, had no scorers in double figures while Siegel had four players with 9 or more points.
The lowest seed still playing are the 3 seeded La Vergne girls, the only # 3 or # 4 team to advance.
I sat next to the scorer’s desk on Saturday night, and Siegel Coach Ben Dotson was only two steps away. His running commentary with his players, assistant coaches, officials and, on this night, with me was hilarious.
On a more somber note, Blackman’s Katie Smith is hurt again and out for the year. No player in the Boro tries harder and gives more to her team. She is going to be very difficult for Coach Chad Hibdon to replace. Katie scores 6-12 a game, hustles, rebounds and plays defense with a vengeance and with heart. I’m going to miss her.
I’ve always heard it’s hard to beat a good team three times. The Riverdale girls face that challenge on Monday when the red and gold take on a very tough LaVergne squad. Should Riverdale prevail, they then could very well face Blackman, a team the Lady Warriors have narrowly beaten three times.
The Oakland boys face the same challenge if they win and Siegel wins. Can OHS beat the Stars a fourth time?
See you in Shelbyville.
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