In the Pre-Game Interview and Commentary we discussed what Christian County had to do to break their three game losing streak.
They accomplished so much of it, but still fell short.
A 57-50 loss, in overtime, on the road for the Colonels at Bowling Green for thirty minutes looked so good. The game last thirty six.
Going into the game the discussion was free throws, foul trouble, defense, and rebounding/ball movement.
Each one was executed for the majority of the game.
Last week each of those things beat the Colonels.
Against Madisonville it was an inability to consistently find their man and get back defensively. Well they did that against the Purple holding them to nineteen points at the half and leading by seven.
In the game against Paducah Tilghman, a one point loss mind you, it was free throws. Could not buy one. I am not saying they shot immaculately from the line at Bowling Green, but they certainly made them at a higher clip and generally in a timely manner. Hard to make them in a timely manner, overtime for instance, when you don’t draw a foul for over three minutes in the period.
The the past Saturday against Lyon County it was foul trouble. Breland Morrison and Jordan Miles found themselves with early two fouls and had to sit for most of the first half. Those are two starters and two of your best three or four wing defenders. Without them on the floor, guys like Travis Perry and Brady Shoulders were a lot more free to move about the floor and find points.
Christian County trailed by twenty plus at the half in that game, they got within eleven in the second half multiple times and only lost by thirteen in the end.
Against Bowling Green they corrected that swiftly. In fact, until late in the second half and overtime, both teams played a very clean game. If memory serves we only had a total of ten fouls in the first half and until around the three minute mark in the second half we only had six or seven total.
Again, twenty-eight to thirty minutes of really great basketball by the Colonels will be overshadowed by a final several minutes of difficult basketball.
Christian County struggled when Bowling Green turned up the pressure, forcing multiple travel calls along with several rushed or arrant passes.
Then in overtime, after a rough final possession and a chance for the Colonels to win in regulation, it was as if Christian County just bowed out.
Bowling Green started OT on a 9-0 run before ultimately outscoring County 11-4 in the period.
The Colonels are a very good basketball team, with loads of experience they will use going forward from this year and last.
Head Coach Toby Miles took full responsibility in the post-game interview for how his team performed down the stretch.
Also worth noting, the Bowling Green broadcast team took notice of the talent and clear basketball ability of this team and its players. They made a point to come down to the floor and speak with me commenting on how “tough” and “rough” the recent schedule has been for the Colonels. One of them went so far as to say they were the best 2-4 team he had seen, and how he truly believed that record was no indictive of how good this team is and can be.
I agree with him.
I have no doubt weeks from now we will talk about this stretch being the kind of stretch that molded, shaped, and began a run by a team that clearly bolsters some serious talent and ability.
I mean let’s consider for a second, that Christian County has gone toe to toe in the last week plus with teams that will no doubt make their region tournaments, at least two statistically speaking, probably make it beyond their region, and bolster some of the highest ranked players in the state.
Colonels have lost by single digits in three of the four. This team can, and I believe will be, great come the postseason.
For now they will attempt to bounce back on Saturday against their in county rivals the Tigers of Hoptown, at Hoptown. We will have pre-game coverage beginning at 7:15 on 95.3 FM and 1230 AM WHOP, Newsradio.