A defining four game stretch to end the season for Christian County is halfway done and will continue Monday night.
Just a few evenings ago the Colonels took the lengthy bus ride to Madison Central and played a hard fought game. According to Head Coach Toby Miles “we just did not make enough winning plays.” An 88-81 loss, the Colonels really gave it their best effort, just did not quite execute enough possessions.
That could not be said of Saturday evenings game.
In the final game of a full day of play at Lyon County, the Colonels took on the Mustangs of McCracken County in what promised to be a very fascinating game.
It was just the second game back for several starters like Derrell Bateman, George Sanders, JaSean Riley, and Trey Blanton. The Mustangs would have star Ian Hart, who missed the first matchup, on the floor. Not to mention, it is the classic debate of fundamentals versus athleticism.
That is not to say that McCracken is not athletic, or the Colonels are not fundamental, it is just a distinct play style difference. A difference that was fully on display when McCracken County came into Lyle Dunbar Gym and defeated Christian County on January 16th 58-52.
On that night, the Mustangs were maybe the most disciplined high school basketball team I, among others , had witnessed in a long time. Both their offense and defense was like a well choreographed and performed dance. It ebbed and flowed, was smooth and on time, it was a work of art. The Colonels struggled to crack the code and as evidenced by the score, were held in check and could not quite hold the Mustangs in check.
Saturday, however, again, was a different story. The Colonels, did in fact, make many “winning plays.”
Coach Miles commented in the post-game how his team clearly came out sluggish, seemingly after the late night on Friday. The Colonels did not get home until nearly 1 am. That led to an initial 7-0 run by the Mustangs before Coach Miles called a timeout and got on his team to wake up.
The Colonels would do just that, going on a 6-0 to get within a point. The Mustangs would call a timeout at that point of their own, and slip right back into the rhythm and flow of their game, ultimately taking a ten plus point lead. Coach Miles would have to subsequently call another timeout, and whatever he said clicked, because from then on, it was all Christian County.
Executing everything that Coach Miles and his staff have preached this season, the Colonels were relentless in their pressure on defense. It totally disrupted the McCracken County flow and ability to make several passes and find an open or easy shot. On the flip side, Christian County started to not only dominate on the offensive glass, but make the extra pass to take good opportunities and make them great or wide open ones.
The Colonels would lead 29-26 at the half, after battling back from that deficit, and ultimately pull away in the second half for the 63-52 win.
Derrell Bateman would finish with a double-double, nineteen points and ten rebounds. He was joined by Breland Morrison and Jordan Miles who each had ten points, and George Sanders who nearly had a double-double, with seven points and eight rebounds. JaSean Riley was a copy and paste of Sanders, nearly, with eight points and six rebounds.
It was, quite possibly, the most complete game we have seen the Colonels play, and it was done on the road against one of the better teams they will see all year. McCracken County had just three losses all season, now they have four.
Bateman ended the game with an emphatic sequence scoring back-to-back alley-oop slams before both teams emptied their bench with under a minute to go.
The question now becomes, can they string together performances, and improve the little things.
Winning by eleven on a night where you shoot under fifty percent from the free throw line, and just twenty-five percent from three is great, but not a long term winning formula. Shooting fifty-five percent from the field however, with thirty rebounds and three, almost five, guys in double figures, is making the “winning plays.” Not to mention the double-digit forced turnovers on defense.
Next up the Colonels must take another all to lengthy bus trip to Paul Lawrence Dunbar to test themselves against what is normally one of the states best, but this year the Bulldogs are just 8-19. After that though, Christian County will close out the regular season against one the states best this year for certain, when they travel to 24-1 Warren Central.
The Dragons only loss? Well that was back on December 27th to none other than the same Madison Central team the Colonels just fell to.
How do the Colonels fair down the stretch and into the postseason, stay tuned to find out. According to Coach Miles though, it is “that time of year.”