Thursday evening we were finally able to get teams back on the hardwood after days of cancelations and postponements due to weather.
In a highly anticipated rematch between HCA and Trigg County, it did not go the Warriors way.
Before we dive in, I would be remiss to say the officiating was heavily scrutinized by fans and more alike. Agree or disagree, that fact must be presented. I in fact was highly critical during the broadcast, most likely to much so. It is the toughest job in sports, but Thursday night was highly criticized.
That being said, HCA did themselves no favors.
Leading up to the game the thought was that, much like the first matchup, the Warriors would be without two critical forwards; Manny Diaz and Trentin Fowler. It turned out they were only without Fowler as Diaz was actually able to start and play a large chunk, on and off, of the ball game.
Unfortunately he only managed two points and outside of his effort on loose balls and rebounds, which is always spectacular, he was not much of a factor.
Camden Higgins joined him with two points and Trevor Gibson in the fourth quarter tried to come alive scoring all nine of his points, but it was to late it seemed.
The Warriors struggled offensively, much like they did in the KCAC state tournament. Jason Leek after putting up fourteen in the first half to help keep HCA in it, managed just four points in the second. Meanwhile Carlos Robles, who many people would say could not buy a call, just eclipsed double digits in the end with ten points.
The third quarter will stand out as a testament to the difficulty HCA can have and does have at times, despite being a very talented and capable team.
Regardless of the refs, the opposing team, or any other factor; you cannot have three total points in a quarter. Three points, in eight minutes and change of play. That cannot, ever, happen, if you wanna win ball games.
HCA also gave up a combined forty-four points to two players; Jhaden Vaughn and Luke Washer. Much like we talked about with Perry and Reddick when Hoptown gave up a combined sixty-four of seventy seven against Lyon County, that simply cannot happen.
Head Coach Matt McGowan was visibly frustrated after the game as were many fans and players who hung around and chatted in the parking lot for several minutes after the game was over and all the lights went out.
Luckily HCA will not have to wait long to get the taste out of their mouths and the thoughts off their minds. They will travel to Bethel Christian Academy on Saturday for a jam packed day of basketball starting at 5 pm.