whsball wrote:PFLOYD, kept looking for napkins and comments from Washington v Unioto last night. ...guess it was a boring game.
Here you go !
Unioto 63
Washington CH 61 final
... usually when the Pfloyd Tour travels Southern/Southeastern Ohio it takes me down winding roads connected to more winding roads ... last night the PF Tour took the road less traveled (at least by pfloyd) ... I crossed the Lancaster-Dixon Line (by about 1/2 a mile) , traveled into the Land of Straight Roads ... the Northwest Territories of the Southeast District ...
... My Elite 8 ranked #1 Unioto vs #2 Washington CH ... on paper it would be THE game of the year (so far) on the court ? it didn't disappoint - 2 outstanding TEAMS , two excellent coaches courtside , great individual talent on the floor ...throw in a packed house ... a JV game that went down to the wire ... not sure how THE marque game could be anything but EXACTLY as it looked on paper - a battle to the end ...
... Anytime you mention the Lions of Washington CH the conversation starts with Max Knisley/Cameron Eckles while the chat about the Shermans of Unioto goes to TEAM - a deep TEAM led by Cole Cottrill/Erique Hosley/Brandon Kennedy/Logan Swackhammer/Isaac Wheeler/Gabe Fisher/Peyton Hill & Co. ... ALL of these components & more had an impact on last nights game ...
... I'm ALWAYS impressed when the AD opens the shoot around with AC/DC's Thunderstruck as the lead off music ... follow that up with an electric guitar rendition of our National Anthem - can't get much better than that !!! it DID !!!
Quarter 1 had BOTH UHS & WCH tipping their hand as to the strategy of choice - Washington CH attached "offensively" the length of the court ... when the Shermans scored Knisley & Co. pushed the ball up court , beating the UHS D down the court - in the first frame this resulted in 5 Max Knisley fast break finishes at the rim - I'm not sure I have seen a player with Knisley's quickness WITH the ball all season ... with Knisley & Co running the floor for CH , the Shermans had a decided advantage in the paint with Hosley/Wheeler/Hill ... Unioto looked to pound the ball inside via the pass (Wheeler/Hosley/Hill as the recipient) or the drive (Swackhammer)... BOTH teams were successful on the offensive end as Knisley put up 10 points in the opening frame for the Lions ...Swackhammer & Wheeler combined for 12 points for UHS ...
Unioto 15 Court House 15 after one ... Quarter 2 continued the Max Knisley show as he added 11 more points in the half (2 treys from downtown/3 FTs) 21 points before intermission ... Unioto worked it's normal rotation (minus the injured Cottrill) the scoring was distributed over TEAM with Wheeler on the inside getting to the rim and getting to the line ... minus in the scoring column was the big man inside E. Hosley - picking up early fouls Hosley finished the half on the bench and scoreless in the book ...
Unioto 33 Washington CH 32 at the half ...
... Good TEAMs make adjustments during the game that show as positives on the court - Unioto tightened up the defense on Knisley who looked unstoppable in half one ... Knisley was held scoreless in the 3rd - check ... UHS then made adjustments offensively - Erique Hosley needed touches - check ... Hosley (12 points in the 3rd - check) ... still missing was perimeter scoring by the perimeter players for UHS -Swackhammer/Kennedy/Edler/Lovely had 1 fg made outside the paint while Wheeler/Hosley each had 1 trey thru 3 periods ... on the Court House side other scoring options had to be found - in the 3rd Jake Patton chipped in 7 its/Cameron Eckles added 5 to pace the Lions ... Unioto opened up a 6 point lead as Erique Hosley took a long rebound, put in a long range 3 ball at the buzzer ...
Unioto 53 Washington CH 46 end of 3rd ...
... Did I mention that as Unioto's plan was to get the ball inside - they did - get to the line - they did ... the other part of this formula is that when you get to the line YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE FTs - not so much for the Shermans ... through 3 quarters UHS was 12/22 from the line ... not good when playing on the road/hostile environment/vs a team who would put you on the line down the stretch BECAUSE you weren't hitting the FTs - CH did ...
Washington CH outscored Unioto 15-10 in the final quarter ... Eckles dropped in 10 fourth quarter points including the tying FTs in the last 20 seconds of the game to make it 61-61 ... Unioto with all of the woes from the perimeter got 2 BIG triples from Brandon Kennedy to start the quarter ... that was all but it for UHS , the basket had a lid on it for UHS as shot after shot on the inside would not fall, Hosley - came up empty on the offensive end ... Wheeler - nothing ... 0/3 FTs were missed by the Shermans in the quarter ... which allowed CH to be in position to tie and/or win in OT ... 61-61 Eckles 2 FT's made to tie ... ball out of bounds to UHS ... Swackhammer dribbled down court ( no time out called ... Washington CH could not set the D) ... Swack to the top of the key ... Hosley curled from the left of the lane, pass was there Hosley - no hesitation put up the 1 handed half hook - count it !!! game over ... Hosley - wearing the # 20 of Cole Cottrill did what CC would do TWICE ! hit the triple to end the 3rd quarter ... wanted the ball, took the shot, made the shot in crunch time to end the game ...
Unioto 63 Washington CH 61 final
... Pfloyd's Official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - Washington CH ...
Scoring ... Max Knisley 23, Cameron Eckles 17, Jake Patton 7, Griffin Shaw 5, Brian Wilson 3, Kenny Upthegrove 2, CJ Taylor 2, Kory Proby 2
3 pointers ... 5/17 ... Max Knisley 3, Jake Patton 1, Griffin Shaw 1, Brian Wilson 1
FT's ... 8/11
TO's ... 14
... Pfloyd's Official "unofficial" Napkin Stats - Unioto ...
Scoring ... Isaac Wheeler 18, Erique Hosley 14, Brandon Kennedy 13, Logan Swackhammer 10, Clay Edler 4, Gabe Fisher 2, Peyton Hill 2
3 pointers ... 5/14 ... Brandon Kennedy 3, Erique Hosley 1, Isaac Wheeler 1
FT's ...
12/25
TO's ... 8
... what a great game ! ... 2 great TEAMS going at it ON the court, the fans in the packed gymnasium going at it from the stands - it was loud !!! ... the atmosphere created in high school hoops Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line - nothing better imo ... AND these 2 teams could meet again in the post season ?!!! whoa !!! glad I have my sectional/district pass in hand ...
... on a side note - great to talk to
daniC before the varsity game got underway ! also want to give a high five to the referee crew from last night - great job !