JimThorpe

And last year's semifinal. Two very dramatic games on consecutive days.

What are some of the memories that stand out the most? Most exciting games, interesting people?

Intangibles. Looking at the emotional clips and the photos from the post game at Huntsville it would be hard to tell that these are the defending champions and this is their third straight trip to state. It's brand new like, "I can't believe it! We've finally done it!" So much for being satisfied with one championship.

I'd still try it. If they don't try something radical the best they can hope for is a good showing, a 9 or 10 point loss like the Connolly game.

Interesting video. Rivera is their man. Talented and well schooled - that young man has played a lot of basketball. The defense in the video looks like lesser district opponents. It's a little softer than that he'll face in San Antonio so he'll have to rise to the occasion. He'll get his points against the Tigers I'm sure, in the 24 range. Silsbee will just have to match him. Shaping up to be a very good game.

Well, it's a free country. They can give it a go. But if it was me? I'd have called Coach King at Argyle Saturday night. I'd be studying the Argyle/Silsbee game closer that Pasture studied microbes. I'd choreograph this thing like the director of the Bolshoi Ballet choreographs Swan Lake trying to duplicate what happened last year in that semifinal - except for that last shot of course. I'd move that about an inch and a half to the left.

You gotta figure Somerset is ranked too low. Having just beaten No. 3 and then No. 15 you'd have to put them somewhere above 22 wouldn't you?

I don't want to jinx the Tigers but really that makes sense. The Tigers have only one problem against Somerset and that's the height difference. Somerset is taller than anybody we've played. We've seen as good or better than the Bulldogs in every other facet and handled it. But 6'10" Jacob Harvey can play. He scored 21 against West Oso and he played most of the game. He will be effective and a force to reckoned with. He will alter our style of play inside. Somerset on the other hand has a bunch of problems. I think the biggest concern is to keep out of foul trouble. If Harvey has to sit down for an extended period there's just no road for them. Silsbee has shown a knack for drawing fouls against opponents' bigs. Then there's Silsbee's speed and full court defense. The Tigers aren't maniacal like Yates but they pressure you a bit and then they sprint down on offense. Opponents can deal with these things but it's tiring mentally and physically. The Tigers can get really hot from 3pt land. Not just high school but NBA three point land. And finally there's that 4th quarter thing the Tigers do. Prayer is the only counter measure for that.

Yes indeed they are. And they face tougher competition during the regular season. Region 2 always sends a worthy team. The only chink was how hard they were pushed in the third round by unranked Wilmer 81-80. So I don't imagine they'll be looking past Seminole. They know that if an unranked can challenge them like that they'd better respect NO. 10. The 1:00 game should be a good one.

Someset is about 23 minutes from the Alamo Dome. They are so close that all they are doing is having early release on Friday. And it's a really really big deal over there. They had two huge wins as well over the weekend. Their defeat of Brazosport is just as important for them as our win over Yates was for us. I don't know when they actually go on sale, but folks in Somerset are already lining up for tickets allocated to SISD. I bet a bunch of people who miss out on the $16 tickets will go ahead and bite the bullet and buy the $130 tournament ticket. There are still quite a few seats available. Plus there's the Cinderella factor, unaffiliated attendees will usually root for the supposed underdog. And of course, the Carter folks will hang around hoping to see an upset. All this combines make Friday's match practically a home game for the Bulldogs. I would caution them to remember that the No. 2 ranked 4A team, with one of, or maybe the best record in the state, with size and talent and awesome depth and no apparent weaknesses scored 103 points in the Regional final..... and it wasn't nearly enough.

Very true. And we'll probably see him at 2-5 before it's all said and done. I'm sure he could run the offense if asked to but I think we're okay at the No. 1 spot. The word "okay" being the biggest understatement ever.

True, but let's be accurate. They are an elite squad without a center or even a power forward. It's whole bunch of guards and one small forward. And that's what makes this upcoming semifinal game an interesting matchup.

Well right off the bat you have two teams that couldn't be more different. Silsbee is somewhat undersized inside and Somerset starts a 6'10" center and a 6'7" forward. Barnes will be fronting a man 8" taller than he. Should be fun. Bring it on. The Tigers are obviously much greater than the sum of their parts.

38 points in the fourth quarter. I had a feeling Yates would wilt at the end. Not because they are weak or lack talent or character or drive or the will to win. They have all those things. They were simply mentally exhausted. They were pressuring Silsbee but they were also pressuring themselves. That frantic defensive pace had worked on lesser teams. They had broken lesser teams. But Silsbee seemed to be ENJOYING IT! The Tigers were enjoying the challenge of the super high pressure defense. Bring it on! Let's rock! The Tigers were obviously tired but they were still happy in their work. And that was a new experience for Yates. You could tell by the look on their faces that they were getting brittle and about to break. They got that 4 point lead early in the 4th but even then you could see them starting the slide. They were looking at each other with that, "What is it gonna take?" look. Wise is a good coach but he should have called a full time out the instant Silsbee caught them. Apparently he didn't see it or didn't believe it. By the time he started calling time outs it was far too late.

Silsbee is out manned inside. It will be difficult to stop Yates big men. Basketball requires tall people usually. For Silsbee to win their decision making will have to be almost perfect. No bad shots. The Silsbee defense has been very weak in the middle. There's usually a path to the basket. f they can't shore that up it will be a long game for the Tigers. There's one thing. The Tigers will probably be behind going into the 4th quarter. Then they will turn up the intensity to a level that the Lions haven't seen all year. I think the Lions will wilt under the pressure. It will come down to free throws and luck, the bounce of the ball and key calls by the refs.

And free throw shooting hurt Liberty Hill. That and they couldn't buy a 3 to save their lives. They had some open looks and were way off. Connolly played a great game. They would have given Yates all they wanted as well. I think last year it was a close game.

Looking at Liberty Hills schedule I'm not seeing those very low scores that would indicate they can control the game. The only really low score was a 45 to 38 loss to....... you guessed it, Argyle. The scores indicate that the Panthers play a normal style game. Even if they catch Yates looking ahead to the Silsbee game and keep pace early, the Lions will eventually snap out of it and take control. But you never know, an upset now and then is a fun and beneficial thing. We're overdue for one in Region III, in the 6:15 PM game if you please, not the 8:00 PM game.

Silsbee will beat Connolly but the starters will have to play the whole game to do it. Yates on the other hand, will brush Liberty Hill aside almost as easily as they did Hardin Jefferson. It's practically a warm up game. Coach Wise will rest his starters so they will be fresh for the Silsbee game. He doesn't need to win by 50. This will put the Tigers at a disadvantage before the game even begins on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers will have to play their biggest game of the season on one night's rest right after a tough game. And then it's a bad matchup for the Tigers anyway. Yates is big and fast and skilled and plays a better defense. No real weaknesses at all. But if the Tigers are shooting well and can somehow stay out of foul trouble they just might pull it off. Yates will have an apparently comfortable lead going into the 4th quarter. Then Silsbee will rally fiercely and pull close. The Lions haven't been challenged like this in a while and they aren't used to it. They will probably wilt somewhat under the onslaught. I think it will ultimately come down to the bounce of the ball. Pure happenstance will decide it. And since tigers are just naturally luckier than lions Silsbee wins by 1 point. That's my prediction for this weekend.

They aren't going to get it this year, barring a huge upset. I hope it's close but I don't see any path forward for Liberty Hill. They won their district but they aren't ranked. Are they that much better than HJ who also won their district? HJ was simply brushed aside by Yates. I see Yates pulling away at the end for a 30pt win. But it could be even worse than that.

Yates has had a somewhat easier road to Huntsville. All unranked opponents. And now facing unranked Liberty Hill. I'm afraid the Panthers are about to get steamrollered unless they can somehow take the air out of the ball and turn it into a half court game. Very unlikely. Tigers will have a better game. Based on the Tigers last two games it figures to be close with the Tigers pulling way at the end. Connolly isn't a high scoring team, couple of games in the 90's. But they are competent, ranked 17th. Only Region 4 is easy to call. Brazosport has a cakewalk of sorts. Facing No. 22 Somerset then No. 15 West Oso. They will overpower those guys. The other three regions are tossups. No way to call it. Region 1 has No. 8, No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11 - Region 2 has No. 4, No. 5, No. 6 and an unranked. Region 3 has No. 1, No. 2, No. 17 and an unranked. It will be an interesting weekend in 4A.

How did the Tigers score 99? I was there and I didn't notice that happening. The Spartans were playing pretty good defense. Interesting. Tell you what, that's a hard working team. Lot of respect for those guys. There was a moment at the end of the 1st when Scarborough was teetering on the brink of oblivion but they hung in there and made a game of it. Lots of credit. Pros: Finding a way to win and pulling away at the end. Chris Martin had a real good game, watching him battle a guy 8" taller and about 80lbs heavier in the paint was a hoot. Cons: I'm a little concerned about the porous middle in the Tiger defense. Spartans got lots of points driving the lane.

I think there is a pathway for HJ to make this game more competitive than the prevailing wisdom indicates. A 10 point game perhaps. It can be done. Argyle did it to Silsbee last year in San Antonio. Turned it into a half court game, and a slow half court game at that. There's a bunch of ways to do it and Argyle knows all of them. The final score was 46 to 45 and Argyle got the last shot. Silsbee won that game by about an inch and a half. That's how far off Argyles buzzer shot missed. Personally I love transition, improvisational basketball. But still and all, I'd rather lose a boring game by 10 than lose an entertaining game by 38. And if given that choice in advance, knowing the outcome, I'd pick the 10 point loss.

Scarborough will play a solid smart game, you can bet on that. And that's exactly what the Tigers need to see from them. We need the challenge and we need to face a tall player in the middle. Should be a good game. All things being equal Silsbee will pull away to a 25pt win.

Probably everybody in the gym, except their coach, was thinking the same thing. The Shepherd kid was mobile and could handle the ball, better than most his size in the high school ranks. All that making him perfect in the power forward roll. What in the world was he doing outside handling the ball? And what was he doing playing point in the zone? I guess I'm being critical of the coach but it didn't make sense. Can you imagine how quickly the Silsbee guards would have taken the ball away from him out there?

We'll be driving home from Austin Monday afternoon. If the timing is right I'd like to stop by and see it. If I do I'll of course be wearing a maroon Tiger tee. "What are YOU doing here?" both sides will ask, "We arranged to play way up here just so we wouldn't have to suffer the presence of an unwanted stray cat." I suppose Silsbee isn't exactly either school's favorite. Now, how to talk wifey into it. Reduced once again to the role of abject beggar.