*OF vs. HJ Updates Here/BROADCAST HERE/41-39 HJ WINS/COMMENTS*

[24 over par]

congrats to both

[j_dog]

Congrats HJ.  Sorry OF, another close loss.

Hey, HJ will be ready for the playoffs.

[CraigS]

Congrats HJ.  Sorry OF, another close loss.

Hey, HJ will be ready for the playoffs.

Yes they will, they are doing what good teams do......finding way to win, doesn't matter the score, a win is a win! Burrell's return will spark the Hawks, just in time for the GREAT rematch........gotta love 21-3A competition!

[Lazeek]

HJ will be fine...........these are the type of games that will help them in the playoffs!!!!  Tough atmosphere and a close game that they found a way to win even missing all of the FT attempts!!!!!

[bobcatfan]

No way HJ goes to Austin this year! There was one Ref there that was for HJ all the way. Glad i went to this game.

I'm glad someone else said it before me, because Orangefield got robbed by the officials tonight.  OF played sagging man and 2-3 zone the whole game.  HJ pressed the entire game and pressured the ball at half court and still, before OF had to foul at the end, HJ had the foul advantage.  You can go back and read my posts, i do not get on here and complain about officiating much at all.  I think i'm pretty objective when it comes to officiating.  This was another home game for HJ for officiating.  Ozen is right, the white official killed us tonight, he rarely gave us a call.  He let them put their hands on OF all the way down the court, lots of handchecking going on not called.  He made one of the worst no calls i've ever seen in a game.  An HJ player was standing 2-3 feet out of bounds and the ball bounced to him, he jumped up and "saved" it and passed to an HJ player and the official let the play go on.  This was a game OF badly needed and they are already playing a really tough opponent, you hate to see them have to battle the officials.  Dont get me wrong, OF had their chance at the end, and didnt score.  But they may not have been in that spot if they wouldve called the game right.  I know i'll get ripped by several HJ fans by this post, but if there's a rational HJ fan out there, he will agree with me at least a little bit....

[Lazeek]

I was not ther so I cannot comment on the officials!!!!

On the other hand from what I heard is that HJ gave OF every opportunity to win the game by not making a FT down the stretch and OF missed a lay up with about 20 seconds left.

Great game from OF....I knew that they would play very tough tonight.  HJ can now coast to the playoffs with games against HF and BC.

[HNIC]

No way HJ goes to Austin this year! There was one Ref there that was for HJ all the way. Glad i went to this game.

I'm glad someone else said it before me, because Orangefield got robbed by the officials tonight.  OF played sagging man and 2-3 zone the whole game.  HJ pressed the entire game and pressured the ball at half court and still, before OF had to foul at the end, HJ had the foul advantage.  You can go back and read my posts, i do not get on here and complain about officiating much at all.  I think i'm pretty objective when it comes to officiating.  This was another home game for HJ for officiating.  Ozen is right, the white official killed us tonight, he rarely gave us a call.   He let them put their hands on OF all the way down the court, lots of handchecking going on not called.  He made one of the worst no calls i've ever seen in a game.  An HJ player was standing 2-3 feet out of bounds and the ball bounced to him, he jumped up and "saved" it and passed to an HJ player and the official let the play go on.  This was a game OF badly needed and they are already playing a really tough opponent, you hate to see them have to battle the officials.  Dont get me wrong, OF had their chance at the end, and didnt score.  But they may not have been in that spot if they wouldve called the game right.  I know i'll get ripped by several HJ fans by this post, but if there's a rational HJ fan out there, he will agree with me at least a little bit....

easy. i was there too but it was bad both ways. with hj's style of play they hands down have the advantage if the refs are like they were tonight. they werent callin anything. the hecklers were calling both of the refs ray charles. but it was HORRIBLE both ways. i understand your fury but it was equally terrible.

great game OF.

and OF student section- ha, needs work...

[HNIC]

and where is oldtimer?

we ALL had pacifiers for you.  ;D

[oldtimer3]

I was sitting right beside you, did not point to the score board, point to my butt or anything lude like what happened over there.  I enjoyed the game as people should, I thought that the pacifier was a nice touch, had we of hit that last basket you could have used it on the way home.  As for the OF fans, Coach Sutherland himself came by to tell us good job.  All in all, you won,, it is bad when the home team shoots 6 free throws to the visitors 18 and we dont even press.  Great game though, I will be anxious to see how HJ does in the playoffs.  Definitely gotta get something inside because that is definitely not a strength.

[HNIC]

I was sitting right beside you, did not point to the score board, point to my butt or anything lude like what happened over there.  I enjoyed the game as people should, I thought that the pacifier was a nice touch, had we of hit that last basket you could have used it on the way home.  As for the OF fans, Coach Sutherland himself came by to tell us good job.  All in all, you won,, it is bad when the home team shoots 6 free throws to the visitors 18 and we dont even press.  Great game though, I will be anxious to see how HJ does in the playoffs.  Definitely gotta get something inside because that is definitely not a strength.

i don't remember pointing to my butt, BUT the OF fan thing...im messin with yall because yall would say air ball everytime we had the ball. therefore we then pointed your attention to the score board. and as far as we need something inside. remember that number 42 guy on our team? perhaps he will help when he recovers...

[oldtimer3]

Yall did good  tonight pretty well behaved, the score board thing was from the last time.  I thought it was a good clean game fun to watch,  see we can all get along.

[AggiesAreWe]

Ya know, it wasn't too long ago when a lot of you HJ fans were ridiculing my Tigers for ONLY beating this Bobcat team by 2 points. Shoe's on the other foot now I see. It's all about the matchups!! I'll give Orangefield credit, when they control the tempo of the game, they are tough to beat. Silsbee will have to speed it up against them or they will have their hands full.

Also, it's pretty obvious that HJ really misses Trey. They will definetly need him for the playoffs. I hope for him a speedy recovery, need to see him back on the floor.

[Cat22]

No. 6 Hawks outlast Orangefield

Gabe Pruett

The Orange Leader

ORANGEFIELD — The Orangefield Bobcats knew the last three games on the schedule would be tough and Tuesday was certainly that.

The Bobcats came close to knocking off the No. 6 Hardin-Jefferson Hawks in Bobcats Gym yet coming close only means more big games down the stretch.

The Hawks came away with a 41-39 victory to stay in a first-place tie in District 21-3A with a 11-1 mark and they are 29-4 overall.

Orangefield (20-8, 8-4) remains in a third-place tie with Jasper (8-4) who fell to Silsbee, 98-45, on Tuesday.

The Bobcats now face the Tigers at home Friday before traveling to face Jasper next Tuesday in a game that could mean the Bobcats’ season.

“This district never lets up,†Orangefield Coach Rea Wrinkle said. “ We have to come ready to play the rest of the season. We have already had two close games with Silsbee this season and we expect another. Then we will have to win in Jasper next Friday.â€

Silsbee and Orangefield have already played two classics this season with the Tigers getting the best in both games.

Silsbee first downed Orangefield downed the Bobcats 50-49 in the championship of the Orangefield Tournament and then the Tigers won 48-46 in the first round of the district loop in Tigers Gym.

As for as Tuesday’s game with H-J, the Bobcats drew within 40-39 with 10.9 remaining on the clock.

Hardin-Jefferson’s Jon Michael Fontenot then made the front-end of a one-and-one before sophomore Zach Hayes grabbed a rebound.

After an Orangefield time-out, Hayes was not able to come down with a shot and Jared Helton also missed off a rebound attempt to tie the game as the clock expired.

Helton led the Bobcats with 11 points to go with three steals while Tyler Angelle added 10 points. Jeremy Granger finished with seven points and nine rebounds while Hayes was limited to six points and eight boards.

The Hawks led 34-28 heading into the fourth and then took a 36-28 lead as Jacob Ricossa opened the frame’s scoring with a jumper.

Orangefield then went on a 6-0 run with Hayes score four points in the run as the Bobcats closed to within 36-34.

Colby Sundgren then buried a shot for H-J before Angelle busted a three-pointer making it 38-37 Hawks with 3:40 left on the clock.

The two teams then did not score again until Jarvis Brown, who finished with 18 points, hit two free throws with 27.9 left on the clock to make it 40-37 Hawks.

“The difference in the game was us not containing Jarvis,†Wrinkle said. “He is their best player on the court and mainly in the first half we allowed him to get some easy shots.â€

Scoring was hard to find in the first half as the Hawks led just 10-5 after the first period.

Angelle had all five points for the Bobcats in the first period.

Orangefield then outscored Hardin-Jefferson 14-13 in the second as the Hawks led 23-19 at the break.

Action then slowed down again in the third.

The Hawks outscored the Bobcats 11-9 in the frame.

Orangefield was able to close to within 25-23 before Brown drained a three-pointer.

Helton then buried a three making it 27-26 Hardin-Jefferson.

The Hawks went on a 6-3 to end the third and led 34-28 heading into fourth.

“Hardin-Jefferson is a great program,†Wrinkle said. “We played them great for a half at their place so I told the team tonight we had to play a full game. We did that tonight and just came up short. We were down by eight and never backed down. We played with a lot of heart.â€

[setxslam]

A star is born: Jarvis Brown.  Yeah, I like that.  "Downtown" Jarvis Brown sounds even better.

[bobcat4life]

No question the officiating was horrendous.  Do I believe that Coach Sutherland gets the benefit of the doubt in certain situations? Yes, I do... do I believe that H-J held the advantage because of this, Yes again.  However, OF missed a lot of free throws as well, even though they didn't have nearly as many opportunities as HJ.  So to say officiating cost the game would be an overstatement.  If OF would have been a little more aggressive when they ran their zone, it might have been a different story.  If OF would have been more aggressive attacking the basket when HJ pressed, it might have been a different story.  If OF would have went at the HJ big man when he had 4 fouls in the 4th, guess what??? Overview is that OF wasn't as aggressive as they should have been and it cost them.  I will say this, if HJ comes close to smelling Austin this year it will be cuz they bought tickets for the tournament. By the same token, OF's program is coming along from top to bottom. Bottom line, Great game to watch!

[catfever]

1.  Orangefield was 6 for 10 from the FT line.  My son said that their goal is 70 percent so they were one free throw off from that. 

2.  It seemed from the stands like their lack of aggressiveness and their patience is what kept the score close and low.  If they would have been aggressive and taken quick shots the pace of the game would have gone up.  They were patient and worked the ball and made HJ work on defense.  They did exactly what HJ did not want them to do.

3.  If they were going to be aggressive out of their zone, then they could have run man-to-man.  They seemed to go to the zone because #3 was getting too many lay-ups.  HJ seemed to get out of rhythm during this time.

For someone whose team just lost by 2 points to the first place team in district, you sure are critical of a lot of things that were done by the coaching staff.

[AggiesAreWe]

No question the officiating was horrendous.  Do I believe that Coach Sutherland gets the benefit of the doubt in certain situations? Yes, I do... do I believe that H-J held the advantage because of this, Yes again.  However, OF missed a lot of free throws as well, even though they didn't have nearly as many opportunities as HJ.  So to say officiating cost the game would be an overstatement.  If OF would have been a little more aggressive when they ran their zone, it might have been a different story.  If OF would have been more aggressive attacking the basket when HJ pressed, it might have been a different story.  If OF would have went at the HJ big man when he had 4 fouls in the 4th, guess what??? Overview is that OF wasn't as aggressive as they should have been and it cost them.  I will say this, if HJ comes close to smelling Austin this year it will be cuz they bought tickets for the tournament. By the same token, OF's program is coming along from top to bottom. Bottom line, Great game to watch!

Tell us what you really think, bobcat4life.

[Guest nostradamus]

I will say this, if HJ comes close to smelling Austin this year it will be cuz they bought tickets for the tournament.

we appreciate your sentiments......

[PoppaBearstarr]

I guess we will have to wait and see....you bunch of HATERS! So let me get this straight if we aren't that good but we have beat all of you then that makes you what....Pleez.....great game OF yall played well and good luck in the playoffs

[KFDM COOP]

No question the officiating was horrendous.  Do I believe that Coach Sutherland gets the benefit of the doubt in certain situations? Yes, I do... do I believe that H-J held the advantage because of this, Yes again.  However, OF missed a lot of free throws as well, even though they didn't have nearly as many opportunities as HJ.  So to say officiating cost the game would be an overstatement.  If OF would have been a little more aggressive when they ran their zone, it might have been a different story.  If OF would have been more aggressive attacking the basket when HJ pressed, it might have been a different story.  If OF would have went at the HJ big man when he had 4 fouls in the 4th, guess what??? Overview is that OF wasn't as aggressive as they should have been and it cost them.  I will say this, if HJ comes close to smelling Austin this year it will be cuz they bought tickets for the tournament. By the same token, OF's program is coming along from top to bottom. Bottom line, Great game to watch!

Tell us what you really think, bobcat4life.

[bobcat4life]

bballgod what makes you think I was talking about the coaching staff? I wasn't, I give them credit for slowing the game down. Even though slowing the game down doesn't necessarily mean not taking advantage opportunities when you have them.  I give them a ton of credit for going into the zone and throwing off HJ.  I have always thought we should mix up our defenses to keep the offense off guard.  It worked again when we switched back to man.  Do you know how many times Jeremy Granger touched the ball in the last 3 minutes? 3 times at most, even though their big man had 4 fouls.  Several times D. Evans could have scored layups if we looked up court.  Instead of that, we looked away from the basket.  Do you know the reason we only shot 10 free throws and they shot almost twice as many? Because we don't penetrate, they did.  It is about confidence. The boys need a dose of it, because they are way better than they give theirselves credit for.  Sounds like your a little sensitive to me. 

[catfever]

You are right I get a little sensitive when people criticize 16, 17, and 18 year old kids for decisions they make in a high intensity fast action game.  Whether the pace was fast or not, the decisions they have to make do occur fast, and we as fans sometimes are a little too critical for the decisions that they make.  So if you are  not talking about the coaching staff then you are laying it in the kids.  My son and the other players appreciate the support that you have for the decisions that they made.  I will make sure and relay that back to him so he can work on it.

[Guest nostradamus]

Do you know the reason we only shot 10 free throws and they shot almost twice as many? Because we don't penetrate, they did.

I thought it was because the referees favor Sutherland and HJ? :

[bobcat4life]

Don't get your panties in a knot, I didn't mean to say that as a negative.  Dan Hooks gets the nod on lots of calls because of his reputation.  That is ok, it is called respect and some coaches have been around long enough to earn it.  I do think that a lot of the hand checking that went on didn't get called because of HJ's history and specifically Coach Sutherland.  I don't care what level you are playing at, that happens.  That is why the super stars in the NBA get away with murder.  But, I think you would agree if you are content to pass the ball around the perimeter you probably aren't gonna get many calls.

[bringiton]

I wasn't there, but I got a good report :

It was a great game and the officials did not effect the outcome.

Congratulations to the Hawks.