JimThorpe

I think it will be a good competitive game all the way and the Tigers win 73 to 60.

Probably. It holds around 1400. I wonder when they open the doors.

Pre-district I thought LCM would go 10-2 and only lose to the eventual district winner. Figured the same thing for Hamshire-Fannett and that was true.

It's just that I'd have liked to have seen both games, that's all. I don't see what's wrong with that. There are lots of back to backs all over the state. Been to one myself this year. This one would have been an area showcase. But the kids are the thing and the coaches are making decisions in their teams best interest and I respect that completely. EC is a very good venue and I'm not complaining one little bit. There will be a line but we'll all fit. Plus they have good nachos and at a better price than the Montagne.

Okay. Ford Park then. There have been some good games between these two at that venue.

I'd like a double header at the Montagne.

Wow! What a game for Beaumont! On the way home tonight I was the Silsbee HJ game would be at Lamar but obviously this takes precedence.

Okay I was wrong. It was 14 and not 15.

Let’s face it. You don’t penetrate on these guys. You patiently run plays till something pops open. That’s how Bullard built a 16 point lead against them at the half in their seeding game. And you make the extra pass. Or you win doing what you always do because you’re just that good.

Yes! Meanwhile the Tigers are having all kinds of trouble with the team Bullard beat twice. Up 3 at the half.

That would be ideal. I think it will happen.

From acquaintances and even family from around the state, even locally. Silsbee doesn't have any real competition, that sort of thing. Mostly their frame of reference is the old days before the loss of HJ and then the loss of HF. And in rebuttal I reply that if Silsbee is in a rebuilding year they may not win the district and cite the Covid year. I was just following watching the Jasper score online. They were holding their own against a 22nd ranked runner up way with the lead changing hands. Sounded to me like they were doing about as well could be expected. I figured the Bulldogs would play well and keep it close but not be able to pull it out. From the two games I watched they had trouble protecting the ball, some questionable passing decisions, and it was something that would be difficult for them to fix and would ultimately be their undoing. Is that what happened?

I think the game will be close for 3 quarters with lead changes. Then Silsbee will pull away at the last few minutes for a 15 point win.

To some extent this game will tell us how good District 19 is. Jasper played a great game against 22nd ranked Hamshire with lead changes in the second half. Lumberton was simply overmatched against 15th ranked Hawks who seem to be getting better with each outing. But the Raiders did have a brave first quarter, good enough to make coach Davis fuss at his players. The starting 5 compared pretty well with Hawks. But they simply couldn't maintain the tempo that would have been needed to make a 4 quarter game of it. They just don't have enough help coming off the bench. LCM handled Hargrave with no serious trouble at all. Actually it's Silsbee was the one that didn't meet expectations. The Tigers scored plenty of points but led by only 13 midway through the 3rd against lowly 4th seed Liberty which didn't have a winning record in district. I predicted a 30 point game but I didn't foresee what would happen in the first 3 quarters, the amazing 1st and the lackluster 2nd and 3rd. So far so good. But this game to me is the tale of the tape so to speak. If LCM can make a good showing against 16th ranked Bullard, and I think they will, then we'll have no more talk about how weak 19 is. Sure, we don't compare to the richly endowed urban and suburban 4A districts but we are a good rural district. Remember, it was District losses that knocked LCM out of the top 25.

There was no service charge for online tickets. Just $8. It didn't let me pick a seat but gave me a weird seat in a corner. I'm sure they won't be checking that. A 7000 seat arena will swallow two 4A second round playoff crowds. It's a long drive but it is a great venue. Better I think than Sam Houston. And it's much much better than the site for the Region Tourney. It's closer for us than Bryan. And I notice that there aren't any events scheduled for March 3rd and 4th. C'est la vie.

I watched the stream and noticed that Kilgore tried it in the 4th quarter. They had little success. Jacksonville handled it with ease. But that's a third seed. Bullard played half court defense.

Wildcats? Well, not all tigers are wild in the wild. Some are in zoos and some are even pets. But I have my doubts that the Indians will be able to hold these Tigers in captivity.

Yes, it was a little frustrating to watch and you could tell they were getting a little frustrated with themselves. But to a certain extent it was just "one of those things". I never saw a game where a team "almost" lost the ball so many times as Liberty did last night. And to some extent it was byproduct of that amazing first quarter. A letdown after something like that possible. Plus the bench saw significant minutes. By contrast Silsbee could easily have done what Jacksonville did to Kilgore. That game ended 56 to 29 and was never even remotely in doubt. Silsbee could do that to Liberty 100 our of 100 times. In other words, it's a mathematical certainty. In the Jacksonville game it was 18 to 8 at halftime. Based on that score I'll bet the Indians made very few defensive errors.

Liberty was opportunistic and got A LOT of breaks and apparently they were good enough to take advantage. They almost lost the ball, but didn't, about 40 times it seemed. And they turned a bunch of those favorable bounces into points. The first quarter was almost too good, shades of the best of McCain/Adams/Bush days. I guess a letdown is always possible after a quarter like that and it came and it was a humdinger. Outscored by Liberty in the 2nd quarter? And halftime didn't fix it much they came out flat and the lead shrunk to 13 in the third, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one getting the funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. The line was what? 36? A 45 or even 50 point win wasn't out of the question. But I had a feeling something would happen. I didn't know what, but something. In the prediction thread I said around 30, maybe a few more. I haven't followed Liberty at all so #3 was a complete surprise to me. He was all over the place against the No. 3 team in the state. Is he always like that? Based on his performance tonight I think he could start for almost all 4A teams in the state, including the Tigers, or if not start then be the 6th man. I'm watching him warm up, non-descript, wearing glasses, kind of nerdy actually. And he's introduced as a start. Hmmm, I wouldn't have figured that. And then he comes out and basically keeps his lowly 4th place team in the game till they can catch their breath. I wonder if there may have been a basketball camp or two in his past.

Half of Liberty’s points have come from the Tigers risk taking on defense.

Liberty played a great second quarter. Who is number 3? That kid can play. I think he leads all scorers for Liberty. Liberty out scored Silsbee I’m the 2nd. A good number of Panther points came when the Tigers gambled on defense and lost. Happened a bunch I’m the 2nd.

4A Region 3 Silsbee Furr Washington LCM

From the images I've seen that gym can easily hold over 2000 with the bottom bleachers extended on both sides. I guess it will be alright. If Bryan has pep rallies with the whole student population in there it would need to be that big. They have over 2300.

What do you think about the capacity? The 19-4A, 20-4A and 21-4A are pretty loyal and will make that drive. Most would drive to Timbuktu if necessary. I suppose they can cram us all in.

I think that's been the plan for a while. [Hidden Content] I'm glad because we have family to stay with that we haven't seen since Thanksgiving so that's convenient. But it's a comedown from what we've known, even compared to Lufkin. It's a nice 6A gym but not an arena and somewhat unimpressive for this kind of event. I suppose the capacity is adequate but if Silsbee makes it I'm going after tickets the instant they become available.