JimThorpe

If the Tigers had deployed a defense solely designed to shut down scoring that 70 would have been more like 50. But then that 117 would have been more like 90. We haven't seen the real, the playoff grade, Tiger defense since the second Hardin Jefferson game where the Hawks were held 18 points first half points. After seeing Yates and Huffman the other night it's my belief that if the Tigers play to their potential the only things that can keep them out of the Alamodome are eligibility and the flu.

Lady Tigers continuing the clumsy play they exhibited Tuesday against Sweeney. They are in a funk. Bad timing for a slump. Fairfield will only have to score a few more points to lock this one up. Unless somehow the Tigers can completely turn it around. Doesn’t seem likely.

Fairfield has tall girls. Bad matchup for Silsbee inside. But we shall see.

FYI Palestine beat Argyle this year. Good team.

So, I'm saying that their pressure and 3 pt shooting can keep Yates close enough to Silsbee and whichever Dallas team they might face to give them a shot at squeaking out a win. And you're saying probably not, not this year anyway. As I think about you're probably right. If they do that triple team trap on the Silsbee ball handler and he manages to get the ball to any teammate, a teammate like McCain or Jordan, then it's sayonara sucker. And that did happen in this HJ game resulting in a number of layups for the Hawks. In fact, I can see the Tigers dribbling to the corner on purpose inviting that scenario, hoping it will happen. Yea, you're probably right.

I was impressed with how well HJ's bench played. Of course the scrawny blond kid was his usual pesky self. Love that guy, he's a headache for everybody the Hawks play. Yates bench is very very good, as usual. They lose very little with the next 3 or 4. While they aren't the favorite, even in Region III, I think that Yates is capable of going all the way this year based on that excellent shooting. But they are not a physically dominating team and it's going to be a tough road for them. And it's not just Silsbee, Palestine could give them a run for their money just like the Hawks did.

Uncharacteristic sloppy play by Huff

Still 5 pt game. Furr will not go away. 5:40

I don’t know but I’m going to keep my distance from their fans.

Fairfield has canceled classes this week because of the flu outbreak.

Furr is hanging tough. Big man is not in foul trouble.

Yates is an excellent shooting team. Without the high 3 pt percentage HJ wins

Yates pulled away on the basis of good free throw shooting after deliberate fouls

Just as soon face Yates as HJ - 7 pt game with 2:05 left

Nope! The Hawks refuse to die! And this is the very best Yates can play- over 50% from the thee point line in the third.

The run is on - Yates up 7 - time out HJ

Really good game. Hawks playing like the first Silsbee game. The question is - when the Lions make their inevitable 3rd quarter run, will the Hawks go quietly into the night? They didn’t in the first. Silsbee game.

And that's an interesting thing to analyze. The Tigers dominated the Hawks in that second game. Silsbee had the Hawks reeling in the first half, missing shoots at the basket making questionable passes, scoring only 55. The margin was 26 points. A convincing win. The Tigers played about as well as they are capable of playing in the first half and the score was 43-18. But then the Hawks gathered themselves and played much, much better in the second half. They were outscored by only one point 38-37. Some of it was Silsbee relaxing a little sitting on that 25 point halftime lead but that wasn't the whole story. Remember too that Persohn fouled out relatively early in the 4th quarter and still HJ outscored Silsbee 22-19 in that period. A lot of it had to do with that scrawny little blond kid who comes in off the bench. I don't know what it is, but when he comes in the game we seem to score a little less and HJ seems to score a little more. And that was true in both games. Go figure. I assume that Yates will win but I'll be looking at the margin. If it's 30 or below then okay, I'm sorry HJ loses but it shows that Yates isn't some kind of monster. But if it's a 50 point drubbing then the Tigers will have to take notice and think hard about what they intend to do. While the Tigers are clearly better than HJ they aren't 50 points better.

True. We can diagnose the problems they had in that game. They did have a very poor shooting night, I mean beyond the pressure defense. They missed shots at the rim that might have gone in. But to me the key is passing and patience. NO BAD PASSES. Anything is better than a bad pass. A 10 second violation is better, a tie up is way better. You get the ball back half the time on tie ups and an inbounds pass rarely results in a layup.

Is there a way? Is there a formula that could give HJ a chance. Something outside the box?

Ranked No. 12, Palestine is the dark horse in Region 3. I give them an outside shot, a very, very outside shot but a shot nonetheless. They have to go through Yates and Silsbee to get there. Ouch. "Couldn't we be in Region 4?" Sorry guys. You're lucky you aren't in Region 2.

Normally I'd be for our district but not this time. Silsbee would have a much better chance against Midlothian. HJ has handled Silsbee easily twice this year and would be the prohibitive favorite on Saturday. It's just got to be true that you have a better chance of upsetting the team that just upset the overall favorite than upsetting the favorite. But my prediction is an 20 point win for HJ at 65-45, because they are just that good. They've been stomping everybody since December. There's that inexplicable 13 point margin one time against Lumberton that's the only ding.

Silsbee by 5. Several lead changes. 65-60 Nail biter.

After an opening run nothing seemed to be going quite right for the Lady Tigers. Miscues and almosts. Lots of turnovers. But every time Sweeny would draw near Silsbee would pull back ahead. They never relinquished the lead and pulled away at the end. It's been a long time coming. Congratulations Lady Tigers!

Friday? That's terrible! There's a better than even chance that girls will be in Huntsville that night. Why can't it be Thursday? We can play at their gym if they like. I know that we were just the runner up and Sweeny won their district. But Sweeny isn't even ranked in the top 25. Silsbee is No. 11 and has to be the favorite. Fairfield is ranked and the Regional Semi will be a very good game. That will be a difficult choice. Well, tough decisions are the prerogative of true fanship.