JimThorpe

HJ by 1?  Next you're going to tell us that we've landed on the moon.

Thanks!  I was a little nervous that folks might think I was implying that the Hawks heads were going to fall off.

The Tiges' improvisational quickness is murder on teams like BC.  Passes that were safe against Nederland weren't safe against the Tigers.  Ball handling that is good enough to stay in the game against Nederland wasn't quite enough against Silsbee.  It's an incremental thing.

Interesting dynamic.  Hardin Jefferson beats Lumberton by 21.  Then Silsbee beats Hardin Jefferson by 3.  Then Silsbee beats Lumberton by 77.
Basketball is a funny thing isn't it?  Matchups are a tricky.

I know, I know.  And I'm part of the problem.  But what is there to talk about?
Kind of early to be talking about it but with the win Friday Lumberton proves it will be a playoff team - probably No. 3  That means they will play a No. 2 from somewhere nearby.  
Playing the Tigers twice, including the last regular season game as a warmup of sorts, will make playing any second place team in these parts seem pretty tame by comparison.  It's like swinging a bat with a 5 lb. donut on it in the on deck circle.  
Sisbee, HJ, Lumberton and WOS will be our four from 22 4A.  A few of the districts up north will field a better group but it's not too shabby at all.  
 

Not playing they way they did Friday.  Yates will eat them up, 20 points minimum.  The Hawks can do either of two things.  They can keep playing the way they are and be content to make it to the third round or they can alter the experiment and totally take the air out of be ball.  See to it that nobody even gets to 50.  Patience to the point of boredom.
They aren't going to San Antonio.  They aren't going to beat Yates and Silsbee.  Not gonna happen.  But they just might be able to get to Johnson Coliseum. 

Now I've done it!  Shame on me!  It's just that Lumberton did us such a favor in football by having exactly the right enrollment.  I figured we owed them something.

As well you should, it was a big win.  Lumberton is the solid no. 3 team in 22 4A.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.
As a Tiger fan I also must say that Lumberton is my favorite.  They took our 4A Div 1 beating for us this year in football so that we could make it all the way to the semi's in Div II.  As they say, no greater love.  Here's to the Lumberton Raiders for having just exactly the right enrollment.  And it was a win - win. Lumberton got a playoff victory in the first round and though it's a little early it looks like they are headed to the basketball playoffs as well.
Course none of that has any bearing on Friday's game which will be an interesting experience.  When was the last time Silsbee and Lumberton faced off in a district basketball game?  The 90's?  

Is it based purely on winning percentage?  I assume then that 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3?

Well at least I'm not a fool anymore.
I'm sure you aren't okay with calling a kid trash or even implying it.  And that's what I was referring to mainly.  The word heckling means different things to different people.  You can scream your lungs out for your team.  But there needs to be an assistant principle who is respected by the kids monitoring their behavior.  This is school property and visitors should be treated with respect.

You called me a fool.  Really?  You just up and call people fools when you disagree with them?  A kid is holding a sign that says TRASH and chanting while Jordan Adams is at the free throw line.  That is what happened.  I saw it.  In effect it singled one kid out calling him trash.  So at least one of the signs was completely inappropriate and any AP there should have removed it and admonished the kid.  
This is a school setting, an educational facility.  There are many things that are inappropriate in addition to the two things you list.  Students in a public school should not be permitted to demean student athletes from another school.  And frankly they shouldn't heckle.  Not everything that is fun can be permitted.  End of story.  

You called me a fool.  Really?  You just up and call people fools when you disagree with them?  A kid is holding a sign that says TRASH and chanting while Jordan Adams is at the free throw line.  That is what happened.  I saw it.  In effect it singled one kid out calling him trash.  So at least one of the signs was completely inappropriate and any AP there should have removed it and admonished the kid.  
This is a school setting, an educational facility.  There are many things that are inappropriate in addition to the two things you list.  Students in a public school should not be permitted to demean student athletes from another school.  And frankly they shouldn't heckle.  Not everything that is fun can be permitted.  End of story.  

I don’t think they are overrated.  I’d like to think they are underrated.  Cause if we can beat No. 17 by only 3 then what happens when we face No. 4?

Great game.   The Hawks showed up!  Tigers 38 - 32 at the half.
Devon isn’t playing?

I remember 2016 was a bittersweet year.  Beating HJ twice was huge of course.  A couple of things stand out.  One was the Regional semi-final game with Hudson.  They had a scrawny white kid who looked like the very definition of a scrub - about 5'11", maybe 150 pounds soaking wet. Obviously a JV kid brought up for the playoffs.  Couldn't make a shot from the 3 point line in warmup to save his life.  Actually we were wondering why Hudson had made it that far.  Teams come out for the tip - low and behold he's starting - then we find out why Hudson was there.  This poster child from Diary of a Wimpy Kid proceeds to completely chop us up.  On both ends.  He steals the ball from our guards, he scores in the paint and from the 3 point line.  Where ever the ball is, he's there.  He never makes a mistake.  Never.  He's like this blessed basketball child.  Tiny Tim who left his crutch in the corner.  Far and away the best player on the court that night.  We're down by 2 at the half.  We were forced to pretty much double him  even when he didn't have the ball and keep it out of his hands. The rest of the Hornets couldn't take up the slack so Hudson faded in the second half and we won by 18.  We were able to chuckle about it as the game ended with Silsbee pulling out to an 18 point win.  I can tell you we sure weren't laughing about it half time.  Appearances can be deceiving.  That's a pretty cool name isn't it?  Hudson Hornets.
And then there was the injury to Devon in the championship game.  It was the most frightening moment I've ever experienced in sports.  The Alamodome was so deathly quiet as they attended to him.  Just quiet prayers.  Lincoln fans were praying.  You could hear the pigeons cooing in the rafters.  They hovered over him for a long time and he never regained consciousness on the floor.  You couldn't help but think about a catastrophic neck injury or a crippling brain injury.  And today you see him playing with such abandon.  The three point loss was a hard thing, but that wound was buffered by the McCains eventual complete recovery which was far more important than even a championship game.

I remember 2016 was a bittersweet year.  Beating HJ twice was huge of course.  A couple of things stand out.  One was the Regional semi-final game with Hudson.  They had a scrawny white kid who looked like the very definition of a scrub - about 5'11", maybe 150 pounds soaking wet. Obviously a JV kid brought up for the playoffs.  Couldn't make a shot from the 3 point line in warmup to save his life.  Actually we were wondering why Hudson had made it that far.  Teams come out for the tip - low and behold he's starting - then we find out why Hudson was there.  This poster child from Diary of a Wimpy Kid proceeds to completely chop us up.  On both ends.  He steals the ball from our guards, he scores in the paint and from the 3 point line.  Where ever the ball is, he's there.  He never makes a mistake.  Never.  He's like this blessed basketball child.  Tiny Tim who left his crutch in the corner.  Far and away the best player on the court that night.  We're down by 2 at the half.  We were forced to pretty much double him  even when he didn't have the ball and keep it out of his hands. The rest of the Hornets couldn't take up the slack so Hudson faded in the second half and we won by 18.  We were able to chuckle about it as the game ended with Silsbee pulling out to an 18 point win.  I can tell you we sure weren't laughing about it half time.  Appearances can be deceiving.  That's a pretty cool name isn't it?  Hudson Hornets.
And then there was the injury to Devon in the championship game.  It was the most frightening moment I've ever experienced in sports.  The Alamodome was so deathly quiet as they attended to him.  Just quiet prayers.  Lincoln fans were praying.  You could hear the pigeons cooing in the rafters.  They hovered over him for a long time and he never regained consciousness on the floor.  You couldn't help but think about a catastrophic neck injury or a crippling brain injury.  And today you see him playing with such abandon.  The three point loss was a hard thing, but that wound was buffered by the McCains eventual complete recovery which was far more important than even a championship game.

I remember 2016 was a bittersweet year.  Beating HJ twice was huge of course.  A couple of things stand out.  One was the Regional semi-final game with Hudson.  They had a scrawny white kid who looked like the very definition of a scrub - about 5'11", maybe 150 pounds soaking wet. Obviously a JV kid brought up for the playoffs.  Couldn't make a shot from the 3 point line in warmup to save his life.  Actually we were wondering why Hudson had made it that far.  Teams come out for the tip - low and behold he's starting - then we find out why Hudson was there.  This poster child from Diary of a Wimpy Kid proceeds to completely chop us up.  On both ends.  He steals the ball from our guards, he scores in the paint and from the 3 point line.  Where ever the ball is, he's there.  He never makes a mistake.  Never.  He's like this blessed basketball child.  Tiny Tim who left his crutch in the corner.  Far and away the best player on the court that night.  We're down by 2 at the half.  We were forced to pretty much double him  even when he didn't have the ball and keep it out of his hands. The rest of the Hornets couldn't take up the slack so Hudson faded in the second half and we won by 18.  We were able to chuckle about it as the game ended with Silsbee pulling out to an 18 point win.  I can tell you we sure weren't laughing about it half time.  Appearances can be deceiving.  That's a pretty cool name isn't it?  Hudson Hornets.
And then there was the injury to Devon in the championship game.  It was the most frightening moment I've ever experienced in sports.  The Alamodome was so deathly quiet as they attended to him.  Just quiet prayers.  Lincoln fans were praying.  You could hear the pigeons cooing in the rafters.  They hovered over him for a long time and he never regained consciousness on the floor.  You couldn't help but think about a catastrophic neck injury or a crippling brain injury.  And today you see him playing with such abandon.  The three point loss was a hard thing, but that wound was buffered by the McCains eventual complete recovery which was far more important than even a championship game.

I remember 2016 was a bittersweet year.  Beating HJ twice was huge of course.  A couple of things stand out.  One was the Regional semi-final game with Hudson.  They had a scrawny white kid who looked like the very definition of a scrub - about 5'11", maybe 150 pounds soaking wet. Obviously a JV kid brought up for the playoffs.  Couldn't make a shot from the 3 point line in warmup to save his life.  Actually we were wondering why Hudson had made it that far.  Teams come out for the tip - low and behold he's starting - then we find out why Hudson was there.  This poster child from Diary of a Wimpy Kid proceeds to completely chop us up.  On both ends.  He steals the ball from our guards, he scores in the paint and from the 3 point line.  Where ever the ball is, he's there.  He never makes a mistake.  Never.  He's like this blessed basketball child.  Tiny Tim who left his crutch in the corner.  Far and away the best player on the court that night.  We're down by 2 at the half.  We were forced to pretty much double him  even when he didn't have the ball and keep it out of his hands. The rest of the Hornets couldn't take up the slack so Hudson faded in the second half and we won by 18.  We were able to chuckle about it as the game ended with Silsbee pulling out to an 18 point win.  I can tell you we sure weren't laughing about it half time.  Appearances can be deceiving.  That's a pretty cool name isn't it?  Hudson Hornets.
And then there was the injury to Devon in the championship game.  It was the most frightening moment I've ever experienced in sports.  The Alamodome was so deathly quiet as they attended to him.  Just quiet prayers.  Lincoln fans were praying.  You could hear the pigeons cooing in the rafters.  They hovered over him for a long time and he never regained consciousness on the floor.  You couldn't help but think about a catastrophic neck injury or a crippling brain injury.  And today you see him playing with such abandon.  The three point loss was a hard thing, but that wound was buffered by the McCains eventual complete recovery which was far more important than even a championship game.

Don't misunderstand, I'm a diehard Tiger fan.  (of course we haven't had to deal with dying lately have we?)  In fact I'm pretty confident that the Tigers lost for the last time this season over in New Orleans last week.  I wouldn't mind a bit if the Tigers win by 50 on Friday. 
But a competitive game wouldn't do the Tigers any harm either would it?  And if the Hawks can find something that works against Silsbee then it will probably also work against Yates.  Wouldn't it be sweet to see the 22 runner up beat the 4th ranked 23 winner.  
In gaming out a scenario it seems to me that modelling what Argyle did two years ago in San Antonio might be something to look at.  That was a 1 point game and frankly it was closer than that, if you know what I mean.

You can look at the results in Maxpreps.  Scores are about what you'd expect.  They are ranked No. 4 right behind Silsbee.  So I assume they are a normal Yates team.  They beat Bmt United by 2 so that's about the same as the Tigers.  
District 23 looks like it's a little weaker than 22. 
It shapes up to be another rematch and a another barn burner.  Unless of course there is an upset.  

A win is a win.  I've got to stop this fretting.  But I keeping thinking about how much these 80 points scored by shorthanded unranked and unheralded WOS might translate into X number of points by Yates.  But it's foolish to make such comparisons, especially in December. 
And I'm stealing my own joy.  And it's patently unfair to the brave WOS players.  They scored quite a few points against the number 2 team in the state.  Good for them!

The real deal isn't he?  He'd have done the same thing to us but Silsbee had a bit more pursuit than PG.

The Tigers are hungry.  They haven't been fed for a week.  They start getting a little cranky when it's been that long.  They're pacing back and forth with that look. 
You can almost pet them when they've just eaten and they're still full, almost.  But now?  No, I wouldn't, don't get too close.

I think it was a fair assessment from 10,000 feet. Really that's how it shapes up.  Cuero is the favorite but not prohibitive.  A few breaks and Silsbee advances.
 

Yes, Silsbee is a cinderella team.  6 - 4 coming out of district.  Unranked and unheralded.  Obviously they are overachievers. 
But I remember another group of overachievers.  French High in 84, my alma mater.  Unranked, unheralded, unknown really.  A group of overachievers 6 - 4 coming out of district as runner ups.  But they just kept finding a way.  And you'd be dead wrong to if you thought that it was all about talent and ability.  Happenstance played a HUGE role.
I remember one game in the Dome.  4th and goal on the 8 yard line.  French QB throws a perfect fade to the corner of the end zone.  WOW!  Crowd goes nuts.  But wait.  Holding.  So now it's 4th and goal on the 18.  What to do?  I know, we'll run the same play from 10 yards further out!  Won't the defense be looking for it?  So they run the same play.  And get the same result, no holding this time and it's a Buffalo's TD.  The same exact play, one of the trickiest plays high school kids can attempt, run twice, back to back, flawlessly, against quality opposition.  Have you ever seen something like that?  I know I hadn't.  And I've never seen it again.  Not ever, not at any level.  If you try to tell me there wasn't something else at work there I'm just going to laugh.
Or how about the 15 yard laser strike down the middle to a crossing receiver.  Oops, to hot, he tipped it up.  Gonna be intercepted.  No the defender tipped it too.......  right into the hands of a different receiver who was just hanging out in the area.  He catches it and runs for a touchdown.  Something else was at work.  
And in the semifinal game a front blows through and Kyle Field is a wind tunnel.  This is back in the day when both ends were open.  They have to take the flags down before the wind tears them up.  The goal posts are swaying back and forth by several feet.  Both teams are thrown completely out of their comfort zones.  Punts are netting 10 yards.  Happenstance?
The Buffalos didn't have enough of whatever it was to win an outright title but they did have enough to manage a tie with the nationally ranked Permian Panthers.  
And I'll tell you exactly what it was.  It was a team that was just good enough and just fast enough to get themselves in a position were fate could lend a hand.
Normally physical ability, talent, hard work, experience, inspiration and excellent coaching are all important.  But from time to time, here and there, destiny rears it's disturbing head.  And when it does those former things, usually the determining factors, simple don't matter.
So, are the Tigers a team of destiny?  I really don't know.  You tell me.  They are pretty good.  They've got speed and they are well coached.  And then a rain storm shows up on just the right day.  It was clear and mild the day before and mild the day after.  But today it's a driving rain with gusty winds, conditions I've never seen a game played in.  But the Tigers seem to be completely comfortable with it.  It's raining?  Okay, fine, better even, let's see how it goes.  The Mustangs?  Normally dashing steads ready to prove all naysayers wrong.  A determined talented team that just the last week sent the No.1 ranked team home and it was no fluke.  And today?  Today they are wet horses; unhappy, uncomfortable and confused.  Happenstance?
Can the Tigers win this game?  Of course they can.  First of all, they may be better than we think.  They may be wildly underrated and truly a match for any team in the state.  But even if they are outmanned by Cuero they can still win.  I know that because I've seen it before.