Hiland had their destiny in their hands and blew it. Then Garaway had it, but they've blown it, which has put Hiland back in it, but heard they played lackluster at SV last night. Meanwhile Strasburg and Malvern are coming on strong and look out if you have to play at RW. Good thing for Garaway and Hiland that it is the overall season that determines the conference championship. The Burg and Malvern seem to be playing the best right now.

JLGhoops threw out, basically, this exact scenario a few weeks ago, and I thought he was dreaming. The man is a prophet! He should win the pick'em on that alone!

re the Hiland/SV game: may I go on record to say those were some of the worst refs we've seen all year? Probably 50 fouls called for the whole game. Truth be told, most probably were fouls--though there were a few significant "phantom" calls---and there was a lot of holding and hand checking that wasn't called as well. Overall a farly physical game. I thought Hiland's first half was a bit lackluster as mentioned; they did pick it up the second half. Give some credit to SV. The first game at Hiland they just didn't compete, but they were very scrappy last nite. (And if the refs let you play "barnacle defense", why not?) Don't think they have the atlhetes to be really competetive this year, but they played hard.
as for the rest of the league, malvern apparently played tough as they pulled out a win at Garaway--not an easy thing to do. Hiland's last game--at Ridgewood-- tonite will be a battle no doubt. A win and they can hold on to at least a share of the IVC title. The NP sectional will be interesting. Wouldn't be surprised with any 2 of the top 4 seeds making it out of there---I would be surprised if any lower seed advanced.

after an ice cold first half, Hiland came alive the secod half and beat Ridgewwod in OT to stake a claim to at least a share of the title. TCC beat Malvern which took the Hornets out of it. Garaway still has to play Strasburg--who may be playing as well as anyone now--and needs a win to share the IVC with Hiland. (Hard to believe this is thew same Strasburg that started the season so poorly, [losing to Newcomerstown!]). and that game is not for another week and a half if I remember.

Strasburg did start the season cold 0-3 with losses to Newc't and TCC both at home by a total of 9 points. After those early losses they have been playing alot better winning 11 or the next 14. They would be in the mix for the IVC if they would have won those two games. Hiland could still win the IVC outright if Strasburg beats Garaway at Home on March 1. Malvern had their chance but after last nights loss to TCC they blew their chances. They also come to Strasburg on Tues. the 23rd. Should be some interesting games left to be played. Strasburg can finish 3rd or maybe second in the IVC if they win those two games and another Garaway loss.

Ricola - remember what I said mid-season about the Boyd kid being a second half heavy scorer??? did he eat some wheaties at half-time??

The Boyd kid has struggled lately with his scoring... i seen the Garaway and Strasburg game and it seems like he gets lost in the shuffle. He is 6'7 and he plays outside, I know he can shot but he's 6'7 and in the IVC ....Get him inside so he can score. He can then rebound the ball and not have Yoder and Kaufman do everything for the team. Hiland better turn up the heat because they have not been real impressive lately. It could be a short run in the tournament for the Hawks.

DukeBlue wrote: The Boyd kid has struggled lately with his scoring... i seen the Garaway and Strasburg game and it seems like he gets lost in the shuffle. He is 6'7 and he plays outside, I know he can shot but he's 6'7 and in the IVC ....Get him inside so he can score. He can then rebound the ball and not have Yoder and Kaufman do everything for the team. Hiland better turn up the heat because they have not been real impressive lately. It could be a short run in the tournament for the Hawks.

The problem with that is that he is 6'7" and about 120lbs..lol(exaggeration). There is no way someone as skinny as him can do much work inside. He is a spot up shooter....that is his game. He is not super athletic, so I can't see him creating his own shot.

I just don't see where anyone in the IVC is going to make a run at state this year. It seems like a down year. Neither Hiland or Garaway have the guard play to get them to the promise land.

tfloangel wrote: Ricola - remember what I said mid-season about the Boyd kid being a second half heavy scorer??? did he eat some wheaties at half-time??

they must have served wheaties to the whole team at halftime, beacause after going 2/21 in the first half from the field, they finally found the bucket in the second half, and I thought played pretty well. But I see what you mean with boyd: 2 points first half, 19 the second. But Kauffman was similar: 2 points first half, 15 the second. (I heard the coaches did a great job at halftime getting them to turn things around the second half!)

I can imagine how that conversation may have gone...

It all comes down to Garaway @ Strasburg on March 1st. Last game in the old Tiger gym. Look for an emotionally charged Tiger team to come away with the win.

I agree with majorspark..........i also see the Tigers winning the Last Game at Home vs the Pirates. The Tigers have been playing well lately and this will be the revenge game for them since they lost a close one at Garaway earlier this year. The young Tigers have 3 good games (Malvern. Dalton, Garaway) to get ready for the Tournament.

tfloangel wrote: I can imagine how that conversation may have gone...

actually, I heard it was very positve and motivating

majorspark wrote: It all comes down to Garaway @ Strasburg on March 1st. Last game in the old Tiger gym. Look for an emotionally charged Tiger team to come away with the win.

seems only appropriate that those two teams should close out the old gym, what with their mutual affection for each other! Certainly gotta pull for the Tigers here.
Bet Lucky Leroy might have some special comments about this one!

DukeBlue wrote: I agree with majorspark..........i also see the Tigers winning the Last Game at Home vs the Pirates. The Tigers have been playing well lately and this will be the revenge game for them since they lost a close one at Garaway earlier this year. The young Tigers have 3 good games (Malvern. Dalton, Garaway) to get ready for the Tournament.

Hopefully those games will wear them out for at least a good week after!

That could happen.....we'll have to wait and see......if Strasburg and Hiland meet again it could be a good game for the 3rd time this year.

the IVC is very well balanced, the next 2 years it will be Hiland, Garaway, Strasburg and Malvern battling. TCC, Ridgewood are tuff as well and Sandy has a very impressive soph. point guard. tuff league.

I will have to go with Strasburg as well although I wouldn't be surprised if Garaway would win.

I'll just say Hiland is fortunate to be in the clubhouse with 3 losses. All the pressure is on Garaway. Hiland will win at least a share, but if they do win it outright, it will be more of a case of backing into it rather than going out and taking it.

All these back to back games due to snow really threw things into chaos. All the contenders did a cyle of big win followed by big loss.

Boyd can drive the ball inside. I saw him doing it during the summer. I think he is more comfortable as a perimeter player, but he can score inside if he chooses to. The only thing I have against the kid is that he is dating my adopted daughter - and I've told her to not trust any boy because they are up to no good and the reason I know they are up to no good is because when I was their age, I was up to no good.

strasburg better worry about getting past malvern before they set their sights on the pirates. the tigers lost a close one at malvern and i wouldn't be assuming the tigers will win tomorrow night, although i hope they do.

I have a question for all Hiland fans.

What is the deal with their offense? I realize that Dylan is a great player, but I have never seen a Hiland team so dependent on a player going one on one. Back in the day(Perry Reese days), they ran defenders through screen after screen. They seem to be way too reliant on him taking guys one on one now....that style offense seems to make the others stand around and watch too much. Do they just not have the shooters to come off screens and spot up this year?

I think Hiland should be very happy they have completed their league games. We saw that Malvern could only hold the lead for about 18 hours. Garaway will be playing against some serious emotion next Monday night, so I wont be shocked if the Hawks win the league outright.

Lets look forward two weeks to March 6th....if the seeds hold true the doubleheader at New Phila will be Hiland/Strasburg and then Malvern/TCC. That is a mighty fine sectional final. Garaway as usual gets a free ride to the district in the awful D3 tourney at Claymont.

I'm glad someone else see's how bad the DIII sectional and District are. There is no reason that Garaway should not get to Regionals. They have a cake schedule again.

If Hiland/Strasburg play in the Sectional Finals, it will make the 3rd straight year they will meet and it should be as interesting as the first two games were this year. The winner of that game will more than likely play Shadyside the number 6th team in the state and sitting at 19-0.....That will be a good 2 games there. Good Luck to all Teams

wes_mantooth wrote: I have a question for all Hiland fans.

What is the deal with their offense? I realize that Dylan is a great player, but I have never seen a Hiland team so dependent on a player going one on one. Back in the day(Perry Reese days), they ran defenders through screen after screen. They seem to be way too reliant on him taking guys one on one now....that style offense seems to make the others stand around and watch too much. Do they just not have the shooters to come off screens and spot up this year?

The more radical change has been on the defensive end imo. They used to play full court man to man defense that contested every pass, dribble, and shot. Not so much anymore.

But to answer your question about offense... Perry Reese typically had to play with a 5'6" point and a 5'10" post. They had to be tough on defense and they ran the Princeton offense to get an advantage with skill and precision. That and shooting 3's was their game.

When Coach Schlabach came in 05-06, that is what they did - played that tenacious defense, ran Princeton, shot 3's, and it took them to the regionals where they lost in the finals to Windham who played helter-skelter and beat Hiland by 9. Coach said he would never let another team beat us by playing faster than we wanted play. The next year they did the same things but faster. When they faced Windham in the regional semis, they blitzed them at their own game.

I think somewhere in there Coach committed to playing fast. In the 08-09 season he could put 6'4", 6'5", and 6'7" on the floor so that played into him changing things on off and def. Some of the old ways of doing things weren't necessary and he was trying to play to the stregnths of his players. Asst Jason Mishler loves NBA offense and he may have had some influence in taking them more toward letting Dylan do more of his thing 1 on 1.

They have plenty of shooters: Boyd, Gerber, Jason Miller, Josh Yoder among others. They do some screening at times and those guys get shots when they are playing well. I guess to run an offense with a lot of screens, you have to have guys who like to do the screening as much or more than they like to shoot.

When or if we run out of trees, we will probably see them going back to the old ways of doing things. Which is better? I'm partial to toughness, defense, and low TO/precision offense. However, they won 25 games with this new style last year and 16 so far this year. Probably best if we just let the coaches coach!

bankonit wrote: strasburg better worry about getting past malvern before they set their sights on the pirates. the tigers lost a close one at malvern and i wouldn't be assuming the tigers will win tomorrow night, although i hope they do.

this should be a great game, what a way to close out the old gym with back to back Malvern, Garaway games.

wes_mantooth wrote: I have a question for all Hiland fans.

What is the deal with their offense? I realize that Dylan is a great player, but I have never seen a Hiland team so dependent on a player going one on one. Back in the day(Perry Reese days), they ran defenders through screen after screen. They seem to be way too reliant on him taking guys one on one now....that style offense seems to make the others stand around and watch too much. Do they just not have the shooters to come off screens and spot up this year?

when its not happening on the court the guys seem to rely on Dylan too much for the big basket and stand around to much but when things click that is not the case. here's to hopeing things click!

it reminds me of the Cavs of 3 seasons ago (and unfortunately still at times)... had the offensive threats, but when it came down to it they'd spread it out and leave it up to a certain #23 to dictate how the offense was going to go when things got tight later in the game rather than moving without the ball. The offense is set up to penetrate into the middle of the D and then dish to whatever look is open, but if four players spread and hold where they are which allows five to collapse on one, it can be difficult to see where the open player(s) are. They've got quite a few guys who have definite strengths on the offensive end. Personally I'd like to see them run more through Burch and give Kaufman more opportunity to crash the boards and clean up around the rim.