Wednesday, June 19, 2013
A few extra notes from a game that deserves some extra attention:
• This game had a tournament atmosphere, maybe even a state championship atmosphere. The Nokomis fans always support their teams well, and they really got into the game. Whenever Nokomis went on a run (and the Warriors did it three different times), the fans went nuts and the place was electric.
Everything I hear is that York is the best team in Western B, and I’m not saying at all that this is a state championship preview. But compared to most state championship games I’ve seen, it was more exciting and had a better atmosphere. It was everything that makes you love high school basketball.
• Leavitt presses all game, and its offense is run-and-gun. It’s a brutal pace to play for 32 straight minutes, and the Hornets used only six players the entire game. Some of the players were showing fatigue near the end of the game.
“I really was a little bit concerned, only because my starters have only played a half a game most games we’ve played so far this year,” Leavitt coach Tammy Anderson said. “Even though you look at the scores, you say, ‘Geez, they’re scoring over 90 points.’ Well, still, my starters are playing half a game. We try to condition them in practice, but it’s not the same intensity as a situation like this.”
• Nokomis stayed in seventh place in the Eastern B standings. That’s just a flaw in the Heal point system — Leavitt beat Belfast by 63 and Nokomis by five, and the system sees Belfast and Nokomis as even in those two games, and gives them the same number of points.
But the Warriors have now played two close games, and lost them both. They have a chance to remedy that quickly, as they face an 8-2 Oak Hill team on Friday.
“They need to know that we believe in them,” Nokomis coach Kori Dionne said. “They need to believe in themselves, and we’re going to get ourselves to where we need to be. We’re going to take what we didn’t do so well in this game, and work on it, and get ready for Oak Hill on Friday.”
Gary Hawkins has worked at the Kennebec Journal since 1980. His primary beats are baseball, boys basketball, girls and boys soccer and golf.
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