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| Shizz
January 25, 2012
6:51:59 PM
Entry #: 3860108
| That I would share this story it's about the gusty performance that night of some of the 1999-2000 Paoli Rams players and the Rams team as a whole during the 2000 Southridge Sectional game against Crawford County (injuries would last from the end of the season throughout the rest of the tournament) and I can talk about it because I was there...anyway a little backstory was that the Rams were fighting injuries during the end of the season and would continue throughout the tournament uknown to the public at the time but later found out (two badly spained ankles on one player in this story another badly sprained ankle on another player in this story bruised knees by a few players bruised ribs by another big husky player) and they played through it which makes the story more inspirational and motivating and thought The Rams fans and players and parents etc, would enjoy reading the article.
HUNTINGBURG:
Through nealy three quarters of play at the Southridge Sectional Friday Night, the Paoli Rams looked as if they might be making an early exit from tournament play. The shots weren't falling, the turnovers were mounting and the Crawford County Wolfpaack had begun to smell the victory.
The Rams trailed by 12 with just over a minute to play in the third, but Seniors Travis Cole and Derek VanEmon took matters into their own hands and fueled a 23-2 Paoli run that turned the tide and enabled the Rams to escape with a 71-67 victory.
Cole came up with two steals and five quick points in the final 20 seconds of teh third, while vanEmon poured in 11 points and pulled down 7 rebounds in the final frame to put the game away.
"We knew it was going to be this kind of game" said Paoli Head Coach Mike Brown, whose club will face (and go on to defeat) in tonight's championship game. "There's no way that Crawford had any quit in them. They answered every single run that we tried to make at them, until the last one. We just had some guys make their minds up that they were going to try to get some plays made."
The Wolfpack led by as many as 15 in the second quarter, thanks in part to 20 first half point by Junior Guard Joey Hanger, who drained 4 3-pointers over the first two periods.
While Hanger was lighting it up, the Rams' long-range bomber was shooting blanks. Sophomore Guard Evan Seacat misfired on his first eight shots and The Rams shot 12 of 28 form the floor as a team in the first half. But after connecting on 6 of 17 in the third, Paoli made 9 of 12 from the floor and 9 of 12 from the foul line in the 4th to secire the victory.
After the Rams' sparkplug (Cole) fouled out with 4:51 to play, Seacat took over the majority of the ballhandling from the shooting guard position, Seacat halted a 6-0 Wolfpack run with a runner in the lane, and Junior Brannon Chastain came up with a steal and converted a layup to move the lead back to seven, 65-58.
"I am so proud of so many guys on this team" said Brown "It's just incredible what they got done tonight in some really tough situations. We could have quit at the end of the third quarter. They answered our run, we had some guys in foul trouble and we could have hung it up right there. Not only did we come back and start the fourth quarter with a great run , but when Travis fouled out we had some guys really suck it up."
VanEmon finished with a game-higjs of 28 points and 16 rebounds, while Cole had 21 points and Seacat finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for The Rams, who will be looking for their 3rd Straight Class Sectional Championship Title Tonight.
"I think in this sectional, with these six teams, you just want to survive," Brown noted. ""I think Tell City is probably on more of a run right now than anybody, and it'll take a heck of an effort to come back in this short of time and beat them, but i like our chances."
After giving up 20 points to hanger in the first half, the Rams went to a box-and-one defense in the second, with Cole chasinf the Wolfpacks' leading scorer and holding him to just six points over the final 2 periods to give him 26.
Shiz
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