Steve Dunford-Franklin County Hoops and Gridiron
I am just going to share something first. I am not slighting the girl’s game at all. In the next year or two I will be able to write previews and maybe give a prediction. I have close contact with nearly every boy’s coach in the BDC West, SIRR Ohio division and the GEC. From all this, I feel I do not have the knowledge yet to give a preview of girls basketball in the county.
In girl’s action tonight, a very tough Harrisburg team will be traveling to Max Morris Gym to take on the West Frankfort Lady Redbirds; Andy Sloan and his Benton Rangerettes have a SIRR Ohio match up at Herrin tonight; Sieger Shurtz’s Christopher Lady Bearcats will be on the road at Cobden to face the Lady Appleknockers this evening. In boys action, I am previewing the Benton Hardin County match up at Goreville and the Pope County vs Thompsonville game this evening.
Benton (1-0) vs. Hardin County (0-1)- Goreville Invitational 5:30 p.m.
Benton’s win over Hamilton County last night was what most people expected. I was a little surprise that Johnston City beat Hardin County last night, especially the margin of victory.
The Rangers had a balanced attack in the opener. I expect the same tonight. Benton will be much quicker than the Cougars. If Coach Ron Winemiller chooses to press, Hardin County might have difficulty breaking it. I see the Rangers getting some easy transition buckets tonight. The Rangers have a much deeper bench, which is the usual case when you play a school three times their size.
Other than Thompsonville, most in the county are not familiar with Hardin County High School. I am going to give you a little information. They have an enrollment of 175. Their school was built in the early 80’s when the county schools consolidated, which is a K-12 facility which is similar to Sesser-Valier.
Their gym seats about 2,500, and that is the reason why they host the 1A sectional frequently. They play a very tough 1A schedule, playing some much larger Kentucky schools. Along with this week at Goreville, they play in the Eldorado Holiday Tournament. Most have them as a top three team in the Greater Egyptian Conference.
I will give the edge to the Cougars on being a little more physical than the Rangers. This along with their size inside might cause some problems in the post for Benton. Hardin County plays mainly zone. Like Derek Oxford they have a 1,000 scorer in Tyler Winters. If he, along with Cameron Shaw gets hot the Cougars might hang around with the Rangers.
Hardin County will win a lot of games this year. I was taking to Cougar Coach Rodney Lane a couple weeks ago and said, even if we come out of here 0-5, we are here to prepare us for February. I am giving the edge to the Rangers by 20 tonight. They just have too many horses.
POPE COUNTY (2-3) vs. THOMPSONVILLE (2-1)
The Tigers had a very good week at Christopher. They almost knocked off a very good Webber Township club, beat NCOE in a thriller, and beat Zeigler-Royalton in the consolation championship game. As Dick Vitale would say the “Diaper Dandies” played very well, especially PG Tyson Kessler.
The Pirates had a mediocre week at Crab Orchard. They defeated Dongola and Egyptian, which both will be lucky to have five wins this year. Elverado thumped them, which does not look good on their résumé. They had a barnburner though, with a good Joppa ball club. They also hung around with Crab Orchard longer than I expected. It seems like they are going to be a Jeckel and Hyde ball club. It is hard to anticipate what kind of team will step off the bus tonight.
This is the conference opener for both teams. The Tigers have a strong back court. I am just being blunt, but Pope County struggles at the guard spot. The transfers from Massac County last year will cause some GEC teams some match up problems with their size, but the Tigers have a lot of size too. In all three games, the Tiger press was very effective. I would not be surprised if Tiger coach Pete Gordon comes out pressing and use that 2-3 zone, which was very effective at the end of last season.
I say the Tigers will be 3-1 after tonight with a solid ten point victory. It would be nice if they could go into the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament a couple of games above .500 or more.
