Narbonne is a very physical, aggressive team, which is what you'd expect with a roster full of short players (the heights on maxpreps have been greatly exaggerated). But the first two calls on the Gauchos in the very beginning of the game were when players jumped in the air at a Washington player. Maybe trying to come down and take the ball away from overhead? But that served as a warning of their style of play. The refs quit calling fouls on Narbonne shortly after that.
The short Narbonne players hacked, pushed and shoved their way through the game, and the refs let them do whatever they wanted. The much less-aggressive Washington team, in the meantime, was whistled for every little thing, which put Narbonne in the bonus very quickly. The refs also called a lot of phantom crap on Prep. For example, they called Reshanda "Too Tall" Gray for travelling at least four times that I can remember, and only once was a travel.
The Gauchos have great defense, and did a good job of limiting ESPN 39th-ranked Too Tall and guard Kiana Furlow in both scoring and rebounds. They're scrappy, and they've got some very good shooters on their squad. But I can't fully respect today's win because of the way the 10 (out of 14 on the roster) played. (The only exceptions for the Gauchos were Butler and junior guard/forward Jamesha Chapman.)
I prefer games where the players run them and not the officials. Regardless of who wins, fans deserve to see a fairly-officiated game.
As I promised in the comment section of Thursday's post, I asked Too Tall if she'd like to discuss where she's considering going to college. She smiled and said she is undecided for now. So we'll have to wait.
It's blurry, but Reshanda "Too Tall" Gray is going up to the hoop like Jordan.
Narbonne has a few good shooters, which was plain in the first quarter.
The Gauchos are also good at traps. Here, Prep's Kiana Furlow tries to drive out of a trap in the second quarter.
Too Tall catches the pass in the second.
Narbonne picked up their rebounding in the fourth quarter.
My new policy is to put horrendous officials on blast. So here's Worst Ref of 2010 So Far #1.
Here's Worst Ref of 2010 So Far #2, standing next to #1. Hands down the worst high school refs I've seen in at least a year.
Narbonne had a little cheer before the game, as do many teams, but no post-game chant this time.
Cal Coach Joanne Boyle stopped by to check out the action, and presumably a player or two (seen here sharing a laugh with Washington Prep Coach Ricky Blackmon before the game).
View Park and Fairfax played for third place right before the championship. VP junior guard/forward Danielle Pruitt (#1) is such a fun player to watch. She does everything: drives, shoots, rebounds. Too bad her coach only puts up her ppg stats. I'd like to know the rest of the story.
4 comments:
Interesting you bring up ppg, as Wash Prep has only stats for certain games, I would guess the games that Too Tall has scored better in - when all stats per game are not posted ie only 11 of their 19 games can't believe any of them.
Some of the games that are not reported for Washington are actually some of Too Tall's best games, e.g. Fairfield where I believe she had 34, and some of the other TOC and West Coast Jamboree games where I hear she was phenomenal. My guess is that if the 8 games that aren't reported were added, her season averages would actually be better than currently listed...
With respect to the original post, I think it is great. Good job by you! That officiating was some of the worst I have ever seen. Some of the calls were just shocking. Those women should not be allowed to ref another high school basketball game this year! I was a little bit surprised at the Narbonne coaching staff's reaction after the victory, it was as if they locked up the Marine League. As a realistic, adult, coach I would have been a bit humbler about the victory. With some different refs that could have been a whole different ball game.
I would agree that Narbonne did a good job keeping Kiana out of the game, a good game plan for any team playing Washington. However, I would have to disagree about Too Tall. With the exception of poor free throw shooting in the first half she did everything she could for her team. She was banging around in the post, and while the max prep stats aren't up yet, I would venture to guess she had 30 of the 38 points Prep was able to get on the board, and roughly her season average in rebounds. I can't imagine what her stats would have been without the bogus travel calls and if a few more fouls were called against Narbonne.
this is very interesting on how you commented on officials , yet they werent chosen by Narbonne nor the Prep. I thought this was hosted by Fairfax which meant the coach from fairfax took the time and requested the ref"s. No ,of course not every ref isnt great to every one , yet both in the NCAA and NBA not to mention WNBA there are aggresive players and teams. Ask any player that plays basketball or any sport would they play aggressive againist a rival . 9 out of 10 of them will agree. what you think a win comes easily . if so sports arent for you . i dont care who you are , or what your title is but i think if you know sports .you would know that the game was played like a rival game . Which is no mercy this meant that you would have to give your all in order to win.
Thanks for that post, Anonymous 2. I was sitting in the middle, and many of those on both the Prep side and the Narbonne side were appalled at the calls. I agree that those two refs shouldn't be allowed near a court again until 2011, at the very least.
I agree Too Tall did all she could for the Generals. But I think the reason she missed so many free throws is that they were trying to get to her, because she never misses free throws.
Too Tall's club ball coach, Cal Sparks Director Elbert Kinnebrew, twittered earlier today that she had 30 points and 15 rebounds yesterday. Gotta love that kid.
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