By Nick Brockman, Messenger Sports Reporter
nbrockman@the-messenger.com
This weekend two Hopkins County basketball teams have been invited to play among the state's most touted squads.
The boys basketball teams from Hopkins County Central and Madisonville-North Hopkins will take part in Fifth Third Bank Classic hosted by Lexington Catholic beginning today.
"We feel real fortunate to be invited and have this opportunity," Central coach Matt Bell said. "It's not one of those tournaments that you just try and see if you can get teams to come to because everybody wants to go."
More than a dozen teams will participate in the event including Louisville St. Xavier, Louisville Trinity, Lexington Christian and Adair County. Central and North are guaranteed three games and may play as many as four depending on their results.
North has six showcase events on its 2008-09 schedule and have competed in three thus far.
The Maroons have not faired well in such premier games posting an 0-5 record, but coach Marty Cline's group has given each of its opponents a tough contest.
"If you can compete with the best on any given night, you can win any ballgame on your schedule if you can play with these guys," Cline said.
The boys basketball teams from Hopkins County Central and Madisonville-North Hopkins will take part in Fifth Third Bank Classic hosted by Lexington Catholic beginning today.
"We feel real fortunate to be invited and have this opportunity," Central coach Matt Bell said. "It's not one of those tournaments that you just try and see if you can get teams to come to because everybody wants to go."
More than a dozen teams will participate in the event including Louisville St. Xavier, Louisville Trinity, Lexington Christian and Adair County. Central and North are guaranteed three games and may play as many as four depending on their results.
North has six showcase events on its 2008-09 schedule and have competed in three thus far.
The Maroons have not faired well in such premier games posting an 0-5 record, but coach Marty Cline's group has given each of its opponents a tough contest.
"If you can compete with the best on any given night, you can win any ballgame on your schedule if you can play with these guys," Cline said.
Learning does not always have to win by looking within, it can come from observing the competition, Cline said.
Bell said he and the Storm understand there will be no 'gimme wins' at the tournament.
"You have to go ready to play every game that you play," he said. "It's not going to be, 'Well we can go up there and win a game or two and see how it goes.' You can easily go up there and go 0-4, but you have to work hard to go 4-0.
"We're ready for a challenge. We feel our kids have worked hard and deserve that opportunity and we're anxious to go in there and play one of the top teams in the state right off the bat."
Playing so many games with little rest, Bell said he wants his players to learn how to work hard and build endurance.
"Those teams that make it to the state tournament, we've talked about it - those teams that get the Thursday draw, in order to win it all they have to play four games in three days," he said. "You don't have time to be tired."
In addition to playing tough competition and overcoming fatigue, the Maroons and Storm will garner knowledge on how to handle playing in a raucous venue.
"The atmosphere at these tournaments is tremendous," Cline said. "It's something that's more like a postseason atmosphere, so in our situation most of our kids have never experienced being on the court during a contest in those types of situations where you may feel a little pressure.
"It just gives me them a little experience and that's very huge for us where we don't have that at this time. We would hate to get that experience when our season is on the line in the postseason, so it's a lot better to get that done now so we're prepared."
Last week, North played three difficult opponents in the King of the Bluegrass tournament at Fairdale.
The Maroons began the event with a one-point loss to Pleasure Ridge Park.
In the team's next game, North trailed Louisville Male by five with three minutes left before losing by more than 10 points, Cline said.
North then played Centennial (Tenn.) and tried to avenge a 69-66 loss from the schools previous meeting in the Minit Mart Kentucky-Tennessee Challenge on Dec. 13 at Warren Central. The Maroons pulled up short though, losing 84-65.
Back in Hopkins County, Central hosted its own Holiday Classic during the weekend.
After a buzzer-beating loss to Christian Academy-Louisville, the Storm ripped off three straight wins, including a victory over a tough Lyon County squad.
"It's a good confidence-builder going into Lexington next week," Central's Chuck Jones said. "It'll be good going into this break with a three-game win streak."
Central will begin the Classic at 4:30 E.T. p.m. today against Clark County while North takes on St. Xavier at 7:30 p.m. E.T.
In other high school boys action, Webster County will play 2 p.m. Saturday against Apollo in the first of three games at the LBD Holiday Classic at Grayson County.
On the girls' side, the Lady Maroons will play 2 p.m. Saturday against Scott County in the first of a four-day tournament, the Gateway Classic hosted by Montgomery County.
The Webster County Lady Trojans will begin a four-day event Saturday at Daviess County in the Independence Bank Classic. Webster opponents and game times have yet to be announced.
Bell said he and the Storm understand there will be no 'gimme wins' at the tournament.
"You have to go ready to play every game that you play," he said. "It's not going to be, 'Well we can go up there and win a game or two and see how it goes.' You can easily go up there and go 0-4, but you have to work hard to go 4-0.
"We're ready for a challenge. We feel our kids have worked hard and deserve that opportunity and we're anxious to go in there and play one of the top teams in the state right off the bat."
Playing so many games with little rest, Bell said he wants his players to learn how to work hard and build endurance.
"Those teams that make it to the state tournament, we've talked about it - those teams that get the Thursday draw, in order to win it all they have to play four games in three days," he said. "You don't have time to be tired."
In addition to playing tough competition and overcoming fatigue, the Maroons and Storm will garner knowledge on how to handle playing in a raucous venue.
"The atmosphere at these tournaments is tremendous," Cline said. "It's something that's more like a postseason atmosphere, so in our situation most of our kids have never experienced being on the court during a contest in those types of situations where you may feel a little pressure.
"It just gives me them a little experience and that's very huge for us where we don't have that at this time. We would hate to get that experience when our season is on the line in the postseason, so it's a lot better to get that done now so we're prepared."
Last week, North played three difficult opponents in the King of the Bluegrass tournament at Fairdale.
The Maroons began the event with a one-point loss to Pleasure Ridge Park.
In the team's next game, North trailed Louisville Male by five with three minutes left before losing by more than 10 points, Cline said.
North then played Centennial (Tenn.) and tried to avenge a 69-66 loss from the schools previous meeting in the Minit Mart Kentucky-Tennessee Challenge on Dec. 13 at Warren Central. The Maroons pulled up short though, losing 84-65.
Back in Hopkins County, Central hosted its own Holiday Classic during the weekend.
After a buzzer-beating loss to Christian Academy-Louisville, the Storm ripped off three straight wins, including a victory over a tough Lyon County squad.
"It's a good confidence-builder going into Lexington next week," Central's Chuck Jones said. "It'll be good going into this break with a three-game win streak."
Central will begin the Classic at 4:30 E.T. p.m. today against Clark County while North takes on St. Xavier at 7:30 p.m. E.T.
In other high school boys action, Webster County will play 2 p.m. Saturday against Apollo in the first of three games at the LBD Holiday Classic at Grayson County.
On the girls' side, the Lady Maroons will play 2 p.m. Saturday against Scott County in the first of a four-day tournament, the Gateway Classic hosted by Montgomery County.
The Webster County Lady Trojans will begin a four-day event Saturday at Daviess County in the Independence Bank Classic. Webster opponents and game times have yet to be announced.
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