Well. I wouldn't worry too much about the University loss...that's a pretty good team they have over there this year. The Frankfort loss is a little more concerning however basketball ball is a much more fickle sport than say football. A lot more dependent on the mindset and particular effort of an individual player on a given night. We are dealing with 16-18 year old kids so not going to get the focus every night that they should .. its what makes high school basketball so unpredictable... and also exciting to watch usually.
Hoops
- Thread starter towpath94
- Start date
Hate to say it but FH is terrible at basketball. I got to watch them last night at Allegany and wow! I know they won and Smithsburg beat Allegany but they looked like to 6th grade teams tonight. I geuss it may have something to do with the kids that didn't play, not sure but it was bad
FH does stink. Alco far less than they have been recently. Ridge not as good as either. No team getting past regionals. Area basketball has goNE from bad to worse.
I wouldn't say Alco is bad. They are probably still one of the best 2 teams in this god forsaken area of horrible basketball. I definitely am saying they are not near as good as the last 5 years. In other words when they step outside this area to play they have zero chance. Teams like Hedgesville and University would crush them.
If I'm not mistaken they play University in a few weeks so time will tell. Not sure what the other half of the region has but Smithsburg is not going to beat them agiain. Clear Spring may be pretty good and not sure about anyone else. I also believe Allegany plays Clear Spring this year as well
Southern has lost to Northern Calvert by 2 points and lost to Westinghouse in their Christmas Tournament by 11. Westinghouse had a 6-10 player who could play! He really altered their shooting by dominating the inside. Schedule starting to play more local teams now so we will see.
Boys basketball is a non-factor in the western part of the state even when there has been good teams. At least when there have been teams that appeared to be good enough to contend they always come up short in the big picture. A region title is basically the end game and the threshold is not realistic beyond that. Advancing to the state tournament (Final 4) is not a hard feat nowadays for an "okay" team in the 1A West, it's usually wide open for the taking. And even then with basketball out west being down those "good" teams still aren't competitive statewide. Case and point, Allegany has advanced by default pretty consistently of late but they haven't appeared in a title game since 2014 and did just 3 other times in the 20 years between that and winning it in 1993. Fort Hill hasn't advanced to the state tournament since 2008, Southern hasn't since 2001, Mountain Ridge, Hancock and Northern never have and then you have to start digging up schools that have since closed for barely any basketball success. Even then basketball's hay-day, if you can even call it that, out west was pre-1980. A Western Maryland team hasn't won a state championship since 1993 (Allegany) and it was 1981 (Valley) before that. Even if they start defining success by regular season record, basketball is dead or otherwise meaningless in that area.
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Westmar has a 7th grade team that is pure dominant. Westmar 7th grade team is unbelievable and the size of those kids...wow. That is an all around great team. Braddock has some kids in their 6 grade that are playing year round and will be very good if they keep it up.
The Mount Savage middle school team of kids who graduated from Ridge two years ago were unbelievably dominant back in the day. I dont think they lost a game in 7th or 8th grade.
They were a decent HS team, but it really didn't translate into the same dominance in HS. Kids change SO SO much from middle school to HS. It's really hard to judge HS basketball on middle school performance in the same manner as football.
They were a decent HS team, but it really didn't translate into the same dominance in HS. Kids change SO SO much from middle school to HS. It's really hard to judge HS basketball on middle school performance in the same manner as football.
Mount Savage was real good back in 1967 too I reckon, they won a State Championship back then. I believe that was under legendary community-college coach Bob Kirk, but I haven't heard their name mentioned of late. I take it they have a middle school from the nature of what you say. Mountain Ridge on the other hand has never advanced to a state-tournament in the boys game, in their existence anyhow. Maybe they've won some regular season games against that area caliber competition. I say you all just forget about basketball up that way, or play it in the YMCA leagues for exercise later in life.
Yes I started to respond to one of his posts the other day and then realized he had joined like 4 days ago and was only trying to be an agonist. Not trying to foster an intelligent discussion but rather just trying to create a response. Better to not even acknowledge such comments.
By the way, that Westmar/Mountain ridge area must have some very good coaches in the Tri-County/Middle school programs as they consistently seem to have good teams. The junior class they have now was also a very successful team thoughout those years. As someone stated, things sometimes change by the time they get to high school. Bodies mature at different rates and heights change especially for boys basketball.
Im for an intelligent discussion but talking youth league sports in regards to a sport that has no significant relevance in that area cant possibly foster anything intelligent to begin with. I joined the discussion not for responses but to provide clarity on the meaningless outlook of hoops in that area. Basketball is dead in that area whether they have good youth teams, do well in the regular season, or feel good about their chances. No one, even the best teams, in the last 25 years have mattered in the scope of pure competition statewide. Well, not beyond the feeder programs dominance apparently.
Ummm...do you actually think you're telling people something they don't already know? Basketball has never been strong in this area.That's no secret. Occasionally, Allegany will send a team that represents well or Fort Hill had a nice run a few years ago as did Valley back in the day, but no one here thinks the best in this area can compete consistently statewide. Go back to the Sun board where your gibberish may be taken more seriously.
Its nice to talk about a sport where there are no overwhelming statewide pressures to perform. I dont think anyone on this board thinks this discussion of basketball has any implications other than on the local level. And thats okay.
I thought last year's Alco squad was the best local team in a long time. They had a legit chance to win in College Park. They shot horribly from outside and still hung in there with eventual 1A champion Fairmont Heights.
Allegany appears to have had some good performing teams. I see they've made several state-tournaments recently. I don't know the score of their most recent trip, or really any detail from past ones but I know they lost them all. Saying they 'hung in there despite something' sounds like a generous way of agreeing with me and saying 'they weren't good enough' to compete with the competition from down state. If only they had made more shots or done this or that. You mean they missed shots they usually made against the caliber of competition they faced in the regular season. I bet there is a reason for that and direct correlation between the flow and style from those city teams that contributed to those misses. And to your point, in making my point. If that squad was one of the best from your area in a long time and they still lost before the finals, how much better can it get. That's the end game. At least unless like someone else mentioned, they're just looking for regular season kudos or to perform well at the local level. In that case, amazing job rolling through the feeders all the way up until that final loss.
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We may actually agree but it's difficult to even decipher your point through your stream of consciousness writing style, lol
I’m too lazy to do it, but the perfect new Troll User Name would be “I’m The Secret.”
When you have as many secrets as I do, it is wise to speak with consciousness. I had decided that other habits were becoming worrisome and expressing my views on here is better than sitting at National Harbor right now. Im not trolling anyone, more therapy and righteous living approach for me. It easier to speak about the truth on here and let secrets locked away. My athletic views might not align with the western part of the state. But yes, basketball is not in the same realm than what me and my folks see. BoyzInBlue, you have to know the scope of the game better than that and understand what Im saying. Its disrespectful to the statewide game and real hoopers to lump them together like that. People out west might play, but they're not balling.
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Saturday Allegany plays University one of the top teams in WV. Last year University beat Martinsburg by 12 in the semi-final game, before falling short in the championship. This year University is a much better team and probably the best team in all of WV.
Was that the tourney game they lost by 3 points or am I thinking of a different one?
They made it to the final four and shot terrible, only scored 34 points I think, lost by around 14 or 15.
I made a mistake. For some reason I though it was Fairmont Heights, but Alco lost last year to a Baltimore team Edmondson. Alco basically outplayed them the whole game but shot terribly from outside 17-52 and eventually only lost by 7.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/...gany-boys-basketball-0311-20170310-story.html
This isn't the first time Alco played horribly once they got deeper into the state tourney. It's actually par for the course. That is because the Alco bball schedule is so bad, once they get to better comp the shots that were successful against BW, Northern, Hampshire, Keyser, FH, Southern, Frankfort, etc. all of the sudden don't work now.
When I look at the non-AMAC teams on the Alco schedule from year to year I see Broadfording, Smithsburg, Hyndman, Westmont Hilltop, etc. Really, teally, really bad considering where local hoops competition stands. A few times they did have MATHS, Goretti and this year University. They lose those games.
For all the dreaded football schedule talk, the Alco hoops schedule is miles worse. Even more dumbfounding is that everyone makes the playoffs in hoops. Ted is happy coaching 20 wins against local teams so congrats to him. But when he gets into the state run forget it. His record there speaks for itself. This on top of the fact the entire 1A West is bad. He would be better off playing city teams in the regular season. Makes no sense with everyone making the playoffs.
Bottom line is the Alco hoops schedule isnt just bad it's horribly horribly bad and ineffective for anything more than Western MD bragging rights.
When I look at the non-AMAC teams on the Alco schedule from year to year I see Broadfording, Smithsburg, Hyndman, Westmont Hilltop, etc. Really, teally, really bad considering where local hoops competition stands. A few times they did have MATHS, Goretti and this year University. They lose those games.
For all the dreaded football schedule talk, the Alco hoops schedule is miles worse. Even more dumbfounding is that everyone makes the playoffs in hoops. Ted is happy coaching 20 wins against local teams so congrats to him. But when he gets into the state run forget it. His record there speaks for itself. This on top of the fact the entire 1A West is bad. He would be better off playing city teams in the regular season. Makes no sense with everyone making the playoffs.
Bottom line is the Alco hoops schedule isnt just bad it's horribly horribly bad and ineffective for anything more than Western MD bragging rights.
They do play Fort Hill twice. Playing teams that bad multiple times can't help you get ready for meaningful competition.
Absolutely.
At least Alco football is fairly competitive. FH basketball not. Area hoops, well it's already been said here. Most get it.
I definitely agree with you that Alco needs to upgrade their schedule, especially when they have teams (like last year) that could have potentially challenged for a state title.
I disagree that the schedule is the problem most of the time. The bottom line is, like the Married With Secrets guy is saying, is WMD schools just aren't as dedicated to basketball as they are to football.
You know FH basketball is bad when OneRing tries to jab at Brian74 and they end up completely agreeing with each other lol
Me and my folks always just feel like the teams up there are no threat. As we say 8-10 win teams from down this way can beat you because we ball out with a different vibe. I would bet it is a local bragging rights thing for those teams in that area as BrianH1974 indicated. I would even oppose BoyzInBlue's notion that even the best Allegany County schools in recent time stood a chance. What type of ball players did they have? Ones who excelled out west and maybe had a little ability but never had the hoopers skill set. I keep in touch with a lot of folks who know the game, not just people in my stomping grounds but statewide and something's got to give up that way. The players just aren't equipped to play at the level it takes down here or the coaches are being out coached. It's something. One year, maybe it was bad luck but when you go back to 1993 it has to be considered a choke job year in and year out to keep failing as 20 win teams (and with teams you call good). They're nervous of the real ballers or keep using excuses, like missing shots instead of realizing that regular season success against dudes who don't ball like those in the metropolitan areas doesn't make you a contender. That's real talk until you actually win something with all those high hopes.
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