[Gridiron_Raid]

Scratch was right and I disagreed with him until i seen them shoot the lights out against corbin. They were definitely the hottest team in the region coming into the week and continued throughout. They made the shots when it mattered late and matched the physical play.

The game was a blood bath. I wanted to let them play but lord that was a little over the top. Anyone in that arena would agree they let those boys do anything they wanted. Great hustle by both teams.

I think Jeff Davis is the best coach in the region cause individually he has not ever had the BEST talent on the roster.Today he did. He had superman. He had the better team. He had the lead most of the game. He had the ball with 2 minutes to go and didn’t get a shot off. He had multiple chances to draw up a play for a good shot. Never happened there wasn’t one good look in the last 4 minutes plus overtime. Down 3 they wasted 20 seconds and shot a layup. So many turnovers. Bad Coaching Performance.

However I do not give all the credit for the turnaround to Valentine. I give it to the North Laurel Guards. The supporting cast. I called them out a few weeks ago and they shut me up. Jervis was knockdown. Rawlings looked like a prime Ray allen catch and shoot. Elza was a go to bucket. They were completely out of sync on offense cause plays were just nonexistent but they created shots and fought for rebounds. It was AAU ball and they straight up wanted it more. The players out hustled and did what it takes to win.

This is undoubtedly the best win in the history of Valentine. He deserves credit for letting the boys play how they should. Bombs away. Went away from his normal routine and played them the best way to win. I know one coach who used to coach for north that forced his players to play his way and it resulted in them practicing baseball now. He’s a 3 time region winner. Even though he’s my version of Calapari for HS basketball talent wise, when you win you win. Congrats. I’m a jaguar fan until the end of march.

He got the most open bracket in years for a 13th team. He should find himself playing on saturday here in a few weeks at rupp.

"Letting the boys play how they should. Bombs away" and scored 44 points in 36 min of basketball... really seems like bombs away. Do not be surprised when the Bobcats give them a good game, do not know if they can win but would not be surprised.

Every team that lost in the earlier rounds decided to change the gameplan and go away from what they did all season. North decided to still play the shoot when open style of play rather than drive in on mabe every possession. Yes they scored 49 but had 43 in 26 minutes of basketball before it became a war. They had multiple threes every quarter and won long rebounds on the misses. All the role players were willing to let it fly not just the top 2 guys. They played to their strengths. Rawlings is a catch and shoot warrior, if he had got to this tournament and decided to drive and finish on mabe they would lose. He didn’t. He pulled the trigger countless times behind the college line and made a fair share of them. The team that attempted the most threes in this tournament every game won. Valentine could’ve pulled a sizemore and shot 5 threes in 30 minutes. But he didn’t. And they won so congrats cards.