Rapid Reaction: Central Hardin vs Daviess County
The 5th Annual Nathan McCurry Classic at John Hardin high school featured a loaded field with quality games. The second game of the day featured the Bruins of Central Hardin High school taking on the Panthers of Daviess County. The game featured a late rally by Daviess that fell just short and ended with a tough win by Central Hardin. Here are some quick reactions from the game.
1. Central Hardin’s Jay Hobbs has college potential. Hobbs has great size on the wing at 6’7 but didn’t get nearly enough touches on offense to suit me. Hobbs finished in transition and knocked down some perimeter jumpers and made his free throws in a very efficient game but probably didn’t get enough shots. Jacob is a quarterback as well and it will be interesting to track his development and see which sport he winds up playing in college.
2. Daviess County has a lot of depth and no true star. The Panthers are pretty good too. They have 6 players averaging between 7 and 17 points per game and are balanced. In the 3 games I’ve seen them this year, I’ve seen standout performances from a different player each time out. Because of their depth, Coach Hayden’s team is among the favorites to win the 3rd region. But they could also lose in the 9th district semifinals and not even make the regional.
3. Central Hardin Sophomore PG Gavin George is really good in the open floor. The floor general for the Bruins is quick and doesn’t appear to get rattled. If anything, he needs to slow down a little bit so he can set his teammates up a little better without throwing bullet passes at them. George is a player to track as his career moves ahead.
4. Central Hardin’s length really bothered DC. Throughout the game the Panthers struggled with the length of Central Hardin. While the team isn’t overly athletic, they are long enough to cause problems. Especially when they were playing various zone defenses. Because of that, Daviess experienced several scoring droughts that would eventually be the difference in the game.
5. Both teams are well coached. Matt Nickell (Central Hardin) and Neil Hayden (Daviess County) both stayed level headed in the face of adversity and never stopped coaching their kids positively. Neither coach complained too much about calls that went against them and both teams played a clean game that really could have gone either way at the end. Both coaches do a great job with their teams and should be commended for it.