Thursday, March 11, 1999
Highlands meets its size match
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer contributor
There are ties between Highlands and Henderson County that reach beyond the basketball court. The Bluebirds and Colonels meet in the first round of the boys Sweet 16 state tournament at 2:30 p.m. today at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
You can see the Ohio River from the cities of Fort Thomas and Henderson places and both are near much larger cities (Henderson is about four miles south of Evansville, Ind.) and Henderson County football coach Tom Duffy had the same job at Highlands.
There are similarities on the court, too.
Both are senior-dominated clubs (Highlands starts five, Henderson County four), and both survived regional tournament scares. The Bluebirds squeaked past Holy Cross 60-56 in the first round of the Ninth Region tournament, while the Colonels needed double overtime to knock off Caldwell County in the first round of the Second Region tournament and one extra period to eliminate Madisonville-North Hopkins in the semifinals.
“I think it's fairly close,” Henderson County coach Phil Gibson said. “They've got a little strength on us, and we've got a couple of big kids.”
Henderson County (24-5) makes its first trip to the state tournament since 1996, when the Colonels reached the semifinals before losing to Ashland Paul Blazer. Highlands reached the 1997 finals and lost to defending state champion Scott County in the quarterfinals last year.
For one the few times this season, Highlands faces a team as tall as itself.
The Bluebirds have 6-foot-4 senior forward Jared Lorenzen and 6-6 senior forward Derek Smith, but the Colonels counter with 6-5 senior forward Brent Gibson (13 points, six rebounds per game), 6-4 junior forward Ervin Miller (10 points, four rebounds) and 6-5 senior center Scott Bannwart (six points, seven rebounds).
But the guards could determine who wins.
Henderson County senior Tim Barnes averaged 23 points in the regional tournament and 17 for the season.
“There's nobody up here as quick as him,” Highlands coach John Messmer said. “They play a lot of zone and trapping zone defense. We haven't seen that up here.”
Highlands (25-6) counters with senior Joe Herald (13.6 points per game, 50.4 field goal percentage), along with starter Ben Leftin and Noah Gibson and Matt Barone off the bench.
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