Bowman Memorial Classic

2008-12-18

I traveled out to the Bowman Memorial Invitational tonight. Lynn Camp coaches Anthony Pennington and Richard Jones have really got the gym looking nice. On the far end of the wall they have the former Bowman champions. I didn’t realize this was the 13th year for the girls. The wall is very impressive.

This is the sixth boys’ tournament. Lynn Camp has won four of the first five tournaments. Very impressive. It looks like they are on track to win number five as they beat Harlan 84-71. Don’t let the (71) fool you. The score on the KHSAA website and scoreboard at the end of the game was 84-70, but the Lynn Camp scorer admitted missing a three-pointer.

Lynn Camp was a very impressive team, at times. The campers should have beaten the Green Dragons by 30 points. To Harlan’s credit, they are a scrappy little team, but not heavy on the talent. Most of their talent looks young. Sometimes they just didn’t look like a team on the floor. Looks like some selfish play to me.

But, the same can be said for Lynn Camp. There were some guys taking shots when shots didn’t need to be taken. They would run out to a 18-20 point lead and just blow it with silly play, taking bad shots and throwing the ball away. But, I can see why Pennington’s team will be dangerous all season long. TALENT!!!

In the first quarter, Lynn Camp ran out to a 21-9 lead behind the scoring of Brad Bargo and Jonah Mitchell. Those are two talented ball players. Lynn Camp went on a 13-0 run and it was all over.

in the second quarter, the Wildcats led 27-11 before letting Harlan back in the game. Harlan went on a 15-10 run (mostly off Lynn Camp turnovers and poor shot selection). Lynn Camp led by only seven at the half, 40-33.

Pennington’s team started the third quarter on an 18-7 start and should have blown the game wide open. I was really impressed with Siler, the freshman guard. He hit three long shots in the quarter. While Sydney Wagner was getting in foul trouble, his “Little” brother looked good. He is going to be a “player” for the Campers. Lynn Camp again fooled around and let Harlan back in the game, but the ‘Cats did lead at the end of the third quarter, 65-47.

Lynn Camp outscored Harlan 7-0 in the first three and a half minutes of the fourth quarter and led by 23 points (74-51). There was a play that I really like when Harlan tried to trap Bargo and he saw a streaking Mitchell heading down the floor near mid-court. Mitchell took it to the hole with a lot of confidence, splitting right through two defenders and put the ‘Cats ahead 80-58.

Mmmm, something happen in that two 2:36 though. Maybe Lynn Camp played too over-confident, but they LET Harlan outscore them 13-4. They missed 10 shots when they didn’t really need to take most of them. But, that’s what sometimes happens when you get a big lead.

I can say I left impressed with Lynn Camp, but I can also see why they have struggled in the early part of the season.

Mitchell had 25 points to lead the Wildcats while Bargo added 18 (he got tried down the stretch but looked good getting those 18 points). Tyler Wagner had 17.

I’d be very shocked if Lynn Camp doesn’t win this tournament. Check the News-Journal next week for further scoring.