The Panthers have made it back to the Sweet Sixteen, by doing away with Morrisville State and then frying the dangerous, 16th ranked AlMags, with a terrific defensive performance and cruising to the finish line. The Boys opened their bid to get back to the Final Four by handling Morrisville pretty much wire-to-wire and winning by 20. Although Mo'ville made a brief bid when they cut the margin to minus six at the half, they didn't get any closer and there weren't any fretful moments after the break. Pepin was more than packed for Ray Askew, Darius Watson and their running mates, and The Boys took control early on with a 15-4 run, and AlMag never recovered. Watson had a goosegg for his efforts in the first half, courtesy of a major lockdown job by NolanT. Frustration had already set in on the AlMag side, and after being up a dozen at the break, The Boys widened it to as much as 23 with 6:00 left, erasing all doubt that the night belonged to The Panthers. Without Watson, Askew couldn't overcome the offensive punch that The Boys threw at them. And the Panther Faithful screamed themselves into delirium when 'TheBigDog' punctuated the proceedings with a pair of slams.
Not lost in the madhouse that was Pepin were the great efforts of Jensen, NateB. 'LongJack' and Dylan, 'The Smoothie'. It is pretty clear that both Jensen, with his defense and boardwork on such a formidable guy as Askew, and NateB., with several eye-popping plays, have really come on in the last month. To my mind they've crossed the bridge and can see the game unfolding at their game speed. That is a big transition. 'LongJack' also has stepped up what he can bring on 'D', and certainly will contribute key minutes if the Panther Express is going to keep rolling towards Salem. And Dylan, only a frosh, started to act like he's been playing this game for longer than his years. Given that all four have the chance to get two more tourney games under their belts can only help their poise at big moments, particularly when you realize that four tourney games are a lifetime of experience.
Tomorrow night, The Boys and everybody else are on the endangered species list. An 'O' that's out of sync, a few ill-timed heaves, being late to cover out on the arc, coupled with a turnover or three at crunch time and you're, in Bill Murray's vernacular, "toast"! That's this time of year. Tomorrow is the next possession or the last possession. If you can't fill the bill, you're ready for the "Spring Todd League" ('todds' were the beers that the losers of those games had to buy). From my perch up here on the porch, it appears that 'The Boys' can control their fate, avoid going the way of the dodo, and take care of business against Scranton. Scranton lives and dies with its G.-oriented 'O'. Our G. rotation should be up to the task on defense, and it doesn't look like Scranton's got enough of an inside presence to bottle up Ryan or Peter Lynch. Add 'LongJack' to the inside, and they're not taking it to the hole. Our depth, discussed earlier, adds a dimension they don't appear to have. And because they are G. reliant, it's my take that 'TheBigDog' and Lynch will have it their way down low. Despite the bigness of the moment, Scranton is do-able and gets us to Saturday and the Elite Eight.
And let's thank the ncaa gurus for a little payback. Pepin will be rockin', but TheLordJeffNation is on the road at Franklin and Marshall, with MIT in the same building. I can see the tears dripping down Lord Jeffrey's long, snooty nose. Such a beautiful sight! But don't count them out, they're tough and probably nearly as resilient as The Boys. On our side we've got the home cookin' and it's an advantage for us because I see EasternConn advancing to meet us, over Cabrini. Both teams favor defense, and Eastern has in Nedwick, their big scorer, the LEC's D-POY. Welcome to Pepin. Meet Nolan T. If we get a standoff in that matchup,it's in our favor, because they rely a lot more on his scoring than The Boys need Nolan's contribution. They've got an inside guy, we've got two, in Ryan and Peter, maybe three. A part of their run to date has been fueled by Salzillo, a soph who's now 9-11 in the tourney from 3's. Welcome to Pepin, I'd like you to meet Joey, or Jensen or Nate. No more squeezing free treys off. They've gotten big 'W's, some on the road, but split with WesConn, now done, and lost by a point at Wesleyan. Enough markers point to The Boys. My take is we'll take advantage of our building, override their defense and move on to the ride down Blue Ridge for a St. Patrick's Day (always a holiday at my house) celebration. Keep the faith.
Whatever turns out, The Boys have made this another historic year, and it will be the Ryan and the seniors last homestand. Know they'll make it memorable, and hope there's some minutes for Winslow and Carl in it, before we bring down the curtain. PepinTickets were totally gone by 12:05 today. Hope you know a friendly scalper. I've heard there'll be lamaze sessions tomorrow starting at 4:30 for the nervous nellies. And if we advance, rather than joining the fans for warm-ups at Two Borthers on Saturday at 5 p.m., there'll be another session for their breathing. What will they do if we get to Salem?
See you at Pepin tomorrow, and if you got shut out, The Boys will be on the small screen. Thought if d3hoops was doing the game yours truly might get a cameo as a color guy, but it's a Midd video-cast so that's not happening. And remember..."down Bobo's ski jump, past the Breadloaf fireplaces, off 'The Alibi' keg, and over Wendell's skates, nothin' but net". Be well. Clubbo.
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