Our District 11 title match preview is up over at The Mothership. Check it out.
More required reading for today comes from the venerable Pat Dailey at the Branson Daily News. He’s got a recap of the Branson Pirates’ win over Reeds Spring, as well as a look at Tate Unruh’s 3-point shooting effort against the Wolves.
More thoughts on this one after the jump…
Unruh is a wildcard in tonight’s game. He is a dead-eye shooter who set a new 3-point shooting record at the Blue and Gold Tournament this year. He’s also a bit on the diminutive side, listed at 6-foot even in the tourney program. He needs help getting his shot off and Republic gave him no space in their meeting last week. The result was an 8-point outing for Unruh.
But you do so at the risk of letting another Pirate hurt you. That Pirate was Mike Wiebe, who scored 25. Zach Fletcher did some damage, too, with 14 points. Wiebe will no doubt be a defensive focus tonight, and don’t be surprised if RHS coach Denny McHenry puts his son, Mitch, on Wiebe some. Despite a height disparity (Wiebe is 6-foot-6, McHenry 5-foot-11), McHenry might be the Tiger best suited to harass Wiebe. The RHS senior has the speed to check Wiebe on the perimeter and the strength to push him out of position on the block. Branson might eventually figure out how to get over the top of McHenry – who is a great athlete with the hops to challenge such shots – but they could slow down the junior swing man long enough to hold his point total down.
That will be one of the chess matches to watch tonight between a couple of great coaches. Branson’s Randy Bishop used his trademark 1-3-1 against Republic last week and has Denny guessing he’ll go back to the well. But will he? Or will Bishop throw man-to-man or a zone or junk defense at Republic? Keep an eye on the Pirates’ alignment tonight. If they zone, look for Republic to attack with dribble penetration – Trenton Laffoon is a likely candidate, as is McHenry – or get Matt Featheringill or Cory Dummit to soft spots on the baseline to get some lay-ups. Just don’t expect Republic to settle for 3-pointers again tonight.
The atmosphere should be electric tonight down in Branson. Expect a full house tonight.
We’ll check back in later if any other story lines surface, or if the game is postponed. It’s after 11 a.m. now and still no word on that front, so I think it’s looking good for tonight. Keep your fingers crossed.
–Jeff
Now listening to: Devendra Banhart – “Heard Somebody Say”
