It is hard to imagine the beginning of the basketball season without plenty of tournaments, especially over Thanksgiving. And that is what I am enjoying this weekend in Baltimore, Maryland.
It is the 3rd Annual Provident Pride of Maryland Basketball Tournament with the final two days being hosted at Johns Hopkins University.
I am court-side for all eight games over the next two days, including a live broadcast of “Hoopsville” during the championship game Sunday night.
Today’s (Saturday) schedule is:
1:30 – Goucher vs. Villa Julie
3:30 – Washington vs. Johns Hopkins
6:00 – Salisbury vs. McDaniel
8:00 – St. Mary’s vs. Hood
This tournament has used the JP Morgan Chase Tournament in Rochester as a blue print and should give many of us a good sense of what teams in the Mid-Atlantic Region are the ones to watch this season. And as Pat Cummings mentioned on Hoopsville last Sunday, it will give us a great way to compare teams and their opponents for the rest of the season.
I will hopefully give many of you can’t make these games an idea of what is going on throughout the weekend!
The first game is about half-way through the first have and it is Goucher 14… Villa Julie 11.
Small crowd on hand right now, but people continue to come in the door through out the first-half. Also interesting to see so many area coaches taking advantage of this tournament to scout teams. Though from my point of view, it is strange to see Coach Jeff Gamber and his son, Dean, here… and know they aren’t scouting Goucher! (A first since the early ’90’s, I think!)
Goucher and Villa Julie have a lot of youth on their teams and it is showing in the first half. Goucher is playing slightly more agressive, while Coach Adams is mixing things up to shake-up Goucher. This may be a very exciting game in the 2nd half.
At the half of today’s first game, Villa Julie has comeback to take the lead 36-35. The Mustangs had lead by as many as three late in the first-half.
Goucher is struggling with the zone defense of Villa Julie and the Gophers have also gotten sloppy with the ball.
Villa Julie seems to have found their legs and have taken over the aggressiveness in the game!
Halfway through the second half… and it turning into a battle.
Goucher started off the second half as bad as they finished the first half… allowing Villa Julie to get up by at least six early in the half. But Goucher has some how found their game again and have gotten more agressive again… they now lead 58-55.
However… VJC isn’t just sitting by… they are still playing zone defense, but are extending outside the three-point line looking for steals.
The Goucher/Villa Julie game has been a game of waves so far. Each team going through runs to take the lead, followed by the other team making its own run.
Goucher currently leads 71-70 with 1:30 left in the game.
Another note, when I mentioned there were lots of area coaches… I wasn’t saying that loosely. I see at least three or four coaches from teams NOT in this tournament, while there are certainly plenty of other coaches from the tournament watching on.
Remember, there are FOUR CAC teams playing in this tournament (Hood, Salisbury, St. Mary’s, & Villa Julie), THREE in the Centnennial (Johns Hopkins, McDaniel, and Washington), along with Goucher (Landmark). The only team not playing this year would have represented a fourth conference: Frostburg St. in the AMCC.
WOW… what and end to the second half!
Goucher took a three-point lead when Amir Hakim drove the lane on a great pass from the outside and hit the layout (while being assaulted on the way in, but no call).
Villa Julie then quickly answered on the other end of the court with a three-pointer to tie.
Goucher then lost the ball out of bounds on their side of the court with 06.4 seconds remaining.
Villa Julie ball with a chance to win it!
Villa Julie turns the ball over on a double-dribble viloation with 1.2 seconds remaining.
Goucher throws it the length of the court, but it gets tipped away.
Overtime in the first game of eight this weekend at Johns Hopkins!
2:15 left in the OT… VJC leads 77-73.
Goucher isn’t playing as composed as they did late in the 2nd Half.
By the way, this is Goucher’s second-straight overtime game in the Provident Pride Tournament. They lost to Salisbury by two in OT on Tuesday in the first round of the tournament.
dmac,
If I were a coach/player, I’d prefer playing a nonleague opponent in the 1st round like Washington/JHU playing Hood/St.Mary’s instead of each other.
Ronk
Too much Mustangs in overtime… as VJC wins 89-81.
They will play in the 5th place game tomorrow at 2 PM vs. the winner of Washington or Johns Hopkins.
Goucher will play in the 7th place game at 12 PM against the loser of the same game.
Next up… that game: Washington vs. Johns Hopkins
Ronk – this is actually the SECOND round. All teams are promised they won’t play a conference opponent in the first-round, but after that its up in the air due to who wins and losses.
It was actually, probably, easier last year since there were only three CAC teams in this tournament :).
Game 2 of the day about to tip-off.
Should be interesting to see how JHU is this year after losing so much talent and scoring from last year (they are certainly a bit smaller).
And Washington… no size inside and some way, no shooting outside.
We shall see!
Well… that was a quick half… mainly thanks to a lack of scoring.
The game is tied at 19 between Washington and JHU. It was tied at 2 until about 12:30 left in the half.
Washington is using as much of the clock as they can while JHU is pushing it, but just can’t finish – they are shoointg 25% from the floor right now.
Ok, that makes more sense.
So far in the second half… Hopkins is playing much better. They have opened up a 40-24 lead with 13:33 left in the game. That is a 21-5 run to start the half.
Hopkins is shooting much better from the floor (now at 45% for the game) and running much better on offense.
Washington is trying to chip back into the Hopkins lead.
With 4:50 left in the game… the Blue Jays lead the Mustangs 59-48.
Hopkins is certainly the better team… but Washington simply won’t quit fighting and is being very agressive on defense (man-to-man all the way to the mid-line).
Well… not to many people’s surprise… but Hopkins holds on to win 69-52.
Hopkins is certainly not as good as last year, but I don’t think anyone expected them to be. They will fight and if they are hot outside, they will be tough to beat. But a good team who has any inside play will cause problems.
Washington was outsized and that will be a problem all year. Look for the Shoremen to be a nuisance… but won’t be competing for a conference title, I am sure.
Next game up… Salisbury vs. McDaniel.
It should be a pretty good game. Salisbury is rebuilding a bit and beat Goucher in OT to get to this game.
McDaniel is coming off a surprisingly very good season… but how much were they riding the emotions of the sudden death of their coach.
This game will tell a lot… and we don know the CAC will be represented in the championship game no matter what (since St. Mary’s is playing Hood in the final game today).
McDaniel is certainly playing much better basketball than Salisbury.
The Green Terror leads 25-7 with 6:25 left in the first half. Salisbury continues to lose the ball on offense while McDaniel is shooting FAR better (40% to 13%).
At the half of our third game here today… it’s McDaniel 33 – Salisbury 13… yes only 13!
The Seagulls are shooting only 18% for the game, so far… and have turned the ball over 11 times! I know Salisbury is rebuilding after losing Ray Williams and others last year… but this is not a good performance in this game!
Halfway through the second half… and while Salisbury is trying to scrap their way back into this game… they are running out of gas. They were able to score some quick points to start the half… but have gone cold since.
55-24 with 10:16 left… McDaniel leading.
It’s been a theme today… ugly basketball.
McDaniel beat Salisbury 65-49, but while McDaniel won easily, Salisbury helped with some bad basketball.
McDaniel on offense seem to do what ever they wanted… while Salisbury’s aggressive defense was TOO aggressive.
Salisbury did chip into the large lead… but only because McDaniel wasn’t going to be dumb on defense with a big lead.
Next up… Hood vs. St. Mary’s.
Halfway through the first half between St. Mary’s and Hood… and this is a pretty good game.
For Hood, Gutekunst and Junghans are certainly playing well.
For SMC, Lesesne is the top player for the Seahawks.
A problem for SMC is going to be that Junghans and Gutekunst are already playing well… stopping them late is going to be very difficult now.
31-23 Hood with 8:00 left in the 1st half.
Since I posted… Hood has shown it is the better team.
47-33 at the half.
Hood has really gotten going on offense while SMC is struggling to keep up.
Interesting move here by SMC’s head coach Chris Haney… he just subbed out the entire starting five with 16:50 left in the 2nd half.
Granted the score is 56-37… but there is a lot of time remaining. We shall see how long he sticks with this plan. I think there are guys who haven’t played a minute in this game on the floor for SMC.
Well… call the experiment with the bench over.
SMC’s starters are now back in the game with 10:58 left… the score… 66-46.
So the experiment didn’t hurt… but it didn’t help!
SMC is trying to fight back… but hasn’t been able to cut it to less than 13.
SMC needs to stay composed… they are starting to lose it emotionally… and that is causing them to make bad decisions and nearly got them a few techs.
SMC is trying to make this close… it has been within 9 points – now 11 with under a minute to play.
SMC just hit a layup and got the foul called… so it’s back to 9 points with 54.3 seconds remaining!
OK… so SMC certainly made the ending interesting in a rather uninteresting game.
The Seahawks cut it to 7 several times in the last minute, thanks in part to Hood suddenly deciding in the final minutes to not play any defense.
But ultimately, Hood wins the final game tonight 108-96.
That makes the schedule for tomorrow:
12:00 PM – Goucher vs. Washington (7th Place Game)
2:00 PM – Villa Julie vs. Johns Hopkins (5th Place Game)
4:30 PM – Salisbury vs. St. Mary’s (3rd Place Game)
6:30 PM – Hood vs. McDaniel (Championship Game)
While today’s games ended up being blowouts or unexciting… I hope tomorrow’s games will be the opposite. I certainly think the championship between Hood and McDaniel should be very good.
I will be back for all four games… including Hoopsville during the championship game (don’t forget to tune in!)… and will blog again for your reading pleasure :).
Well… I am back for the final day of the Provident Pride of Maryland Tournament… and watching the 7th place game between Washington and Goucher.
It is not a pretty game, as many would imagine in a 7th place game this early in the season.
Goucher turned the ball over about 8 times in the first six minutes of the game and are not playing togther in any stretch of the imagination.
Washington is simply scrappy… but have missed plenty of layups and other easy and open shots.
Its 34-20 Washington who – despite their shooting problems – are playing much better than Goucher. The Gophers look like they have never played basketball before and aren’t listening to each other, let alone their coaches.
WOW… its not often you see a half end with BOTH coaches yelling at their teams!
Ugly finish to an ugly game, so far.
Both teams have combined for 35 turnovers in just 20 minutes of basketball.
36-25 Washington up on Goucher – HALFTIME
Goucher started the 2nd half on an at least a 22-0 run… and Washington went nine minutes without scoring a basket.
With 7:08 left… Goucher has a 52-46 lead.
Well… apparently if Goucher is involved in the Provident Pride Tournament this season… the game must go to overtime!
Goucher lost its composure late and Washington SOME how rallied to tie the game. Goucher also lost the game on the free-throw line hitting only about half of their free throws in the closing minutes.
The game is tied at 64 and overtime has started!
What I meant to asl say was Goucher has now played into overtime in each of their three games in this tournament. They lost the previous two.
Well… if Goucher goes into an overtime game… they are going to lose that game, apparently.
Washington wins 74-73. Goucher just once again came apart in the end of the regulation and in OT.
By the way, Goucher’s three straight OT’s ties a Division III all-time record for consecutive OT games. And Goucher is the only team to lose all three of those games.
Good battle in the second game so far between VJC and JHU. I honestly haven’t seen as much as I would like as I continue to set up for Hoopsville tonight… but with 1:49 left in the 1st half… it is JHU 32, VJC 31.
Oh… and VJC brought their cheerleaders!
At the half… JHU 35 VJC 33
I haven’t blogged a lot in this second game and I apologize. Been busy with working out the kinks of the broadcast tonight!
However… we are now in our second overtime in our second game of the day.
Hopkins and Villa Julie tied at 56 at the end of regulation while VJC had a chance to win it at the last second.
This second overtime is definetly pushing the start times of the other games back!
Great ending to this one.
Hopkins got a lay-up to take the one-point lead… but missed the free-throw.
Hopkins then got the ball back and hit another lay-up to take a three point lead with five seconds remaining.
VJC got the shot off at the buzzer from the 3-point line… and the ball rolled in and out of the basket.
Hopkins wins 62-61.
Game three was supposed to start in minutes… it won’t! The last two games are at least 30 minutes behind schedule now – LOVE IT!
We are on the air with Hoopsville now… while the third place game looks to wrap up.
St. Mary’s leads 88-78 with 52.2 left in the game.
Message us here or email or IM if you want to ask questions for the show!
Enjoyed the interview “Provident Pride”!
Thank you, sir!