Two Win Thursday

This evening I was able to watch both the third installment of Bedlam hoops and the WC Lady Cards semifinal game...at the same time, from my living room. This was going great until both games got close late.

The Lady Cards led big early and looked dominant throughout the first half and most of the third quarter, but a half court shot by the other team to close the third quarter turned the momentum against them and they struggled to hold their lead through the fourth as a seasoned (and previously undefeated) Dexter squad rallied to within 4 before WC finished them off. This is the Lady Cards first trip to the final 4 (ever), it was good to see them respond well in a big arena and a big game. They showed poise late when it would have been easy to fold. The prevailing thought seems to have been that Dexter was the favorite to win the title, with them out, WC has a good chance of capturing it on Saturday. For $5 you can watch that game on the MSHSAA website (www.mshsaanetwork.com). While high school girls basketball may not sound like a good way to spend Saturday evening, you might be surprised how good these girls are. They run the court and move the ball faster than any high school girls team I've ever seen - and some boys teams for that matter.

The Cowboys had an uphill climb on their hands facing #7 OU who had beaten them twice (as recently as last Saturday) this season with this one coming on a "neutral" floor in Oklahoma City - a solid 15 miles from the OU campus. The Cowboys kept it close throughout and even surged ahead during the second half behind some solid play by Byron Eaton and key three pointers by Keiton Page (who I can't believe is playing D-1 basketball). I honestly didn't think they could finish it and were fortunate that Blake Griffin missed a good look from deep and then a tip from the guy whose name I don't know, but he wears sleeves (yes, sleeves) rimmed out. The controversy was that in that whole final sequence, the clock didn't start until after the tip. After review the officials correctly declared the game over, having determined that the 2.3 seconds on the clock should have expired. What would have been bad is if the first shot had missed and the tip gone in. I think they'd have allowed the tip based on what happened, but I'd love to see someone put that footage on a clock and see if he got the tip off in time. Thankfully it doesn't matter in this case. I'll pass on the stab about checking to see where the clock-keeper went to school.

I have heard it theorized that 2 wins in the Big 12 tourney might be enough to get OSU into the NCAA tournament as an at large team. I wouldn't count on that, I'm sure there's a 9th C-USA team that needs in or something. I do think this win probably opens the possibility of a bid. It is nice to see them close a season playing well, rather than limp through the last few games, lay an egg at the Big 12 and then cry about not making the dance. We'll see what happens.