How does everyone think the bluegrass conference will fair this year? Lamoni lost a lot of last years team and got beat last night by Murray 56-40? Is Murray the team to beat this year? I've also heard word that the Diagonal is a much improved team this year with Jacob Taylor and co. I think the player of the conference will be Trey McHenry from Murray. Had a pretty decent game last night scoring 25 points! Will the Bluegrass represent at state this year? What's everyone's thoughts?
Bluegrass Conference??
- Thread starter MustangNation2014
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I think Murray, ACA, Diagonal and Grandview will the ones to fight for the top spot in the BGC. Grandview added Stubbs which puts them in the mix. Taylor, McHenry and Fisher will be top 3 players in the conference. Twin Cedars and Lamoni lost a lot.
ACA is the team to beat. Conference tournament will be fun as the teams are more balanced this year. Lamoni is not great. They need so game experience and maybe they'll get better, but early in the year will be tough for them.
Any team from here making it to state? I'd love to finally see Murray getting over the hump and playing in the Well after previous seasons with Halls and Scroggie getting close!
It's too early to tell and all depends on the pairings. Murray has to get better to have any shot though. Mt. Ayr and Murray will fall in the same district almost guaranteed and one played Lamoni significantly better.
Lamoni is gonna have a pretty off season.. Lost almost everyone and no more Deemer. Murray plays Mount Ayr later in the year guess we will see which team is better!
Murray gets Diagonal, Lenox, and Twin Cedars before break. That should be a good test to see where they are as a team. Best of luck to them.
I think that ACA and Diagonal are definitely the teams to beat in the Bluegrass this year. Murray has a bunch of young guys with little varsity experience suiting up. I think with ACA returning a good solid core with Fisher they have good intentions of being Conference champs. Diagonal is returning everyone from last year except their post that only played half the season before blowing out his knee. I think Taylor and Butler from Diagonal will consistently score 20 pts plus a game. We will see where Murray can rate themselves after there first big test this Friday against Diagonal.
If Murray can stop Taylor I feel they should win by 10+ Over diagonal. I guess we shall see as for Murray not having much varsity experience they only lost 2 starters off last years team in Kilmer and Rockhold. McHenry and Held returned with them two being Murray's best players I feel. Boles is a sophomore for them to he will be a ball player hopefully for them! Hope it's a good one tomorrow night!! Anyone got any prediction for Murray Diagonal game? I'll take Murray -65 Diagonal- 55 since I'm a Murray homer. Think it will be a close game for awhile but McHenry takes over late.
McHenry opened the season with a 31 point game against Lamoni last season and then he only scored 13 on Diagonal last year. If Im not mistaken Diagonal finished that game last year with only three players on the court and still only lost by 2. Taylor wasn't even one of them due to foul trouble. He had 30 points that game. I just don't think that Murray will be able to slow down the offensive attack of Diagonal shooters along with Taylor. Especially at Diagonal. It might be a little town with a little school but man that place gets loud and those fans love their basketball.
Will the refs be a factor in the game (Murray vs Diagonal)? Diagonal had someone foul out in most of their games last year and 4 players fouled out in this game last year alone.
Wow!! What a classic tonight in Diagonal!!! Murray -45 Diagonal- 42 McHenry- 13 points Held- 11 Simmons and Keller were huge on the boards for Murray as both had a combined 25 rebounds!! Simmons also had 12 points!! What a game!
Both teams were missing key starters. Would have been interesting to see the game played with everyone healthy. As it was, it was a fun game. Officiating was a little sketchy at times, but Diagonal can't blame the game on that. Missed three free throws in the final 5 minutes, and Murray made its free throws. There's the three-point difference right there.
That said, not sure Diagonal will shoot that poorly from the field again this year. Murray caught them on an off-night tonight, for sure. It's too bad they won't meet again, unless it happens in the conference tournament or postseason tournament. Would be fun to watch them play again.
That said, not sure Diagonal will shoot that poorly from the field again this year. Murray caught them on an off-night tonight, for sure. It's too bad they won't meet again, unless it happens in the conference tournament or postseason tournament. Would be fun to watch them play again.
Dont be so sold on the Mustangs. They were down 8 to Lamoni at half time and barely got by a bad 0-3 team, as Lamoni fouled the whole 4th quarter. Lamoni lost to Twin Cedars tonight. Otis Roby was a handful for the Demons. The conference will be alot tougher this year from top to bottom compared to last year. This is my pick on how the conference will finish out this year.
1.) Grandview
2.) ACA
3.) Murray
4.) Diagonal
5.) Twin Cedars ( 4th- 7th could be anyone)
6.) Mormon Trail
7.) Lamoni
8.) O-M
9.) Moulton
10.) ICA
11.) Melcher
12.) Seymour
13.) Moravia
1.) Grandview
2.) ACA
3.) Murray
4.) Diagonal
5.) Twin Cedars ( 4th- 7th could be anyone)
6.) Mormon Trail
7.) Lamoni
8.) O-M
9.) Moulton
10.) ICA
11.) Melcher
12.) Seymour
13.) Moravia
It was the first game of the year for Murray? Whose not gonna have some rusty spots at the start of the year especially with some new kids stepping up. Hopefully Murray will get boles back after Christmas break, was told he had mono. Don't forget either Murray plays some of there biggest games this year at home. Not trying to sound like Murray is the best team. Just saying I wouldn't sleep on them.
It was a very intense game like i said it would and the atmosphere was extremely insane! It was one hell of a game and i would say that the Refs were definitely the deciding factor. Taylor shot a corner three with 2 seconds left and was EXTREMELY fouled! McHenry untucked his jersey and you visibly tell he was pulling on his jersey as he was shooting. The game should have been settled in OT. This game was poorly officiated. It'll be interesting to watch these teams play again. I just hope it happens. Also the missing starters for both was a BIG key. Diagonal was playing without one of there best shooters and murray was playing without their best ball handler. Congrats to the Refs for winning the game. I think they need to read up on the rule book a little more.
Excuses... How many free throws did Diagonal miss down the stretch?? Not the refs fault they didn't make free throws. Instead you ruin a great played ball game by both teams with such a stupid comment! Smh
Bottom line is Diagonal had a chance to win the game many times on free throws and didn't make em.. Not the refs faults! Yes it should of been a foul but wasn't.. Make your free throws and you win. Murray did just that.
Hard to make free throws you don't get to shoot, wouldn't you say? My point is missing free throws earlier in the game doesn't justify a non-call. The game wasn't decided on one play though, so congrats to Murray on the win. They still have a lot to prove before I take them as a contender to make state, or even win the Bluegrass.
Rnk Team ( All ) ( Conf)
1 DM Grand View ( 2- 0) ( 2- 0)
2 Ankeny Christian ( 2- 0) ( 2- 0)
3 Bussey Twin Cedars ( 3- 1) ( 2- 0)
4 Murray ( 2- 1) ( 2- 1)
5 Diagonal ( 3- 1) ( 1- 1)
6 Mormon Trail ( 4- 1) ( 2- 1)
7 Moulton-Udell ( 1- 1) ( 1- 1)
8 Orient-Macksburg ( 1- 2) ( 1- 1)
9 Seymour ( 1- 3) ( 1- 2)
10 Lamoni ( 1- 3) ( 1- 2)
11 Moravia ( 1- 2) ( 0- 2)
12 WDM Iowa Christian ( 0- 2) ( 0- 2)
13 Melcher-Dallas ( 0- 4) ( 0- 2)
Friday Games-
Mormon Trail @ Ankeny Christian (B/G)
Diagonal @ Moravia (B/G)
Orient-Macksburg @ Grandview (B/G)
Lamoni @ Seymour (B/G)
Melcher-Dallas @ Iowa Christian (B/G)
Moulten-Udell @ Twin Cedars (B/G)
Saturday Games-
Ankeny Christian @ Madrid (G)
Grandview @ Collins-Maxwell-Baxter (B/G)
Albia @ Twin Cedars (B/G)
Orient-Macksburg @ Seymour (B/G)
Moravia @ Iowa Christian (B/G)
1 DM Grand View ( 2- 0) ( 2- 0)
2 Ankeny Christian ( 2- 0) ( 2- 0)
3 Bussey Twin Cedars ( 3- 1) ( 2- 0)
4 Murray ( 2- 1) ( 2- 1)
5 Diagonal ( 3- 1) ( 1- 1)
6 Mormon Trail ( 4- 1) ( 2- 1)
7 Moulton-Udell ( 1- 1) ( 1- 1)
8 Orient-Macksburg ( 1- 2) ( 1- 1)
9 Seymour ( 1- 3) ( 1- 2)
10 Lamoni ( 1- 3) ( 1- 2)
11 Moravia ( 1- 2) ( 0- 2)
12 WDM Iowa Christian ( 0- 2) ( 0- 2)
13 Melcher-Dallas ( 0- 4) ( 0- 2)
Friday Games-
Mormon Trail @ Ankeny Christian (B/G)
Diagonal @ Moravia (B/G)
Orient-Macksburg @ Grandview (B/G)
Lamoni @ Seymour (B/G)
Melcher-Dallas @ Iowa Christian (B/G)
Moulten-Udell @ Twin Cedars (B/G)
Saturday Games-
Ankeny Christian @ Madrid (G)
Grandview @ Collins-Maxwell-Baxter (B/G)
Albia @ Twin Cedars (B/G)
Orient-Macksburg @ Seymour (B/G)
Moravia @ Iowa Christian (B/G)
I have to give Diagonal props. They can't have more than 20 boys in their high school and have only 8 guys on the team.....yet they go 15-5.
Sure....the rest of the conference is small in numbers as well, but all at least double in size.
Sure....the rest of the conference is small in numbers as well, but all at least double in size.
Diagonal has some serious athletes in their Junior class. They are all smart players and have a lot of basketball I.Q. and work wonderful as teammates. Their major down fall is when they are off, they are off. However, when they are hitting, boy you better watch out because its going to rain. On another note I would strongly have to agree that ICA is the big surprise this year. Coming from winning 5 or 6 games last year to winning three times as many is pretty good. Im anticipating a good rematch in District semifinals for Diagonal and Murray. But first got to get through the first round.
How good will they be with out Butler next year? There are a lot of quality players in the conference that are on their way out the door at the end of the season as seniors, Roby, McHenry, Veach, Stansberry, and Wetterling. Diagonal should be right there in the top third of the conference next year....
Three teams left after second round of Districts...Diagonal, Murray & Grandview Christian...Diagonal plays Murray...I pick Diagonal in that one...Grandview plays Van Meter...I pick Grandview in that one...if GV wins, they probably will get beat by Colo in D11 final. If who ever wins in Diagonal-Murray game will lose to Earlham in D12 final...
Twin Cedars also still standing...win in OT over Keota...they play Sigourney next....Moulton-Udell moves on last night and plays Lynnville-Sully next...I don't see either making past next round.....
I think it was more about Van Meter and not ACA. Van Meter has been playing better and really grown as the season has wound down. Van Meter's top scorer sat most of the first half and still won pretty handedly. VM was fairly battle tested over the course of the season playing teams like Des Moines Christian, Panorama, and Woodward Academy who are all quite solid 2A teams as well as Earlham who is ranked top 10 in 1A. Perhaps it was just a matter of being the better team.
Of the teams left, I really think Diagonal has the best chance at reaching the substate final. I'd love to see them in the state tourney!!!
No doubt tomorrow night will be a heck of a game in Mount Ayr for Murray and Diagonal. If Boles and McHenry and Held play there best I think Murray has the advantage. The winner of this game has a tough match up with more then likely Earlham who is extremely good team this year. Would love to see Murray finally get over the hump and make it to state but there gonna have to go through some really good basketball teams. Go mustangs!
I agree no one from the Bluegrass will be making it to the well this year. Neither Murray nor Diagonal have the depth, firepower, or size to get past Earlham. However, it should be a good game tomorrow night between the Maroons and Mustangs in Mount Ayr. Pretty excited to watch the long awaited rematch after a pretty one sided officiated game in early December.
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