More than a few eyebrows were raised at Friday night's First Region girls semifinals when Calloway County began the fourth quarter with a 35-point lead ... and kept up their fullcourt pressure on a Ballard Memorial club that was clearly outclassed.
Apparently, Calloway coach Scott Sivills took exception to some comments from Ballard's Kevin Estes after his team played sloppily in a win over Hickman County.
“I think we can match up with Calloway," Estes said. "We may be giving up a couple of inches at some positions, but I think our guard play can match up with theirs.”
Later in the week, the Murray Ledger and Times seemed to interpret them as some sort of bulletin-board material for the Lady Lakers ... but I don't see it. Estes' remarks were far from inflammatory, and weren't intended to denigrate Calloway in any way. They were made more for his team's benefit, which was coming off a subpar performance and was a heavy underdog against the defending regional champions.
I know, because the comments were made to me.
If nothing else, it seemed like an unnecessary risk. Calloway had already lost one starter, Meagan Starks, to an injury, and running key players back into the game with a 40-point lead with three minutes left doesn't seem like sound strategy with the championship game less than 24 hours away.
Suffice it to say, the move didn't win Calloway any friends and more support for tonight's regional final. It was quite the buzz among coaches, administrators and fans for the rest of the evening. It might be a couple of years before the Lady Bombers are in position to repay the favor, but I suspect they will remember it for at least that long.
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