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Icoach wrote:Portage and BC are better than Tussey. Tussey will not be able to handle either teams' guards. Blairsville will beat Univ. of BG, unless they get twice as many free throw attempts. Blairsville plays McCort tonight. That will be a good test for Blairsville, not really that McCort and BG are same kind of teams, but more about playing in the McCort environment. Should be a good game.

You were right it was a very good game !!!

LBJHOOPS123 wrote:

Icoach wrote:Portage and BC are better than Tussey. Tussey will not be able to handle either teams' guards. Blairsville will beat Univ. of BG, unless they get twice as many free throw attempts. Blairsville plays McCort tonight. That will be a good test for Blairsville, not really that McCort and BG are same kind of teams, but more about playing in the McCort environment. Should be a good game.

I think last nights game between Portage and North Star confirms what I thought all along. They just have not played the schedule other A teams have. North Star 59 - Portage 25 and it wasn't even that close, 47-18 going into 4th qtr.

I think last nights game between Portage and North Star confirms what I thought all along. They just have not played the schedule other A teams have. North Star 59 - Portage 25 and it wasn't even that close, 47-18 going into 4th qtr.

Portage in down two starters…..their two best guards….one with a concussion and the other with an ankle…..I do agree that they are not as strong as BG, BC, and Blairsville, but still a decent 4 or 5.

districtsixhoops wrote: I think last nights game between Portage and North Star confirms what I thought all along. They just have not played the schedule other A teams have. North Star 59 - Portage 25 and it wasn't even that close, 47-18 going into 4th qtr.

There is no doubt that Portage isn't as good or the same quality contender as they've been the past few seasons. They pretty much have ZERO inside presence now with the McCabe girl at UPJ and rely all on running their 4 guard system, trapping and living and dying by the three on offense. However last night is NOT a good indicator on how dangerous they might be in the playoffs. When your two best players who average around 20pts a piece and are the key cogs on the press don't play, you can't take anything away from that game last night. Hopefully the two young ladies get healthy very soon and they can get back on track for the playoffs. They're not on Blairsville, or BG's level. However everyone else I believe they can hang with any night.

Obviously D6hoops is from the other side of the mountain and only reads box scores. I wasn't able to attend the game last night in Boswell but I got the DL from a couple of Portage fans that attended. Our Lady Mustangs were behind the 8-ball from the get go. Our second leading scorer was out, a role player, reserve got hurt in the JV game, and then our leading scorer goes down the first few minutes of the first quarter. Just a bad night for our ladies.

I did attend the first game in mid-December when our Mustangs hosted the Cougars and it was a great game. NS won 46-40 and it was a battle. If we're at full strength last night, it would've been another classic, but it wasn't meant to be.

Blairsville and BG are a bit above everyone else in single A, as they should be this year. Portage and BC are right on their heels. This should be a very interesting and competitive playoff year in single A.

districtsixhoops wrote:

Portage Alum wrote:Mirror's Fab Five (Girls)

D6-9 Class AAAA/AAA

1. State College
2. Forest Hills
3. Hollidaysburg
4. Altoona
5. Juniata

D5-6 Class AA

1. Bellwood
2. McCort
3. Westmont
4. North Star
5. Everett

D5-6 Class A

1. Guilfoyle
2. Blairsville
3. Tussey Mountain
4. Portage
5. Carroll

Saw that. I don’t include teams outside District 6. If I were to do so and to combine classes like AM does I wouldn’t have Forest Hills in front of Hollidaysburg or Altoona. The schedules played are totally different. North Star and Everett very deserving of their rating in AA. I don’t agree with their A rankings. I don’t have a problem with first three but after that I think they need to look who these teams have played. JV gave Bellwood a very good game and have played a better schedule to date than Portage, IMO. Bishop Carroll has beaten Westmont, Tyrone and Central with their only loss to Blairsville. Those wins are much better than anything JV or Portage have. Homer Center only has a couple losses and one of them a two point loss to Tussey. I just don’t think Portage’s schedule stacks up right now. I don’t think the Mirror does their homework like they used to.

Just noticed this and felt the need to respond not to the disagreement but to the comment that the Mirror doesn't do its homework like we used do.

Agree that Carroll might have had more quality wins when this was published, but it also had a 40-point loss to Blairsville. Portage and Carroll had common opponents and their scores against them were very, very similar. Carroll beat Johnstown by 24 and Penn Cambria by 12. Portage beat Johnstown by 20 and Penn Cambria by 15. That by itself should indicate they are of similar caliber. And, while Portage hasn't played as many top teams as Carroll, it has absolutely dominated the teams it has played.

So, I think it's a matter of opinion rather than an indication that our staff isn't looking at this stuff thoroughly.