GRC awaits Bracken in first round of region
Published 8:13 pm Monday, February 25, 2019
- The Cardinals will face the Bracken County Polar Bears in the first round of the 10th Region tournament Tuesday at Montgomery County. (Photo by Micah Satterly)
The 24-7 George Rogers Clark Cardinals await the challenge of the 14-17 Bracken County Polar Bears Tuesday in the first round of the 10th Region tournament at Mason County.
The Polar Bears finished the regular season as the runner-up of the 39th District and will be the first meeting between the two teams this season.
GRC has had time to regroup after an intense double overtime victory over Bourbon County last Thursday in the 40th District championship and head coach Josh Cook said his team’s focus for the region tournament has been great.
“Our focus has been really good,” he said. “Our guys understand it’s about the journey here. We want to take it one game at a time and keep our eyes set on the big goals. We don’t want to listen to outside stuff, and we want to focus on playing our best basketball.”
Cook said the team has not looked too far ahead and has been focused on one game at a time.
“This time of year, you want to put together a game plan and not overdo it,” he said. “We’ve watched film a couple different times and a lot of focus has been on us correcting our mistakes, tweaking and fine tuning those things to try to get ourselves ready for whatever the game brings.”
Cook said the pressure comes from the mental aspect more than the performance and is trying to keep his team level-headed.
“We do a lot more shooting and a lot of it is mental at this point,” heh said. “We don’t want overthink it. Our practices somewhat stay the same, but we’ve cut back on some things to relieve pressure.”
Cook said his Cards are beyond ready to make their dreams and goals set at the beginning of the season unfold.
“Our kids are extremely excited,” he said. “They’ve talked about the dream and vision and have tried to see themselves out there. You’ve got to start with a vision, and they’ve been talking about the dream all season. They’ve got to live in the moment and give it their best. If you come out with a win, you advance and that’s what our guys are wanting to do.”
Tipoff against Bracken County will be 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Mason County.
