Joe Bline Quotations

I think either of us would have been lying if we said we weren't looking (ahead) to this game. This has been a game everyone has been looking forward to playing.

I think (coach Ray Corbett) came in here with a great game plan. He's a great coach and that's exactly what we expected from him. We didn't expect an easy game.

We played tough defensively in the first half and I think that was wearing them down a bit. I think that why their shots were coming up a little short.

We didn't play real well. Homecoming week always means distractions, and that showed a little bit.

We always want to win our conference and everything is gravy after that.

We will be very strong in some areas, but we need to stay healthy in order to be competitive. Our girls work very hard we are expecting some great competition this year.

Tonight we spread the ball around and had great point distribution. This was a great team win. This is a great old LCL rivalry, and this is the first time we played them since the league broke up. We really played lights out there in the first half.

We missed (seven) throws for the game. They missed two. The game boils down to free throws, plain and simple.

We felt like we wore them down a little bit in the first half, and we wanted to keep that pressure up.

Everyone will want to stay away from the top bracket. ... That doesn't mean the (Bowling Green) bracket will be easy, I just think everyone will want to stay away from (defending state champion) North College Hill as long as they can.

Every day you play in the tournament, you have to play extremely hard or you'll be done. Last year Ready taught us that. We have to coach harder, the kids have to play harder and let the chips fall where they may. You can't take a night off in the tournament.

They always come ready to play and they gave us a tough time over there. It's a rivalry game, so we have to be ready for that. It's a great game to play before we start the tournaments.

Coach Corbett has been coaching a long time and they have a good, well-rounded team. His son is the point guard and is the team leader.

(Coach Cahill and his staff) have done a great job because I don't think anyone expected them to be No. 2 in the league right now. (The Vikings) are fundamentally sound, they are gritty, gritty kids, and they can shoot the ball.

This is a tremendous run for any group of kids.

They've been our go-to guys all year. And I thought they played really well in the second half.

This is a very special group because they are very unselfish and everyone really understands their roles. The biggest thing with this group is just winning the ballgame. The team goals always supersede the individual goals.

They're dangerous. All three of their guards are solid, and any one can hurt you on any given day.

It?s a tremendous amount of pride for me. I love coaching these boys. They play so hard day in and day out.

Daniel has improved on several areas of his game from last season. He's just taking the ball to the basket more effectively and hitting his foul shots more effectively.

That's our story all year long. We come out and we play good defense in the first half. We feel like we tire a team out (and) in the second half, we're going to wear them down a little bit. I think their legs were a little tired in the second half. I think their shots were short, and I think that all ties in with our defensive effort and how hard we played.

They just responded to our defense and settled down with their possessions.

They've played some great competition -- they haven't blown anybody out -- but they haven't been blown out by anybody, either. They kind of play to the level of their competition, and I feel like they'll come out and play really hard against us.

It's really a credit to (senior) Austin Stiles because he was kind of the one displaced by Matt. You would think some kids would have become bitter, but Austin is one of the most positive people you'll ever meet. He saw Matt as a benefit to the team.

Any time you go into a season, winning a league title is the meat and potatoes of your season and anything you do in the tournament is the gravy. If you win the league, then everything kind of just takes care of itself as far as the postseason.