Jeff Ackermann Game Quotations

We knew they were big and they had a lot of girth to them, so we wanted to try to wear them out the best we could. Our guys knew we were going to press the whole game, we weren't going to ease up and, if they scored on it, we were fine with that because we wanted to get an up-tempo game as much as we could.

I expected them to drive to the hoop. I think it might have been one of those instances where they were young kids and they have not been here before and they tensed up a little and took those 3-pointers. But, you look at that team and they are so well coached. My guys didn't mind being on defense at the end and I think they were confident and comfortable because they had been in that situation before. The experience of being in the championship game before definitely paid off for us.

Keir Jeter played a tremendous game tonight. He was awesome.

I was happy to be up 12 points. But, you know and I know that Hampton wasn't going to go away. Everyone knew they were going to battle back and be there at the end. They have tough kids and you knew they were going to fight back and do whatever they needed to do to be in that game at the end.

You look at them (Laurel Highlands) and I think this may be the furthest they've gone. I look up and down my bench and see a lot of guys who have had gold medals around their necks. That's a big advantage in a game like this.

We went into the game with the plan to pressure their guards as much as anyone we played all year. We did that, and then on offense, our size took over. We got an eight-point lead and got into our half-court stuff and ran our offense through our big guys.

This game was our season in a nutshell. Ups and downs, ups and downs. It's another down for us, but my guys played hard. The effort was there. If you set your goals high, you have to be ready for disappointment.

I told the kids before the game that when you can count on one hand the number of teams that have done something, then you know you are truly approaching greatness.

The game with our biggest margin of victory was the championship game. Once we got back, they played without pressure.