Wrapping up the sectional, correcting errors, and other matters

Bloomfield coach Jamie Hudson won his first sectional Saturday night.
The Cardinals defeated Shakamak 49-34 to advance to this Saturday’s Martinsville Regional. Hudson has remarked a couple of times over the last few days that he feels singularly blessed to coach at Bloomfield. He noted the Cardinals, who notched their 32nd sectional title with the win over Shakamak, have a rich basketball tradition. He also said Bloomfield is a community that fully supports its program and appreciates good basketball.
He said Saturday that the win was especially delightful because his son Kyler was one of the players who helped Bloomfield post double-digit wins over Southwest Indiana Athletic Conference rivals Shakamak and Clay City. In the championship game, the younger Hudson scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds.
“It’s a great feeling to do this with my son,” Hudson said. “God really blessed me. He blessed me with some great kids and a great community. I couldn’t be happier.”

Over the past two years, it’s been a great pleasure to watch Lane Gilbert play for Shakamak. I think there are a few, a very few, players in the county who are better, but I like Gilbert’s scrappy style of play Not only does he score, but he rebounds, distributes the ball, and plays tough D.
The best compliments paid to Gilbert came from the Cards after Bloomfield’s triumph in the championship game. The Cards held Gilbert to 18, but Hudson was still pleased with the D, saying he had to work hard for those points, once hitting a trey from NBA range and another time hitting a circus shot, a floating, off-balance 12-footer in the paint with a player in his face.
“They’re very good players,” Turner Royal said of Gilbert and his teammate Rylee Landry. “I had to guard them last year. I know how they played and that helped us. Kyler and Tad (Kapek) played the most defense on them and they did really well.”
“They were the two main scorers,” Hudson said. “That was the key to the game.
“Gilbert’s a great player,” said Isaac Combs.
Best of luck to Gilbert in his future endeavors.

I have an idea for how the Indiana High School Athletic Association can save money at basketball games. Don’t hire officials. Instead, 10 minutes before each game, officials from the host school should request volunteers from the audience to serve as zebras. Judging from the comments I have heard, both at sectional games and regular-season games, the fans know more about the rules than the stripes. At least, according to them.

If anyone doubts there is a God, just consider this:
New England lost the Super Bowl! Woo hoo!!!
I have always been an admirer of Tom Brady (the second-greatest quarterback of all time behind Joe Montana) and while he is a cheating (insert your favorite expletive), Bill Belichick is a brilliant, gutsy coach.
However, I jumped on the anti-Patriots bandwagon because of the glaringly biased officiating in their win over Tennessee. The Patriots were probably going to clobber the Titans anyway; they didn’t need those bogus calls in the first half. Karma is a royal pain.

A corrections need to be made.
Monday’s story about the sectional misidentified the color of the T-shirts handed out after the game. They were red rather than gray.
Sometimes I think the only people who read my stories are the ones who point out the errors.