JACKETDAD

Stone and Loudon will probably be the two teams to beat. I think AC will surprise some people also. They have a Jr. Point Guard that is extremely talented and should make them a lot better than previous years. Kingston looked pretty good in the Lenior City Camp but I know that doesnt really mean a lot. They only lost one player to graduation and her younger sister will probably step in and start at guard. They also have a Sophmore Post that will probably start as well. I think this year they will try to take advantage of their size a lilttle more and work the ball inside. Should be a competitive district.

15U - Tennessee Elite Tennessee Select (Blue) Tennessee Raiders 15U - Tennessee Elite Tennessee Select (Blue) Tennessee Raiders

High School Basketball is a stepping stone for College just like Middle School is a stepping stone for High School. AAU uses a shot clock and so should high school. It speeds up the game and makes it a lot more enjoyable to watch. If you want to see kids playing keep away, go to your local elementary school during recess!!!

Who's doing any comparing??

No one person is a 35 pt difference maker if you only consider pts! With Whitney in the line up, Catholic would not have scored 59 pts because of what she brings to the defense. And what about Catholics improvement, I really didnt notice anything different than what they've done in the past. I surely hope you dont think because they played Loudon so close, which they did, means they've improved that much. I was at that game and thats the absolute worse Loudon has played all season. They were overlooking Catholic and looking towards Stone. Regarding a "phantom foul" in the Loudon game, I'm not sure where you were sitting or standing but I was standing by the doorway and not only saw the foul on Buckner but heard it as well. It was a good call. If Catholics Coach knew what he was doing, he should have fouled when there was still 45 seconds left, that way if they missed one, Catholic could have at least had enough time to win the game. What was he thinking to let them run the clock to 10 seconds, everyone in the gym knew they were going to take the last shot. Poor coaching on his part. Then again, he spends more time coaching the girls on how to stall the ball when he gets a small lead instead of teaching them how to play the game. After reading all this, you probably think I wanted Loudon to win, thats the fartherest thing from the truth, I'm from Kingston and would have loved to see Catholic upset them.

What happen to AC last night against Catholic? Does anyone know why Whitney Elliott didnt play?

I really thought AC and Catholic would be a pretty good game last night, however, it turned into a blowout. Does anyone know why Whitney Elliott wasnt playing for AC? I was somewhat impressed with the improvement AC has made since the beginning of the season, they played well against Kingston and pulled an impressive upset out against CAK. After watching them against Catholic last night, its apparent that Whitney Elliott is very much an impact player. AC looked as bad as Kingston. They really dont have much without her.

Amen!! I know tonight against Stone Memorial it will probably be AC's last game in this tournament, but after the way she's played against Kingston and CAK, she should be selected to the ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM. She definitely deserves it.

Very well said.

bballnuts, the numbers on Prep Extra are fairly correct, however, they're only showing stats for about 15 games. For the Lady Jackets, the bottom line is this, they have no outside threat and until everyone on the team learns how to make a good pass, they will continue to have far too many turnovers and that will be the cause of future losses. I agree with hothead that he should mix it up some, try something different, he's gone with the basic same starting lineup for most of the season and it never worked. Teach the girls the basics of making good passes. On offense, he should go with 2 guards (Brooke Theape and one other, not sure who that should be) and 3 post players. I would suggest Smith, Mergen and either Raye or Martin depending on who was playing better on the particular night. I would have my guards (after they've been coached on how to pass a basketball to players posting up), force the ball inside. My post players would be mandated to make a move and shoot the ball. In only rare situations, would they be allowed to pass it back out to the guards to shoot a 3. Once the pass was made to the post, everyone would be crashing the boards in order to rebound. Just a thought!!

Congratulations to all the girls who made it. In response to the comment about Whitney Elliott not making it, Consider who's coaching AC. He took care of his own instead of choosing someone who deserved it.

The final score was 60-22

Your girl wont be playing tonight. She stayed home from school today. She's been throwing up since last night. She's looking forward to tryouts next month. Where's it going to be held?

Seems you know quite abit about the team, I'm curious how you've come to the conclusion that some of the players are hard to coach. Have you attended their practices or actually spoke to the coaches?

6 p.m. @ Kingston,

I agree with hopalot somewhat. Gentry was the leading scorer, about 11 ppg. The other player didnt start and actually saw very little playing time. To say losing her was a "big hit" is somewhat untrue. I think she's a good ballplayer that could help kingston but not an impact player. From what I've seen this year after they lost those two players, Coach Anderson is set on playing only one true post player at a time and using guards and wings to play the other 4 positions. I dont see that strategy winning anytime soon due to no outside shooting threat. Last night at Stone Memorial, I dont think Kingston scored a basket from outside the lane, not one. What does that say for their outside shooting. He's got two other good size post players, Mergen and Raye. I've heard different things said about both of them, I say at least give them a chance. With Smith, Mergen and Raye in the game at the same time, they've got to have the inside advantage. Even if those three miss their shots, with that size they should be able to get rebounds and take it back up. It cant be any worse than their outside shooting so far.

Why not give a bye in District Tournaments to the higher seeded teams, which would allow the last place team to at least compete in the district tournament? Its not about whether or not a last place seeded team in the district would beat anyone, its about the Opportunity!

Then why call it a "District Tournament"?? If each team in a District, isnt allowed to play in the actual district tournament, its simply a tournament to see who goes on to the Region. As for giving the top 2 teams a bye into the Region, thats crazy! Thats the purpose of the District Tournament, to decide which 4 teams go to the Region so they can make a run towards the state. Based on some of the previous post who believe the top two teams in a district automatically go to the Region, then just cancel all the tournaments except the actual State Championship. Just take the top two district teams from each district and send them to the boro. Oh I forgot, TSSAA has to get their money!!

In Reg. 2, Dist. 4, the teams that are currently ranked 6th and 7th have to play each other next week (Thursday) and only the winner of this game will compete in the District Tournament. Does anyone know if this is true? Are any other Districts doing the same thing? I'm referring to the Kingston Lady Jackets and the Anderson County Lady Mavs.

Agree, outside shooting isnt very good. They are young though. Maybe they will get a transfer in next year.

Kingston girls are much worse off than "at a low point"! Believe me, I've watched every game. People should understand though, they have lost 2 players in the last month, one for breaking team & school rules and the other just decided to quit. The one that decided to just quit, was the teams leading scorer. She also transferred to a Christian School in Lenior City. From what I understand, her new school doesnt participate in and sports. Another thing to remember, they are playing very young girls. The Given girls are both Sophmores and so is Tayler Smith. Both Givens got playing time as Freshman and Smith started her freshman year. Several other young girls are getting playing time as well. Callie Mergen is getting several minutes (Soph) as well as Brooke Thearp (Freshman). I know a lot is being said about Coaching but dont blame everything on the coach. These girls turn the ball over way too much. We stopped counting turnovers last night at the end of the 3rd qtr and they had 25. You cant continue to make those kind of mistakes and expect to get better. Hopefully they will work on fundementals in the off season and come back next year with a better team. Good luck to them.

"IF" wishes and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry christmas!!!

AE in a close one.

Are you serious??? Stone wins this one big if they want to. I'd say by at least 20!

Please clairfy what you mean by ***look how many have quit so far***. As far as I know, only one quit and the following day after she quit, she came back and asked if she could stay on the team but was told no. Another player was expelled from school so she wont be back on the team but she didnt quit. She's off the team for other reasons.