WoodenFan

Last night at Clay Co. high school I heard the absolute best rendition or our National Anthem that I have ever heard. Most of the schools play a recorded version, or if someone sings it live, it's one person singing. Last night a group of ladies, maybe 5 or 6, gathered around a microphone and "knocked it out of the ballpark." The harmony and sounds reminded me of a barber shop quartet. Wow! very impressive. Anyone got any info on this group of ladies?

How did Pickett girls look, did they press, shoot 3's, have turnovers, big girls, etc: same questions for Sparta girls.

Playing on the mountain can be a pretty tough place to get a win. The ref's tend to call a few more fouls in this area than in the Dunlap, Marion, Lookout Valley, Chattanooga area, so you never know what will happen.

Boyd Christian was added to district 9 a few years ago, maybe 3 or 4. They have been near the bottom of the district each year. They have had some good indivdual players along the way, but not a team full...anything is possible on a given night. MTCS will be pretty strong this year. I think they only lost one starter from a team that finished second in the district tournament last year. I'm not sure how long they have been in district 9.

I was just as impressed with Sexton last year as I was with the Skogin kid. He will be tough to handle for sure.

Hey CommunityHero, I would be interested to hear your insight into the Community Girls Team or what you may know about the girl teams in 9A. I think there is a thread already started about 9A for girls, or you can start your own.

Thanks for repeating what I said on March 7th about what the girls need to do in the off season. I'm glad to see many new members posting concerns about Van Buren girls basketball. Taking an interest is a big part of building a program.

If our girls can work hard enough to be unstoppable next year, it's going to make any coach's job much easier. It would be absolutely awesome if Van Buren County could produce a "Miss Basketball" finalist. Set your goals high girls!!

Agreed..... The problem with the coach working in the off season with the girls is this--when will anyone know who the next coach will be? I understand that someone has to leave, someone else has to take their place, someone else has to take their place, and then a coach must be hired to take the persons place that took the other persons place that filled the spot of the person that left. Good luck in finding this person as soon as possible...if they are even needed at all????? Regardless of the coach, everyone needs to get to work. As Forest Gump would say, "thats all I got to say about that."

I was not sure if someone would take the comments the wrong way, and was a little concerned that someone may think I was being negative toward our girls. I'm in no way being negative toward the girls team. My point in the post was this, if we had the coach from Gleason for this past season, those girls from Gleason would still beat us by 20. Most people know that the off season is where one would improve their skills as a player. The practice time during the season is usually spent on designing offensive and defensive sets and coming together as a team. Again, I did not mean anything negative but only wanted parents and players to know that now is the time to start for next season. We should have the highest of expectations for our girls program. We should also realize that it is going to take hard work in the off season.

I watched the game today. #20 deserves the Miss Basketball award. What a player. A point guard that can take anyone to the hole and score on them. Wow.....give her the trophy.

Okay Van Buren County, here's the deal. As of today, our girls are not ready for the next level. This afternoon I watched a team beat the best team in our district and region by 25 points. The girls from Gleason beat Forrest by a score of 53-28. I know, I know, I know, we beat Forrst at home this season and played them close in the post season. Take my word for it, we are not ready for the state tournament. Can we get ready--yes. Can we get ready by only getting a year older--no way. Here is the main point in this post, the person that coaches these girls next year should not be priority one, as of today. Our girls must use this off season to improve their offensive and defensive skills. They should work on their ball handling, their weight training, their leaping ability, etc, etc, etc. If you are the parent of a girl that hopes to make next year's team, make a commitment to your daughter to do everything possible to get her ready for next season. Send her to camps, make sure that she attends all the open gyms, get someone to work with her individually, do everything within your means this summer. If you are a player and reading this, I only have one question for you--What are you doing on the computer? Why aren't you somewhere with a basketball in your hand, or doing something to make yourself better for next year. The other girls that want to get better for next year are. Back to the coaching situation. Good coaches take good ball players and put them in the proper positions to excel. If our girls do not get better in the off season, it's not going to matter a great deal who coaches them. I do not want to be back on here discussing these same issues next year. Parents, make the commitment! Players, get to work!

The best thing to do against a team you think is doing too much extra, is beat them, and when possible, beat them severely. I'm not going to pile on Upperman but when you look back at their scores this year you'll see what I'm talking about.

Sequatchie has been preparing all year for this game Saturday night at Upperman High School.

Forrest by 15 Collinwood by 20 plus

Way to go Forrest. I hope you continue to represent our district well in the sub state. There are, in my opinion, no teams in our district that are any better prepared for a game than Forrest. But their third stingers could've beaten MTCS last night. I was disappointed at the lack of competition from MTCS. It was almost as if they were just glad to be there (sub state).

Congrats to Forrest. We knew it was going to be a tough game in the 40's or 50's. Forrest out played us on defense and took advantage of our mistakes. Bottom line on the win; Forrest was better prepared for the game. Good luck in the finals.

Ok, indian, one last question. If you are coaching the girls team, do you keep your starters in the fourth quarter with a 59 point lead?

With as much time as you spend defending your girl's coach, been reading some of your posts about the Sequatchie vs Whitwell game, you shouldn't have to ask why there was a loss of control in the game. I have a great deal of respect for the way that your girls play, I even said that after we were handed a loss at home by Dunlap. I do have a problem with your coach, however. If a starter turns an ankle in the fourth quarter with a 50 point lead, it's the coach's fault. If the starters are still pressing full court with a 40 point lead, it's the coach's fault. If a starter is still in the game with 2:30 to go in the fourth quarter with a 59 point lead, it's the coach's fault. Hey, firm believer in what goes around comes around. You may find yourself defending her so much because so many people think she is wrong. I do not want to see your team that plays so hard to take a loss in a game, but I wouldn't mind seeing a team that is coached by your coach get their lunch handed to them either. If this game was an example of how to build a program, then count me out.

Not looking to be cute or smart, just looking out for the girls and hoping they get a little respect for playing hard against a very good team.

Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me. I was replying to some of the other posts about the game. Don't take it so personal and you have a great today.

I don't think the Van Buren girls knew what the consequences of winning a home ballgame were going to be, maybe they should've just handed the ball to the ref and said, here Mr. Ref, I walked and you didn't call it, I don't want to upset the other team...The Van Buren girls took the floor with the intention of playing hard and trying to win a home game in the district. Just because they won, now we the fans and players shoud feel intimidated and carry a target on our backs. Wow, I'm really sorry they won now.

I say 'range by 12

You know what really bothers me about complaining about players fouling out of a game and picking up their 3 foul in the 2nd quarter? No one ever remembers the first or second foul when the player went over the back, or fouled 60 feet away from the basket. They only remember the 5th foul, or the fact that that player fouled out of the game. The fouls may have been one sided, but I don't think any of the fouls were called when the player was on the bench or a foul was given to the wrong player. What about the actual call, did that player foul, yes or no.

Sorry about the cheerleaders anutkim, but after our side fills up, they have to sit on your side....and there sure were alot of empty places to sit on your side. On the fouls, it looked to me like the Forrest girls were very frustrated on the floor. I even saw Bussell having a few words with her coach. Most of the fouls were just that, fouls.