PEARLBALL

23 hours ago, 79champs said:

New year New district. I really think my Lady Pioneers take that next step and win a district championship next year. My predictions are as follows.

1. Warren  Co - Lots of talent returning on a region team

2. Coffee Co - losing a 2000 point scorer will be too much to overcome

3. Shelbyville - not close to 2nd and not close to 4th

4. Franklin Co - No such thing as rebuilding in high school you either develop your middle school talent and reload or you continue to stay bad, they will continue to be bad.

Thoughts???

I feel like you are trolling here, but I will bite anyway. Good money says Coffee can play with only 4 players and win this district. CC lost a generational player in Vinson and they still 15 points than anyone in this district. That is provided a coach doesn't stall the ball for 2 quarters trying to keep the margin of defeat from looking too bad.

2 hours ago, Commodorefan said:

Coach at Columbia has done a good job also.  Gone from bottom of the cellar couple years ago to Fourth place this year.  Coach Cope goes undefeated in District and State Number three ranking at Coffee yet does not win it.  Guess that is what they were expected to do.  

For whatever reason, it was almost a given to me that JPC wouldn’t win and as I pondered who might, I looked past him on down the line. This is what’s called being a victim of your own success. You are right in saying it’s become so routine that JPC doesn’t get the credit others might. He should have been riding a 3 year COY streak going into this season. Yes, He has had good players along the way, but he has put them in the right spots. I think he has only lost one regular season game in 4 years? CC had been through quite a lengthy dry spell prior to his arrival and it’s hard to dismiss that fact. No one has done it any better in this century in 8AAA. 

7 hours ago, OldEagleEye said:

Coach Brian Porter of Lawrence Co was Coach of the year.

Thanks. I don’t know how to say this without offending, but I felt the Tullahoma coach got the most out of what he had to work with in 8AAA this year. With that said, Lawrence looked most improved vs past 2 seasons. 

On 2/17/2021 at 5:34 PM, ecu said:

Maybe Angela Morehead?

Wow. How could I have forgotten her. I always thought of her as a female version of Charles Barkley. A hard nosed charger. Being a youngster then, she is the first Eaglette star I saw in person. 

Any one know who Coach of the Year was? 

Bella's 3-peat is phenomenal. Even going back through the era of Golden Eaglettes with the Tiffany Woosleys, Misty Lambs, Michelle Johnsons, and Conswella Sparrows, I'm not sure that has ever happened and may not again.

1 hour ago, LadyCavsFan said:

Cookeville takes down the “#11” team in AAA.  We got lucky.  Come to think of it we have been lucky beating 3 of the “top 11” so far.  We aren’t very good.  We don’t have any state records or anything.   I mean that’s what people keep saying.  Got to beat a team really bad and make a lot of 3s before you are any good.  We will keep trying.  
 

Cold shooting  first quarter and bad decisions gifted Sparta to an early double digit lead.  Luckily the Lady Cavs put the clamps down on defense and held Sparta to 6 pts in second quarter.   I didn’t think that was possible.  They have been scoring like 90-1000 pts a game.  Cookeville continued their run the second half.  Up double digits late in the 4th, Cookeville went to a spread offense and passed wherever they wanted.  Sparta tried to trap but was too slow and Cookeville passed the ball all over the court.  And  when Sparta over played they shot layups.  It was a dominant defensive performance by the Lady Cavs. Sloppy early on but they tightened it up and finished strong.   Sparta got very few open looks all night.  #4 had a couple open looks off of loose ball scrambles but very few in the flow of the game.   We are lucky they didn’t go for a new record.  But we will take the W back down 111 tonight.  Welcome to 6AAA. 
 

Heard there was a sign on the wall at the concession stand that said “No cupcakes tonight but we will have some more tomorrow”.   

I’ve posted very little this year as the regular season has become so predictable I have problems staying engaged. But, this is gold LadyCavsFan. Gold I tell you! LOL

I don’t say this in jest or mockingly, I’m not sure Franklin County could beat Coffee Middle.

Man.  

21 hours ago, 85warrior said:

White County led by 8 with about 50 seconds left in regulation. All coaches have different strategies, but when you are up 3 with about 10 seconds to go and they get the ball to their best player........foul. Don't let them shoot a 3 to tie it up.  Just my opinion. Anyway good game between 2 good teams. Learn and get better.

JPC’s Lady Raider teams have shown above all else that they will not quit until the buzzer sounds. Last night was one of multiple games during his time in CC that they seemed dead in the water only to fight their way out of it to a win. Bella has made clutch shots in at least 3 of those games that I can recall and last night she continued to build on her legacy. 
 

As far as strategy on WC’s part, there was hardly any effort made to “take the air out of the ball” in the last 3 minutes. WC was up 5-7 points consistently in the last minutes of the game, but continued to fire at will like they were down 7.  I’m all for aggressiveness and CC earned every bit of that win, but WC could have played that last 2 min a lot differently. However, Dodgen is a lot better coach than I am from the stands and I’m sure he has his reasons. Big win for CC for a pretty young team’s confidence. 

As mentioned above, this is all fake news. As I understand there is one issue in that there may not be a teaching position available for Chumley in the upcoming school year. That’s the reason for him applying elsewhere to my knowledge and not due to any issues among the staff. If he does move on, I’m sure there is another parent with a good player out there looking for a job so no worries

On ‎4‎/‎27‎/‎2020 at 9:53 AM, Commodorefan said:

Since this is one of the more popular threads here on the T, I thought I would bring it back to the top and give my off season predictions for 20-21 hopefully we are playing basketball by then. 
 

1. Coffee County

2. Lawrence County

3. Lincoln County

4. Tullahoma

5. Columbia

6. Shelbyville

7. Franklin County

Anyone else with any thoughts?

The past couple of seasons, you could throw a blanket over positions 2-5. I agree with this finishing order on paper, but this year I think the parity blanket may get a little bigger. Coffee County rules again and I don't say this to be arrogant (just reality). With that said, CC has a Peyton Manning/Florida Gator problem when it comes to post season play. I would have said a Braves of the 90s complex, but they did win one WS. The regular season record over the past 3 seasons is phenomenal and I have enjoyed it. However, bottom line is, teams are judged by results in late Feb/early March and CC has little to show for their mountain of wins. I'm not saying anything JPC and the Lady Raiders don't know already and its not a criticism, its just the way it is.

Can Columbia fight to the top half of the standings? Can Shelbyville fight off FC to stay out of the cellar? Can  CC "survive and advance?" Those are the 3 questions I look most forward to answering next year.

12 minutes ago, 85warrior said:

Parsons was very good. His downfall was that he was too much of a "hot dog".

I saw him play probably 4-5 times over the course of his career. Sometimes there is a fine line between "hotdog" and confidence. He danced all over that line for sure, but he was really fun to watch. I had forgotten the name until I saw it just now. I feel really old suddenly.

51 minutes ago, mjuhb said:

Yes when Tullahoma are sent home Monday, they will remember they advanced further than Coffee Co did. Choking is when supposed to go to state but You lose to a 4 seed no matter how good that 4 seed might be. I know in fantasyland losing to a 4 seed isn’t Choking. Tennessee is a Republican state so there are a lot of people living in fantasyland. The fact is people like yourself put Coffee Co on a pedestal and they didn’t get the job done. And I am no fan of Tullahoma basketball,  I’m just calling out hypocrisy of coffee co. 

Whoa. Angry little person aren’t you? Going from from high school girls basketball to state/national politics is one of the bigger jumps I’ve seen here. I haven’t seen you post on here in a long time. What triggered you snowflake? It’s more than CC basketball obviously. 

11 hours ago, mjuhb said:

LOL Coffee CoNice Job Choking

7 hours ago, OldEagleEye said:

Lmao sounds like a parent of a team that couldn’t beat Coffee, Coffee played riverdale, Blackmon, white co, Baylor, Madison academy, huntland, tullahoma, Bartlett all teams who won tonight. That is 8 teams who are moving on. Fact is tonight was the region championship- coffee and Blackmon were by far the best 2 teams in the region and they drew each other first round. Great game that could have went either way. 26 in a row in 8-AAA, great season Lady Raiders. To bad you couldn’t have played the 4th place team tonight. 

Sometimes you need just a little luck to make it past regions. CC hasn’t gotten it the last two years. In both cases, events from district tournaments the week prior put CC in the position of having to play probably the best team from 7AAA before the region final. Last year, it was their own fault drawing Riverdale in the semis. This year, they took care of their business in the district tournament and got rewarded with Blackman with Riverdale waiting should they win. CC has been a top 2-3 team in Region 4 for two years now. Things just haven’t bounced their way. 
 

As for the drive by from the Tullahoma person, CC didn’t choke. Gave Blackman all they wanted. When you’re sent home Monday, remember Tullahoma’s 1-10 record against CC over the past four years and enjoy. 

1 hour ago, allabouttheO said:

Should make for another low scoring affair. Wish I could see all the games but unfortunately I have to choose one. WGNS is doing the Blackman game. Any streams for the other games?

I’m trying to be gentle here and not offend my 8AAA people, but if you’re going to see one game, see CC/Blackman. The 7AAA tournament didn’t end the way most thought and could open up a small chance for an upset, but CC is most likely to be competitive and advance. 

Lincoln County was definitely a head scratcher this year. I’m know there are things that happen behind the scenes that affect teams from year to year, but I think most would agree the season was a big disappointment for them. Tullahoma too for that matter. On paper, both should have been better this year vs last. Tullahoma still has a chance. Maybe a very small one, but this time of the year that’s all you want. 

Thanks for that response. I took that original post wrong, like you were taking a swipe at our boy down here. You don’t see many coaches who love it like he does. We are proud of him. 

On 2/14/2020 at 8:13 PM, UCSportsFan said:

Has Coffee County started erecting the statue of Coach Cope yet?  Heard they had a board meeting on it awhile back. 

I assume that was some attempt at comedy with a dose of sarcasm. No statues that I am aware of, but he has done a good job at CC. No one will argue that he has been blessed with some talented players and a solid group to work with. That said, no one works harder to promote his program than JPC. The gym is full most nights and that hadn’t  been the case before his arrival. Credit him for restoring some excitement and enthusiasm to the girls basketball program. Admittedly, 8AAA is not as strong as it once was, but with the exception of one upset last year, CC has dominated the district since his arrival. He has attempted to schedule tougher teams to better prepare them for play beyond the district tournament and we will see how things go over the next few weeks. 

Not girls related, but the CC boys clinched the regular season championship as well on Monday night. Coach Micah Williams has also been a blessing to CC basketball. After losing the 2019 district POY to graduation, the boys team has also not disappointed this season. CC is blessed right now with both teams playing at a championship level. Good luck to both heading into tournament play. 

No worries LRD. We are on the same team. I can be cranky some nights. Lol

2 hours ago, LadyRaiderDad said:

Look again. Both (girls and boys) play-in are this Saturday the 15th at the higher seed.

 1st, 2nd , Final and Consolation are  Tuesday. Friday and Saturday for the girls,

and are Monday, Thursday and Saturday for the boys.

Complete brackets are available on Thunder Radio.

I’m not sure what you’re even saying, but I don’t need to look again as nothing I said was inaccurate. 

8AAA did that as recently as 2018. Girls champ on Monday and Boys on Tuesday. Agree that is much worse than this scenario. I just wish they would let me plan it. Lol

I missed it. Where can I see the list of finalists?

1 hour ago, ecu said:

Is first round satallited out?

If the bracket I saw on Thunder Radio is accurate, only the "play in" game is off site. The rest of the tourney is in Fayetteville.

Also, it looks like the boys play first on Championship Saturday. First time I remember that happening. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I do wish they would play the boys/girls championship games back to back. I think you would get better crowds that way vs having consolation games in between.

Thanks. Love the gym. Hate the ride over. 

Any one know where the region tournament is? 

It was me who thought they might have overachieved. Based on what I saw the two games they played against CC, they were competitive and played hard. CC blew it open in the second half in the second go round, but Shelbyville gave CC two of their more competitive games. Was it about matchups? Maybe. Shelbyville’s ability to rebound the ball gave CC problems. Yeah they are 6th, but you can throw a blanket over 2-6 in this district. Last summer I heard Shelbyville was down to 7-8 players and might not win a game. I was expecting them to be 2017 Or 18 Columbia bad. They weren’t. Has the team quit now? Maybe. But 2 weeks ago, they were in the thick of it as far as second place goes. They aren’t winning the tournament or anything like that, but they have as good a shot as 3-7 to get a region birth. They’ve proven they can beat number 3 and number 5 already.