supertoe

Congradulations to South Greene on their win and conference clinching victory over Elizabethton last night. The only question remains if they will go undefeated in conference or not with Unicoi the last chance to probably stop that... Looks like Betsy will go in to district play #2 and Unicoi #3. Chuckey-Doak's win over Happy Valley gives them the inside track to #4 with North coming to their place tonight and if they win will put them 1 game up in the win column for that 4 spot. Happy Valley now battles Johnson Co. and West Greene for the 5,6,and 7 seeds after having a lock on the 4 spot just a week ago....

There is a lot of strategy in playing "keep away". There have been times where I've had a 5-7 point lead with a few minutes left and did this. I've even started games in a delay type of offense against certain teams. One has to prepare their teams for these circumstances. It can throw opponents out of whack if they are not prepared for it..but I also agree with you: there is also strategy from the other coach in how they respond to it

There is no need for a shot clock in HS sports. It can take away from some of the coaching strategy in a game. In some circumstances there are times when a team needs to slow down the tempo against another team or play for a last shot with a minute left or start playing "keepaway" with a few point lead with a couple minutes left... A shot clock will probably make an already "mismatch" game even worse. The running clock rule at 35 points would come into play even earlier in some of these games. Keep the game as it is...

Unicoi had a tough week in Greene Co. dropping a 43-39 game to West Greene last night giving Happy Valley an outside for the 3 spot in the district seeding. Unicoi has a trip to South Greene before the season ends. Elizabethton still needs some help for a tie for the conference title and the rematch with SG should be a great one on Friday... The 5 through 7 spots are still uncertain as Chuckey-Doak, Johnson Co., and now West Greene are battling for these. As always, nothing can be taken for granted and we will not have everything set in stone until the last conference games are played. The last 2 weeks of the season should be fun to see how things play out.

Statement game for the cyclones...more than likely will face West Greene in the 1st round of the district tournament...

Looks as if Unicoi felt the wrath of Chuckey-Doak at Afton last night...South Greene held off Happy Valley and Johnson County may have taken North lightly but managed to hold and pull off a victory on the road. Coachh17, I agree with your final standings going into the district but it looks as if HV, Johnson County and Chuckey-Doak are all now battling for the 4 spot...Chuckey-Doak is not the team to have to go up against in the 1st round of District play. Elizabethton looks like they have a solid hold on the 2 spot for now...

Sometimes games like last night are going to happen when you are trying to rebuild and you play a good opponent....put that one aside and go on...

Elizabethton got their "revenge" for an early season loss to C-D last night. That early season loss looms big as it is getting crunch time in the conference race. Unicoi's victory over Happy Valley pretty much keeps HV from any slim chance that they had to move up to a #3 spot and solidifies that the big 3 are still the big3 with South Greene heading for the conference championship (unless HV can pull an upset on Tuesday). Unicoi has to care of business on Tues @ Chuckey-Doak to stay in the hunt with Elizabethton for an outside shot for the title.. In the "lower half" of the conference, Johnson County's 2nd victory over West Greene gives them the inside track for the 5 spot. They have to take care of business at North Tuesday...I thought C-D would be better than they are showing but they are falling fast....

In all of my years of coaching, it was always frustrating when I told a player that they needed to work on some aspect of their game, get in shape, or just play somewhere on some type of team to improve and they wouldn't do anything at all. At the schools where I coached, they were "average" players but with a little committment could have been so much better...Its hard to compete with the upper tier teams with that type of committment. In the last twenty years, the work ethic of players (as a whole) has diminished although there are certainly a lot out there who put in the time needed to become the best they can be....

I would agree with bucdaddio that D-B and TN High are the 2 best teams but I believe IMAC has the upper hand this year especially with MoWest and Cocke Co. Anything can certainly happen on a given night, but I just don't see it happening this year...

You hit the nail on the head when you used the word committment. Until players put in the extra time needed in the off season (working on fundamentals, going to ball camps, playing AAU or some other type of ball...) the improvement just isn't going to take place. I hope Volunteer can turn their fortunes around but ever since they moved up to AAA they have been in the bottom of the Big 9. Back in their AA days, they faired much better...

As the race heads into the 2nd half, it looks as if South Greene controls their destiny with Elizabethton and Unicoi battling for the 2 spot although Happy Valley still has an outside shot for a 3 spot but they'll have to stop Unicoi on Friday at Erwin to have any chance for a top 3 spot... Elizabethton looks to get a little revenge for an early season loss to Chuckey-Doak (who has dropped out of the top 4 and will have to overcome Johnson County and Elizabethton this week on the road to climb into the 5 spot). Eliz and Unicoi will need a little help to get to the 1 spot, which doesn't looks like it will not happen this Friday as North goes to South Greene... Things are falling more into place as Districts approach but there is still time (though it is ticking away)...

I agree with Coachh17 that Volunteer has to improve their feeder system. All of the local teams that are struggling from year to year do not have much of a feeder system. But I also feel that any coach should be given about 5 years to establish their "system" and get everything going. The problem with this thinking is that people want everything fixed now and can't give coaches the time that they need.....

Looks as if there were two close games last night, both of which going to overtime. South Greene with their victory over Unicoi last night pretty much controls their destiny being up 2 games in the loss column on both Unicoi and Elizbethton. There is still a lot of ball to be played but the top spot looks like it is SG's to lose. Happy Valley's OT win over WG looks like it's solidifying their run for the 4 spot with still time to move up.

I guess the big game on tap for tomorrow will be in Erwin as South Greene comes to town. If SG can pull out a win, it would give them a 2 game cushion for the top spot. West Greene travels to Happy Valley and North goes to Elizabethton in games in which the home teams should have no problem...

It was a big road win for Happy Valley last night. Any road win is a big win in conference play as you can attest to Coachh17. Unicoi took care of business at Johnson County to stay in the hunt. South Greene may taken the upper hand with their win over Elizabethton last night, but there is still a lot of ball left and SG still has to go back to Elizabethton as well to Erwin...

Should be 4 pretty good matchups tomorrow in the hunt for the conference title and district seedings with the "biggie" being in South Greene with Elizabethton. A SG win gives them a big advantage for the title and the #1 seed. I would love to see a Betsy win but SG is a very tough place to come out with a W. Unicoi's trip to Johnson County can't be taken for granted either. JC can be a tough team on their home floor. If unicoi still wants to be in the hunt, they have to come out with a win. Happy Valley against Chuckey-Doak should go a long way in determining the 4 seed in the conference. C-D may have a slight advantage on their home floor but I like Happy Valley to come out of Afton with a win. And lets give due to the West Greene/ North game at WG. West Greene should handle North to move out of last place in the conference.....

I agree with your assessment of the situation. Big win for Elizabethton yesterday. Should be a great game on Friday with South Greene. I think the top tier will of course be between SG, Eliz, and Unicoi. Happy Valley and C-D are middle tier spoilers. The lower tier will be Johnson County and West Greene/North playing Friday to see who stays out of the basement...

3 games on tap for Tues: Elizabethton @ Unicoi- (Big game to determine the 1st spot in the league. Eliz can't afford to go 2 games down in the league especially with the trip to South Greene on Fri. This should be a great game in a "hostile" enviroment. I'm looking for Elizabethton to come out of Erwin with a W.) Johnson Co @ Happy Valley- (Johnson County has improved this year but I still have to give the edge to HV especially at their place. This is also a big game in the seedings for the district.) Chuckey Doak @ North- ( CD's first 3 conference games have come against the top 3 teams in the conference. Look for them to have a big game against North Tuesday.)

I also agree that district 2 is down this year and it wouldn't surprise me to see two district 1 teams in the Region 1 final. South Greene would be a good bet to go with to reach Murfreesboro but Unicoi and Elizabethton won't let them go away without a fight. These 3 have a lot of "hand to hand combat" to deal with between now and then...

South Greene is a very talented team but I have always questioned some of the things they do on the court; "thuggish" demeanor is probably the best way to describe the way they play. As someone mentioned a few posts earlier, they have a certain reputation that goes with them wherever they go.

Tonight's Elizabethton/ MoEast has the makings of a good championship game. I'm still going with Elizabethton to win it tonight...

Good win by the Cyclones last night. Congrads to Johnson County on their win... For the remainder of the tourney: If you don't mind me borrowing your saying Coachh17: "Go Cyclones"

Four interesting matchups to get things started tomorrow. If I had to place an early bet, I'd go with the winner of the Elizabethton-South game to be the odds on favorite. This has the potential to be a great game. South is coming off an impressive beating of Central and Betsy took care of Hampton and is playing well as of late. Coach Campbell will be at the place where has a good winning percentage but the Johnson County matchup could be interesting. Mo-East and Crockett is another toss up game and the homestanding Falcons probably got the best "draw" with a rebuilding Gate City program which should get them to the winners brackett.

Anytime you can go to the "Dome" and get a W, it is big! I feel Tennessee High has to be the favorite right now but there is a lot of Ball left to be played.