ChattanoogaStone

I was there last night and I am surprised there hasn't been a mention of Fuquan's performance last night. He played really well, especially offensively, and hit some critical free throws during that last minute stretch. In terms of Herman last night...I thought he displayed an appropriate amount of selfishness. Night in and night out he is Grace's best shooter and in the 3rd quarter last night he took over for a while. Sure he could have passed it a little more and he should not have gone for that layup in the last 30 seconds when he dished it off to Wilson. Point is, he only had around 5 points at halftime on few attempts. Grace played team ball in the first half and Herman stepped up big time in the 2nd half. Also, Patrick played well last night. He did a good job of staying out of early foul trouble, even though he fouled out with about 1:30 left, and I thought the guards did a good job of looking for him down low. If Grace keeps that up they will be a tough out in the tournaments. Both teams really played well and I will say this again...Jeremy Sexton is the real deal. What a great player. He gives Temple the chance to beat anybody on any given night. Can't wait for District Tournament!

In an effort to change the subject... Thoughts about Grace and Temple this Friday? The game is at Grace and I think Grace has a lot left to prove this year. Thoughts?

"Well what happens when the scrubs get in and they are still getting wide open layups you cant tell the younger kids who normally dont play "since we are up by 50 you are not allowed to play as hard as you can" It's not about playing as hard as you can, it is about playing as fair as you can. Subs can get in the game and still play hard without rubbing it in/running up the score. What is their to prove, as a starter, coach or sub, if your team is up by 40+ late in the game? Seems to me you have already proven you are far superior than your opponent. What if the coach asked for no fewer than 10 passes per offensive possession? That way the subs could work on their ball distribution skills in a game setting. That is only an idea. You could play a soft zone, rebound at regular speed/effort, slowly transition back to offense and then run through a set 4 times or whatever. Point is...classy and effort can go hand in hand...you just have to be creative. If I am coaching the team who is winning big and one of subs is out their showing off or whatever...he won't see the court for weeks.

I was not there so I can't say for sure, but I have talked to several fans that were in attendance. I know Patrick was in early foul trouble. He only had 2 points for the entire game. Also, I know Grace missed several free throws and shot a pretty low percentage from the field. Taylor Wilson had a chance to win it at the buzzer of regulation, but he missed a layup/high percentage shot...Don't know if he was open or if it was contested or what... Silverdale probably played with a lot of passion...Grace beat them by almost 70 points back in December so they probably felt like they had something to prove...even with that incentive they are nowhere near as talented as Grace I was very surprised when I heard about this loss for the Eagles...but better to lose to them now than in the Tournaments

This will actually be the second of three regular season meetings between these two teams thanks to their match up in this season's Best of Preps Tournament. Grace won that game by about 12 points I think. Grace will be extra motivated to grab a road win on Friday b/c they failed to get one last Friday against Temple. There is a good chance Grace will see Arts in the Region Semi-Finals for the 3rd straight year, so these games are always big. Grace is the better team and has more skill players, but they don't always play smart or hard. If they play smart ball, Grace can play with just about any school in town. That, however, could be a tall order against a quick and improving Arts ball club. They will more than likely try to use their athleticism to press Grace into turnovers and keep the momentum high. The problem there could be that Grace likes to run and pressing might backfire on the Patriots. Stallion has been a nice scoring addition for Dragoo's team and I think he will need a lot out of Cousins and Townsend to get the win on Friday. Prediction: Grace 65 Arts 53

From what I have seen Grace's bench (Wilson, Nelson, Ruebusch, Carter, Brown) is deeper and more talented than Temple's (Reaves, Pendergrass, Kemp wasn't starting early in the year but don't know if that has changed, Jones etc) so foul trouble might hurt Temple worse than Grace. We'll see...

I am looking forward to watching this classic rivalry again. Both teams have played decent to good Non-District type games...the difference being Temple has played tougher teams than Grace (on the whole) and Temple has had more success (Temple won a tough game in that Battle of the State Tournament, beat North Cobb, beat Cleveland, Soddy with McNeil etc. Grace beat CSAS in Best of Preps but has lost to Upperman, Baylor, Ridgeland). I am not sure if any of that matters, but it just seems like at this point in the season Temple is more prepared to hang in and win a tight tough game. Keys to the game: Will Kemp knock down shots? Can Grace press at all against Temple's guards? Can Grace break Temple's press? Will Patrick and Jarrod stay in/out of foul trouble? Last year Grace won the first two meetings (especially the first one) b/c Patrick was able to dominate the paint and the boards. In the District Finals, Herman had 30+ points but Shaughnessy was limited to about 6 or so. To me Patrick could be the difference maker either way. One last thought, Grace is 0-2 this season in OT games. Prediction: Temple 77 Grace 68

Grace had the turn-around game this morning against Arts in the losers bracket. Grace wins by 11. I did not go so I cannot comment on how either team played. If you were there please let us know how the game went. This is a very possible Region Semi-s matchup. It has been for the last 3 years I believe.

Here is how I see it: The top two teams will be Temple and Grace per usual. I believe Silverdale will be competitive but not quite strong enough to take over position as #1 in the district. In regards to Grace vs. Temple: Temple is returning Johnson, Sexton, Kemp and getting Andrews back from his season ending surgery last year. They also have Peterson and Montgomery, but they did lose Rector which will hurt them defensively. Grace has Herman, Church, Harper and Shaughnessy which is a pretty good combination. If the guards can consistently break the press and feed the ball to Patrick, Grace will be tough to beat. We all know Herman can score, but if Herman AND Patrick are getting their points each night...watch out. Defensively speaking...Grace lost the shot altering/blocking presence of McMasters which will be tough to replace. That being said, they still have Shaughnessy down low to create havoc and rebound the ball. He has to stay out of foul trouble b/c he is Grace's only really reliable and experienced big man. If the season started today...I would give the edge to Temple. They have a good head coach and that group won some huge games last year to go deep into the playoffs. Plus, Sexton is one of the best all-around players in the city. Temple just always seems to win when it matters the most...in the tournaments. That being said Grace should also be very good and those two regular season games should be GREAT! Good luck to all the teams in District 5A

"whoever gets the MVP for this district prob still aint that great. this district is VERY weak" So are you saying because the team's in a certain district are not super good there can't be a few standout top-notch players in that district? If that is what you are saying...you are not thinking before you type.

Congrats to Temple on a great season...especially February and March. You were the one team of "The Big 3 from Region 3" that actually got better as the year went on. Next year you all will be tough if everyone is back and healthy. Now the whole state should know what Chattanooga already does...Sexton is ridiculously good! He is so smooth and level headed that he plays his game, not the game his opponents try to make him play. You have to credit the poor shooting day from UC to Temple's Defense Personally...I think UC got humbled a little bit even though they won. I can't say they thought they were going to win big or whatever...but Temple took it to them when all signs pointed to a blow out. One final thought: I think by now all Single A schools should hope to avoid Temple at all costs when State rolls around. I am not a Temple fan at all, but they have a history of being giant killers in March.

Temple is in Chattanooga in Region 3A (Grace & Arts/Sciences Region too) Temple has won a gold ball 3 times since 2001-2002 and been to State 6 of last 7 years but this is by far their least talented team....but they made it to state anyway so hats off to them

Maybe a dumb question but I am going to risk it... Would any UC fan get on here and talk reasonably about any possible weaknesses of your team? Anything that you may do adequately, but could do better? Like free throw shooting? Or rebounding? I haven't seen you guys play this year, and you can't be perfect at everything, so I was just curious...

Congrats to Arts and Temple on great seasons! It was fun to watch you guys play this year and can't wait till next year.

How do you know that Jackson Co. and Westmoreland aren't impressive? Have you watched them play? I would call beating the Region Favorite and perennial power (Pickett Co.) in the Semi's impressive. Pride goes before the fall...I heard that once somewhere.

But he brought a lot of good publicity to the school via media coverage. I think it would be unlikely that Herman and Shaughnessy would have come to Grace if Carter did not go to school there. When they came the talented state group (Eldridge, Dilts, Parshall, Smith, Van Horn, Parson etc.) were already gone. So what's the draw...Carter right?

Really exciting game last night. I was afraid Grace would get blown out early but a couple of big shots by Herman brought them back in it. Grace had several chances to win that game, but for whatever reason didn't/couldn't come up with a couple of key loose balls and rebounds. Arts is a very good team who I think can go deep into the State Tournament. As far as Jon Mattheiss goes...he is a great man with lots of basketball experience and success. (District, Region & Sub-State Championships...2 Silver Balls the first of which came from a bunch of talented sophmores). Grace has had lots of success..but they haven't won the big games in the last couple of years. They will be back. The whole thing is cyclical. Arts hasn't always been this dominant and won't always be. That being said...Good luck to Temple and Arts next Monday. I would love to see both teams represent Region 3 in Murfreesboro. P.S. It was fun watching Carter the last four years. Say what you want...he did a lot for that school.

How can you say that being upset in the District Tournament doesn't motivate Grace to play well against Arts? Grace dug themselves into a hole...whether you want to call it a choke job or not is up to you...when they lost to Temple last week. They want/need to prove to the Region they can man up and win a big game against a very good Arts team. Of course they are motivated! They may lose...they play get out-played...but they are definitely motivated. No team wants to be known as the team that loses in big games. And about the choke comments...I stand by that. Just b/c I call the Grace loss a choke doesn't mean I give no credit to Temple. First of all...no body in the Region has an answer for Jeremy Sexton. Second of all...they only got outplayed in the first half. They just got down too much too early. Remember...Grace took the lead in the 4th quarter of that game after playing miserably in the first half....only to blow it in the last few minutes. So I stand by my statements that Grace choked...but obviously Temple played well. Nobody is debating that. If Temple didn't play well, Grace would have won.

Isn't it possible that the choke job by Grace agaisnt Temple will serve to motivate them to play their best game of the year agaist Arts? Just a thought...*against

If I were a CSAS fan I would be upset at Grace for losing in the Distict Finals. Arts cannot handle Grace's big men, and if they are allowed to dominate the boards then Arts will have a tough time winning this huge game. I am not sure who I think will win...but obviously Arts matches up better against Temple. If Arts does not hit the majority of their 3's...they will struggle. Whatever you think about Brian Ball...he can't guard Carter and Patrick at the same time. You know both teams are extremely motivated to win, that's why it will be fun...for the winning team. Loser goes home very disappointed. It really is a shame Grace lost to Temple...Arts and Grace deserved to go to Sub-State, but Grace choked.

Let's not forget that the last time Arts played Temple and Grace they 1) Won in the last minute in a crazy game that Temple gave away 2) Lost by 10 at home...albeit without Dontay Hampton. If it weren't for Townsend's three's it may not have been that close. They are not as intimdating as they were at the beginning of the year. They heavily rely on pressure and three point shooting...well what if your opponent breaks your press and the 3's aren't dropping? Spells trouble. Obviously every team relies on some aspect of the game as their strong suit, but what I am saying is Arts is not as scary as they were in November. The close Region games they have played have shown that. As far as the Grace/Arts game goes...assuming both advance to the Semifinals...Grace really needs to put the Temple debacle past them and play sharp. This game is a chance to avenge last years "upset loss" to Arts in the Semifinals...Arts also wants to prove they are better than Grace and win this rubber match. Whoever loses will be totally disappointed b/c both had such high hopes this season.

Keys to last night's game: 1) Sexton is unstoppable. Period. He put on a clinic last night. 2) Kemp finally hit some big shots against Grace. He played well offensively. 3) Temple totally shut down Shaughnessy. Patrick was the difference in the first 2 games, but last night he was a non-factor. If he had had his usual game, Grace wins. 4) Jarrod Johnson had 9 first half points, including one 3 pointer. Grace was down 9 at the half. Go figure. *One note about Brandon Hermann. He is obviously an incredible offensive player and Grace would not have even played Temple close last night without his effort. That being said, he made a couple of poor decisions that really hurt Grace down the stretch. The decision to dunk instead of lay the ball up or pass it to Patrick seems foolish looking back on it. Of course, he has dunked several times this year and he had a good look at it last night and just missed it. Besides that, several possessions...especially in the first half...he seemed out of control...determined to shoot no matter what. I love the way he plays, but he is sometimes too out of control and raw. If his mental game matures he will be incredible. Region Tourney just got a lot more interesting. Can't wait!

This is game is scary for Grace fans I think because Temple has played well in stretches in each of the first two meetings. I really think it all boils down to foul trouble. Nobody in the Region can guard Sexton...he's just that good. He will get his points. If Kemp is not shooting the ball well tonight then it will be a long night for Temple...all that being said, if Sexton and Kemp are on the bench with fouls early, it won't matter. Another point of interest...look to see how Nathan Rector plays tonight. He had a really good game against Grace last meeting, but it just wasn't enough b/c Sexton sat for a lot of the game. This one goes to Grace, but it will be close. Eagles 64 Crusaders 58

Whether anyone will admit it or not...I don't think anybody wants to play Arts in the Region Semis...lose and you're done. That being said...certainly no one wants to go on the road for the Sub State, especially if your destination is Pickett Co. Lots of sub-plots and interesting stories...Should be lots of fun.

Whether anyone will admit it or not...I don't think anybody wants to play Arts in the Region Semis...lose and you're done. That being said...certainly no one wants to go on the road for the Sub State, especially if your destination is Pickett Co. Lots of sub-plots and interesting stories...Should be lots of fun.