hssportsnut

FRA, CPA, and DL have had very, very close games that either team could have one with one different play or hit shot. They are all three very defense oriented, patient teams. You cannot force against any of them, or you will end up in foul trouble quick. District 9AA will look very different next year with both FRA and Ezell going to DII. CPA and DL will be the lone privates left in the district. Speaking for myself, I will miss the FRA and Ezell rivalries that have been so much fun the past few years. Good luck in DII and be sure to get some bug and tar remover for all the driving. You will both be missed in 9AA.

I have also seen this quite a few times this year. If the defender's shoulder or arms are slightly forward, the block call is made every time. I have even seen the refs do a lurch type stand to show why they made the call. I think the refs have been a little better this year. They still get some charge/block calls wrong (IMO), but are doing much better at stopping some of the attacks that can happen when pressing. I haven't seen any injuries this year, and by this time last year, there were many! Good job refs!

Anyone have details about the East Lit - Ezell game? By the scoring in the Tennessean, it looks like East Lit controlled the boards, but that is not always indicative...

Tonight: DL over FRA Hume-Fogg over Pearl-Cohn CPA over MLK Still have not heard anything about Ezell - East Lit game.

Congrats to the Cougars on a great season. Keep it up post-season!!!

I don't think Hume-Fogg will lose another game. Their losses came when Bagwell was out. She is just too much of a weapon. She opens up the floor for Miller to hit those threes. CPA's wins have not been dominant, so I agree that any of the top teams can take each other out any night. DL is too inconsistent. They have to be shooting outside to win, and they seem to be either feast of famine in this category. If DL could consistenly shoot outside with their strong inside game and great defense, they would not lose another game. Ezell seems to have lost some of their mo-jo, but they always play their best against DL, and they have not faced each other yet. DL and FRA have not faced either yet, and they seem to be similar type teams. My predictions... Hume Fogg wins or ties CPA for top seed in the tourney. DL and FRA will be contenders for third and fourth. I agree that MLK and Pearl-Cohn can give anyone a tough game. I saw a little of the old East Lit this week, but they lack the three point shooting which is their achilles. I have enjoyed the fact that there has not been a dominant team this year. It has made for some great basketball!

Does anyone have a report on the Lipscomb players that have been out with injuries? I know they were struggling last week with three starters injured. I believe that Webb may be out for the season, but wasn't sure about the other three. DL will have to be healthy to have a chance of winning this game.

Since I posted this originally, I will tell you I was wrong on some fronts, but right on some others... Hume-Fogg - Still stand by my original post... They still remind me of David Lipscomb last year. Bagwell is their Ross (from DL last year). With her, when she is healthy, they are going to be tough to beat. Right now... my pick for best in the district (if Bagwell is playing and healthy). East Lit - Not what I expected. They do not have the passion they had last year, and are not near as physical and intimidating. If you shut down their inside game, they don't have much on the outside to change-up your defense. I understand their point guard is out with an injury, and this definitely can impact a team. Still surprised they are not dominating. I'll say it again.. just seem to have lost their passion. I expected every player on their team to be in foul trouble every game. Not the same team they were last year (yet). FRA - Very disciplined and typical for FRA. It is going to be a dog-fight with Ezell, CPA and DL. They are rivals, and have similar styles. Can they muster up that challenge every game? Smith is their go-to girl, and hard to contain. Excellent athlete. FRA against the publics in the district will be interesting. They are going to have to adjust to a much more physical game. Can they? I think so, but if they have a slightly off night, it could mean a loss to PC, HF or EL. Ezell-Harding - New coach... new attitude, and EAKES.... I still stand by the fact that they are the best oustide shooters in the district, but can drive the paint if you go man-to-man. Like DL, they are going to be hard to coach against with such a multi-faceted game. David Lipscomb - They seem to finally have realized they have five starters. Their best performance to date was against Pearl Cohn when the starters were able to stay on the court long enough to get warmed-up (ten 3's), which opened up the inside to Ellenburgh and Bridges (probably the best inside game in the district). DL's strength is their patience and defense. Keene is probably the best defender I have seen this year. She can cover a center or a guard. Best over-all defense in the district, but if they are getting beat, tend to get desperate for points and make desperate subbing and shooting decisions. CPA - Second best defense in the district. They play with a lot of emotion and passion which goes a long way. Still not a high scoring team, but are number one until someone knocks them off. Probably the best coaching. They stick with their starters and don't sub a lot. They adjust their defense to exploit other teams weaknesses, and they keep teams off balance. Like DL, they are patient and tend to control tempo. Not a run and gun team. Mitchell is a true leader (just watch her coaching her teammates). She is probably the best all-around leader of all players I have seen this year. This is evident with the close wins. I bet you can attribute the majority of those wins to her leadership and on-the-court support. MLK - Getting better every game. Their defense has surprised me the most. They also have size!! More size than anyone in the district. Conditioning would go a long way with this team. This is no longer the 'easy win.' Every team needs to worry about MLK (especially on their home court). Pearl-Cohn - My new dark horse. They always turn it on at the end of the season, but they have much better shooting and guards than in the past. They make getting across half court a true task for any point guard. Great outside shooting, so taking out the inside game is not a game plan anymore. They are no longer the drive and jump shot team. They have athletism and SHOOTERS! Battle reminds me of many college players, but if double teamed or seriously guarded, she cannot win the game alone. She is needed to win. They also have a truly good press (almost as good as Ezell's). It is always risky when you press (opens up the big inside player), and I think it cost them the DL game, but nothing ventured.. nothing gained. I think that DL, CPA, FRA and Ezell will be dog-fighting against each other because they are very similar. I think that Hume-Fogg (with Bagwell) is probably the toughest team to beat consistenly right now. MLK, PC and EL are still great teams, but are not as well balanced as the rest of the district. On The Ball Magazine picked David Lipscomb to win the district which most people chuckled about with only one returning starter. I thnk DL or Hume Fogg probably has the weapons to do it. DL has the defense and Hume-Fogg has the best player. I guess we'll see... at this point CPA, FRA or Ezell also have the toolkit. East Lit, PC, and EL have the athleticsm. Ought to be fun folks... Again - I welcome thoughts from those who are close to the programs to counter my observations thus far...

Thanks for the info. This is definitely telling of what happened (and we've all been there). I have to tell you that the refs in the DL vs. PC game pretty much never put the whistle in their mouth. I think six fouls were called the entire game. Mind you, the game went by fast, and the free throw line was not a factor. If there had been the normal hand-check, over-the-back, ticky-tacky calls... this game would have lasted a year. I am thankful they just let the girls play, but it was definitely different from most games. It certainly was to DL's advantage, as they normally have starters sitting on the bench for the first half with two or three fouls. It did not get out hand, so it was not one of those games where you thought.. 'someone is going to get hurt.' It was called more like a college game vs. AAU (where refs think they are educating players). It was refreshing. Fast pased game, without the silly calls. Mind you.. they missed some flagrant ones. PC was trying to foul DL at the end of the game to get the ball back, and refs didn't call it until they pretty much hacked someone. In all my years of watching basketball, it was the strangest called game I have seen. I recognized all the refs, and know that each have the potential to call every wrong move. I'm figuring they decided before the game to let the girls play. It really ended up being an outside shooting game vs. driving into the paint. That probably had a lot to do with it. Curious to know if any others that saw this game felt the same way??

I would love some details about the FRA - Hume Fogg game. All the paper said was that Hume Fogg had a run in the 4th quarter. Was FRA in foul trouble by that point? Pearl Cohn - DL game was great. You kept thinking DL would run away with it, but then PC would answer with a 3 ptr. Very good game. PC is much better than I had expected this early in the season.

David Lipscomb beat East Lit in a great game, but DL controlled the game. DL did a great job of keeping Cowan out of the game. After the poor performance against CPA on Tuesday, DL really picked up. Best defense I have seen all season. A lot of parady in this district. It will be really interesting to see how this district pans out.

I think Lipscomb's ranking is based on some of the surprising wins they had over teams while a part of the team was still playing football. The win over Station Camp was definitely a plus. They are a little inconsistent right now, but have some incredible talent. Their strength has been similar to CPA... strong inside game and incredible three point shooting. Overton's defense was the difference. Webb getting hurt didn't help:-) Hats off to Overton. They were better prepared and played awesome. Hopefully playing each other will only make both teams better in their district play.

After seeing most of the teams play at least once this season, I'll give my best 'guess' at how things look (in my opinion): Hume Fogg - Bagwell is the bomb. They remind me of Lipscomb last year. Great defense and a go-to player that can play any position on the floor. She can score from anywhere, and has a well-balanced supporting cast. These players are also in shape. You can tell they either play other sports in the fall or had a good conditioning program. East Lit - Physical team that has great outside shooting. Every team in the district is going to have a tough time containing them. Zone will stop their drives, but will open outside shooting. They have a multi-faceted attack (if shots are falling). Their aggressive defense could be their strength or achilles (foul trouble) depending on the game. They are still my pick for best team in the district so far. FRA - If Smith gets hot... watch out. Like Bagwell, she is a great athlete who can shoot. Look at their box scores, and you know who to guard. I keep hearing they are 'young.' They have some freshman playing, but so does every other team in the district. No one should think they don't have experience on the floor. Ezell Harding - Ezell has something to prove. They have a very good new coach. Ezell always has the best press and trap in the district (UT Knoxville style). They also have girls that can shoot three's with five hands in their face. This is probably the most under-rated team in the district. Eakes was a force last year, but was overshadowed by McAllister. It is now her turn under the spotlight, and she is playing every second of every game. Great player. David Lipscomb - Reliable, defense, and depth. If a player gets in foul trouble, there is another one to fill the spot. Looking at box scores, you can tell that there are 9 to 10 players on the court every game. Starters rarely play together for all the subbing, which leads to lack of rhythym and low-scoring games, but DL will slowly kill you with free-throw shooting. You do not want to be in the bonus against them. Like East Lit.. aggressive defense can be an achilles at times, but Dl has a deeper bench. If you are a run and gun team, DL will frustrate the living daylights out of you. They are great at controlling the pace of a game. CPA - They have a 'go to' player, but can get you from elsewhere. They, too, have a strong defense that makes adjustments very quick to exploit other teams weaknesses. If a team has a big inside player, they will force outside shots. If the outside shots start falling, they quickly adjust to double teams and traps. It doesn't require a half-time to adjust. That impressed me. That is what you call good coaching!! Surprise team of the year for me. I did not think they would be as good as they are... and they are good. MLK - Much improved, but still not quite where they need to be. They have some size and a good inside game. If outside shooting was more consistent, they could be a force. Give them a couple of years, and they are going to improve. They have a JV this year, which is a HUGE step for MLK. Getting those younger players in more games early will only help their varsity in years to come. Pearl-Cohn - Wild Card? I just don't know what to think about them yet. Good athletes and great coach. I think they are still getting their sea-legs this year. They always come on at the end of the season and district tournament. I don't know why this year will be any different. Never count out PC's athleticism. They are a driving team, and you have to be able to stand and take some charges (or fouls if called the other way), and see how it goes. This is my unprofessional observances VERY EARLY in the season. I'd love to hear other's thoughts that are closer to all of the programs. Again - good luck to all!!

Congrats to all the 9AA tournament winners!! We've been a quiet/under-rated district in the press this year. All those teams that saw us at Christmas are thankful they aren't in our district...huh? I think we are going to have some great basketball. Wouldn't it be nice to see one of these teams give Marshall Co a run for there money in region??? Playing such a diverse group of teams with different strengths and great defenses can only help the cause!

It really was a good game. Overton's guards did a great job of shutting down Lipscomb's strong 3 pt game. That was the difference in the game. Great game for both teams.

David Lipscomb won the Overton Invitational tournament last night with a 49-40 win over Overton. DL gets a rematch with Hillsboro on Saturday. They had a 39-30 loss to the Lady Burros early in the season. It looks like 9AA represented well in the Christmas tournaments. Good luck to all in the regular season.

CPA has this district hands down. No one can beat them with such a strong presence in the paint (Z), and great three point shooting. This is pretty much the same team as last year, but better. I hope CPA can finally get the gold ball. If they don't...there is no justice in this world. David Lipscomb will be consistently good. Their problem is that seven of their players are starters on football. If they move on to the state championship (again), these players won't see a basketball court until a month into the season. With that said, this group of seniors have chemistry. They no longer have to take a back seat to upperclassmen. This team was unbeatable in middle school and JV based on chemistry, athletic ability, and finesse. There are also some very talented juniors. Coaching will be what makes or breaks DL. Will those football players be too drained to focus on basketball? MLK is always good. They have such a great coach and fans. They are my dark horse. FRA - again ... well coached, but graduated some talent. They will re-load. Pearl-Cohn and Hume Fogg are also talented teams. I give the edge to Hume Fogg this year, since Pearl graduated so many.

Is Gleaves the one that was so consistent at the permiter? If so, that could definitely have an impact on East Lit. She was the key to keeping teams off balance. They had so much more weight/size than the other district teams, that opponents had to fill the paint to keep them from running the lane, and that left the three point line wide open. I agree that there does not look to be teams from this district that will make a run for the Boro, but then you never know. East Lit showed that confidence can take a team a long way. I know that FRA lost Cannady and Jackson to graduation, but they still have Smith and some great young players. I'm not sure about CPA, would love to hear some info about their team, and how they did in camps. I also think that David Lipscomb might be a dark horse. They are not going to be a one player team this year. Will the players that have been riding the pine for the past two/three years step-up since they finally have the chance? We'll see. Ezell is also returning some good players, and have a new coach. They might be motivated to prove everyone wrong. I'm giddy with anticipation. In terms of my comment about physicallity...I probably exagerated. It is just tough to watch a player run full steam across the court and slam someone to the ground trying to steal the ball. Concussions and serious injuries were incurred from this type of play last year. I get they were playing hard, but they would be ejected from a soccer game for this. One foul is not much of an incentive to keep someone from seriously injuring another player. That is the type of thing I am worried about. I just don't want to see anyone get hurt on any team. I talked to a parent of a 9AA player that was injured in this same scenario last year. She is a freshman in college, cannot participate in intramurals, and is looking at surgery to give her relief from pain. This is a girl that could have scholarshiped in two sports, but her athletic career is over, and it has impacted her ability to even enjoy college as a normal student. Please, please, please...let's all hope that none of our girls experience this type of injury. Good luck to all.. .should be fun!

CPA is definitely on a roll. I am still waiting for the movie to be made about the volleyball team. Everyone who watched the DL/CPA volleyball game said they felt like they were in a Lifetime movie. You know, sometimes you just have one of those years where everyone pulls together, and feels unbeatable. Winning is a mind-set, and CPA certainly has it this year. Congrats on your success, and enjoy the ride. Good luck against Goodpasture in region game. Basketball... with Z, you are set. Go CPA soccer. Glad you aren't going to DII!!

I haven't seen the physical side of FRA, like I have CPA, but I know they are great athletes, so I am sure they are physical also. It looks like CPA is peaking right now, which is the perfect situation. They are great athletes, have an awesome coach, and a very supportive student body and parents. I am thrilled for them. This win will definitely boost their morale to get them further in post-season. I have the utmost respect for both teams, but cannot help but root for the underdog. Go 9AA... represent this strong district and bring home a state championship. I think CPA has the potential to become one of the powerhouses in A/AA soccer for the next several years (if not longer).

Not sure...It was district tournament, so there were two games at the same field that night, but he was looking for his check...after the game. I ended up budding in...and telling them both there are videos you can watch that explain off-sides. I truly think he didn't know. I may be wrong. It was still an opportunity for a ref to educate a parent. Again... off-sides had nothing to do with this game. It was a 1-0 game, and I don't think off-sides was ever called. It was a defensive battle type game. It was just a parent that was curious from either a previous game or curiosity. It could have been a parent for the next game... really not sure.

Yes they do!! This is kind of a lose/lose situation for me. I hate to see either team lose, but I must say that I think CPA is scrappy. Their defense is really good, and they are very physical. More physical than FRA, but FRA's mid-field and forward dominance hasn't required them to be too physical. I've seen it with soccer and basketball the last few years. Both sports are turning into who is physically stronger vs. who has the technical skills in some cases. I think that home field is no longer an advantage. If you have a big student section yelling at the refs regarding bad calls, they are going to tighten up on the home team on physicality. I guess it is human nature to retaliate when attacked. Is it fair? NO. Is it life. Yep.

Not surprising at all!! Every game I watched always had one good ref, and one that was 'subpar.' After the DL/CPA game, a parent asked the ref who was waiting on his check to explain off-sides. He said, he truly did not know. Can you believe that??? Not that an off-sides ruling determined the game. CPA earned their goal - no off sides, but I thought it was very telling that a ref did not know what determines off-sides. I sure wish there were better soccer refs out there. There were several games, where I thought the ref should do the victory run with the team that won. I know you all relate. Unless you dominate a game, the refs play a big part.

Thanks for the info. I bet it was a great game. They are both great teams, just history has shown that FRA was always the better scorer. It looks like CPA is finally healthy and playing to their potential.

Good observation. Coaches vote on the teams that give them the most trouble. Lipscomb played 7 of the 11 teams on this list, they tied two of them, and lost to the rest (other than FRA) by one goal. They were also plagued by injuries during part of this stretch, but still were close to winning every game. Based on what I have seen of the 7 teams DL played, USJ, CPA and FRA are the strongest. Mind you, I just saw where CPA finally beat FRA. This shows you the true parady within this top 11. Again, these coaches are voting on the teams that were their strongest opposition. I think it is pretty representative of how strong all these teams truly are. Good luck to all the teams that have made it into post season. I think other than one team (I will not disclose that) every team on this list deserves to be there by strength of schedule and margin of victory/loss. I have never seen Notre Dame, CCS, or CAK play, and from what I have read on this board, they are great teams. Hopefully, we will cross paths with them next year:-) Good luck - again - to all. It has been a great year of soccer in TN. So nice to see so many players getting big soccer scholarships. It sure makes all those weekends of club ball and sweating during the summer worth it.