etownsparky

Where is he heading?

That's the $64K question...lots of speculation but no answers. I suspect the boys' job is Dugger's if he wants it. He will do a great job with either, but I too hope he stays with the girls for primarily selfish reasons.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack this thread. Just wondering what your thoughts are about how strong District 13-AA will be next year. With the talent that graduates from the GC, OC, and Westview; I can't imagine the district can maintain the overall strength that has existed over the past 2 years. Am I wrong? Thoughts?

I didn't need to see GC play this year to know they are very good. I saw them play in last year's state tournament and thought they were the best team regardless of classification. With the returning personnel, they were bound to be awesome again. However, SG is a quality team and I still think the score in this game was an anomaly. SG could be very good, but at times this year they weren't so good. It's obvious GC was the better team, but I suspect that if they played SG again, the score would not be so lop-sided. That's the only point I was trying to make.

First, let me say I'm not a fan from either MC or GC. However, I watched the championship game on TV last Saturday. I have to say this was an awesome game. Although I hadn't seen either team play in person this year, I was aware of the talent on the GC team as I saw them in the state tournament last year. Consequently, I felt that GC would win the game. After watching, I believe the best team won in the end. That is not to diminish the great performance by MC. I have to say I'm somewhat disappointed at the "choke" talk being carried on in this thread. Really I don't see how MC could have played better while building the 19 point lead. There were a few questionable shots taken by MC after GC started the come back, but if they go down, this discussion is probably totally different. To expect to maintain that level of play for an entire game is a little unrealistic, but I don't prescribe to the notion that you automatically go into a stall to preserve the win. First, it's very difficult to hold the ball when that's not your game (the coach should know his team better than anyone else). Secondly, it's difficult to hold the ball against a team like GC. To further support this point, I think the decision by the GC to hold the ball the last couple of minutes after regaining the lead was questionable (or at least the manner they chose to do it, i.e. wrong person handling the ball at times). MC got a tie up (and possession) during this time. BTW, I don't think the MC player stepped out of bounds after seeing the TV replay. If that sequence goes differently, the end could have been more exciting. Regardless of what you think the strategy should or should not have been, I choose to congratulate both teams on excellent performances instead of second-guessing the coaches and detracting from I thought was an overall great game! It's too bad either team had to lose. My 2 cents...

Wow! I didn't see that coming. I expected GC to win, but not by that margin! I know GC is good, but SG must have self-destructed for it to be that bad...

While others may not be, I was surprised the Elizabethton Lady Cyclones didn't make it back to state this year in AA. This may spark some debate, but in my opinion this year's team was better than last. You gotta bring you 'A' game every night when tournament time comes around. Oh well, there's always next year... I agree sparky, I thought Betsy was a shoe in to sub-state anyway. I was surprised that SG beat Polk as bad as they did. Then again Polk has to run if they are behind. So far it's playing out as most has suspected. MC vs. GC in finals....my guess but cheering for SG tomorrow While I'm supporting East TN, i.e. SG, I predict an all District 13 final now. With the caveat that I haven't seen MC, Westview or GC play this year; I saw Westview defeat my Lady Cyclones on a last second shot and GC soundly defeat SG in the state last year. Westview returned all their starters while GC has their 3 main players back.

Me too! We missed a good opportunity this year when we had to drop out of the Knox Webb tournament. We got "snowed out" with CAK as well. If we could have played a few more quality teams during the season, that may have made the difference in us returning to state vs. not. Anyways, hope to see you next year...

While others may not be, I was surprised the Elizabethton Lady Cyclones didn't make it back to state this year in AA. This may spark some debate, but in my opinion this year's team was better than last. You gotta bring you 'A' game every night when tournament time comes around. Oh well, there's always next year...

She played well and had 16 points. I think the Storey girl from Greeneville had something like 24 points. Was she their post player? The TSSAA stats show Story with 27 points. She is their most physical post player. Fender is the other, but apparently she didn't do much. I saw where Christopher played and played well. However, just as I (and coachh17) predicted, the way to beat Greeneville is to turn them over and get into a higher scoring game. It appears that another player must have shared the ball handling responsibilities for Greeneville looking at the TO numbers. According to the TSSAA stats, Greeneville had 21 turnovers (vs. 9 for MC) which resulted in a 20 point differential in that category. Oh well, congrats to Greeneville on making state and representing East TN well. Better luck next year (except when you play EHS).

Is Christopher playing for Greeneville?

I don't know anything about McMinn Central except their record and what is posted on this forum. Obviously, they have a good team to make the state tournament field. I am somewhat familiar with Greeneville. They are big (or long) and physical. I believe the Lady Devil's strength is the half-court game (both offensively and defensively). The are very efficient on offense as they look to get the ball into the posts. They can shoot from the outside, but I don't consider that to be their strong suit. In hind sight, if my Elizabethton Lady Cyclones had sagged and provided more help in the post, we probably win the regional semi-final game. I agree with coachh17 in that they are hard to score on in the half court. Their length presents problems for opponents' outside shooters. In a previous post, someone from MC indicated that running and outside shooting are their strengths. That is good, but this is tough to do against Greeneville (re: those were EHS's strengths too, but were ineffective during the regional semi's). In the end, I too believe the big question in this game is Greeneville's guard play. If they can be effective (likely depends on whether the Christopher kid can or does play), I predict this will be a hotly contested battle that will likely go down to the final horn. If MC can effectively press and turn Greeneville over, I believe they can pull away and win. Regardless, I am pulling for the Lady Devils since they are from Upper East TN and they defeated my EHS Lady Cyclones. Good luck GHS...

Good luck tomorrow GHS Lady Devils from an EHS supporter...

What happened to the starting point guard? She played extremely well, and truth be told, was the difference in the game against EHS. She broke her hand at the end of the EHS game and is in a cast and out the rest of the year If I'm not mistaken, during or just after the collision with your daughter (possibly during the fall), she broke two bones in the top of her left hand...although she continued the last couple of minutes of the game in pain. You're right - she is definitely a playmaker! We missed her last night! Glad to hear your daughter is okay. Very unfortunate. Seeing kids get injured is the part of athletics that I most hate to see. It's such a let down for them to work so hard and not get to participate because of an injury. Best wishes to a speedy recovery and good luck at CAK. Thanks for the concern for my daughter. She will be fine in a couple of days.

Sir, I have no issue with someone expressing a different opinion than mine. What I do take issue with is when people make statements as though they are facts when, in fact, they are only conjecture. The fact is, we have a good bunch of underclassmen that can hold their own with most and routinely got playing time during varsity games. These girls will be significant contributors next season, but were not quite ready to compete at the highest level during the tournament despite getting playing time during the season. I'm not sure why you emphasized depth so much relative to the GHS game anyway. EHS played 7-8 people and I doubt GHS played more than that. We didn't lose because of lack of depth. Regardless, the biggest factor in the wide margins of victory during our games this season was the weakness of the district teams as you are well aware. No coach that I know puts in the reserves and instructs them to not try their best. Oh and just so you know, I don't believe in Karma... By the way, isn't there a softball thread somewhere that you can hijack? If you want to talk about margins of victory and running the score up, I think there might be some examples in your own back yard, i.e. "those that live in glass houses should not throw stones." I seem to recall a district softball game from last season where your team was unmercifully beating the other team (something like 25-0) in the second inning with no end in sight when the opponent walked off the field and forfeited. What should your coach have done in that situation? Should he have opted to put in all the reserves to develop depth? Should he have made the girls bat off-handed or take strikes to effectively give the opponent easy opportunities for outs? I don't know, you be the judge.

What happened to the starting point guard? She played extremely well, and truth be told, was the difference in the game against EHS.

You gotta love it when the "Peanut Gallery" shows up to take pot shots. I gave Greeneville their props for winning. On Monday GHS played better and deserved to win the game! No excuses. We will never know, but I still say that EHS girls beat GHS 8 of 10 times on a truly neutral court. I also find it amusing when someone that likely only saw 3 or 4 of the Lady Cyclones' games concludes "keeping the starters in and pounding regular season opponents, rather than developing depth didn't pay off." The last half of the season, the starters rarely played more than half the game. Realistically, we had 3 players coming off the bench that could help in a game of that magnitude. As for lay-ups and free throws, I was afraid all year that would haunt us at an inopportune time. Unfortunately, it did. One game does not discount the Lady Cyclones as champions. My guess is that both Greene County teams (GHS and SGHS) feel they lost games this year that they shouldn't have. That doesn't mean they aren't champions either. My 2 cents...

I appreciate the kind words. She got 3 sutures in the forehead but she'll be fine. I fully expect the Lady Cyclones and Lady Blue Devils to be the class of District 1 again next year. Likewise, I think the opportunity to return the favor to the Greene Countians is achievable as well. See you next year...

Congrats to the Lady Devils in defeating my Lady Cyclones last night. At tournament time, I'm reminded of the old coaching adage, "You don't have to be the best team, you just have to be the best team today." GHS played really well and deserved to win. Yesterday was their day against EHS. Good luck in the regional finals. Go represent R1 well in the sectionals and hopefully at state. On another note, I was a little distracted and failed to say "Thank You" to the Greeneville trainer that attended to my daughter when she was injured late in the game. I don't know his name, but someone please pass along my appreciation.

True the loss to Greeneville early in the season did not have to be counted on their record since it was Hall of Champions. However, Elizabethton did not beat GHS by 30. They pretty much beat our JV by around 20. Coach pulled all the GHS starters (made them put their warmups on and sit at the end of the bench) in the 2nd quarter because they weren't giving the effort she felt they should. In their defense, this was the very next night after their win over SG and I'm sure they probably didn't have much effort left TO give. Upside, the spunky little JV squad held their own. All this is to say that we can't really compare by what happened in either one of these games back in November/December. Both teams have matured and blossomed to excellence. It's tournament time and both teams should be conditioned to play night after night now no matter what the circumstances. It should be a heck of a game! First, I count the 5 point loss to Greeneville on day 1 of the season in the HOC game because we counted the win over C-D. I know the rules allow for it, but to me, if you're going to count one you should count the other. Secondly, the game at EHS on Dec. 17 was a 22 point win for the Lady Cyclones. If you actually watched the game, it seemed like 30 because EHS did lead by 33 at one time and pretty much dominated the game. While it's true the Greeneville coach benched the starters for a while, it's a stretch to say that EHS "pretty much beat our JV by around 20." The starters were down big before the JV hit the floor. Likewise, the Greeneville starters were back in the game in the 4th quarter against the EHS JV and made up some of the difference. Regardless of how the 2 previous meetings ended, I agree with your conclusion. This is March and both EHS and GHS have very good teams. I expect a very competitive game tonight. Go Lady Cyclones!

I hope you get another chance at the Lady Cyclones too! That would mean we both advanced to the regional finals and earned a substate birth. Monday's games should be exciting.

Overall, there is some decent insight in this post. But, how does anyone from Limestone Cove justify calling anyone outside the cove "Homer"? BTW, it's "Fritz" not "Fitz." LOL

The "head man of the TSSAA" has already proven that he is in over his head (no pun intended) after the fiasco that occurred this year with football playoff seeding. Hence, I'm not surprised by the response he gave about officiating. I fully realize that officiating is a difficult and under-appreciated job. I also am a fan of the concept of "don't always point out problems unless you want to be part of the solution." However, to continuously use the crutch response "if you don't like the officiating, then become one" is lame. How about another novel idea, "how them accountable." There is basically no accountability with the officials. There will not be any improvements without accountability...

Good post squirrel. I appreciate your perspective. Initially, I didn't particularly think the foul where Cara got hurt was malicicious. However, it's the offender's reaction after the fact that made me question the play. That coupled with the fact there were some cheap shots taken periodically throughout the game by SE. Regardless, fouling is part of the game. It's over and we'll move on. From what I heard Unicoi played pretty well last night. Because of all the youth, there is only upside for them if all the girls stick together. I too hope we meet again in the regionals because that will mean we have made it to the championship (I think). If EHS doesn't make it, I too will pull for any East TN team(s) that does. Good luck to all.

catballer...it appears you may be the proverbial "pot calling the kettle black". It seems a little hypocritical to accuse Elizabethton of poor sportsmanship for playing starters late into the game, but condone the retaliatory type of fouling that was exhibited by SE during the game. Hmmm... Regardless of your perspective, Coach Dugger is a class act as are all of our girls. Unfortunately, I missed the championship game so I can't comment on the number or type of fouls. I did hear that a lot of fouls were called and that free throws are the only thing that kept Unicoi in the game though.