BackyardLegend

Cleveland won an exciting game. It came down to the last secont lay-up in overtime by Rhea County that didn't fall. Jay Davis from Cleveland drew the charge as the horn sounded. Prior to that play, Cleveland missed two free throws that could've forced Rhea to hit a 3 to tie. Rhea rebounded the second missed freethrow and went coast to coast. Jay Davis stood his ground and took the charge. The referee at first signaled no call...but then signaled a charge as he was running off the court. Neither team deserved to lose this one.

Basketball Post Season is finally here!!!! Nothing compares to the excitement and drama of hoops tournament time! High school basketball playoffs temporarily quench our thirst us before the NCAA March Madness begins in a few weeks. The atmosphere of tournament action is second to known! The District 5-AAA at Bradley Central should be full of excitement this week. On paper, this is Bradley Central's warm up to Murfreesboro. The Bears have had a tremendous season. They have been ranked 1 or 2 in the state all year long. They should be the odds on favorite to capture another district title. They returned EVERYONE from last year's state runner up team. I'm not talking about starters...I'm talking about the whole team!!!! It's hard to find any obvious weakness in the Bear's armor. Throw in the fact that the Bears are hosting the tournament and you'd be crazy not to pick Kent Smith's squad. So why waste everyone's time by even playing the District? Well...a couple of things come to mind. First of all...The TSSAA needs the money (Just kiddin'!). I just had to throw that one in there. Seriously though...Kellen Pickel's potential season ending injury raises some question marks. The once seemingly invincible Bears have all of the sudden dropped 2 of the last 3 games. This is proof that the Bears are human. They are still a great team, but they can be beat. The second thing that pops up in my mind is that the Cleveland Blue Raiders are peaking at the right time. After a so-so start to the season, the Raiders are playing with a great deal of confidence and so-called "swagger". Their victory over the Bears a couple of weeks ago has got this team believing that they can go a far way in the playoffs. Sophomore point guard Colby Dodd is playing like a seasoned veteran. He is giving the Raiders a much-needed 3rd scorer behind Charles Little and Jay Davis. Cleveland is a potentially dangerous team in this tournament. Rhea County has been a mystery to me all year. If you look at their roster, then you'd think that they should be able to breeze through their schedule this year and give Bradley all they can handle for the district Championship....but up to this point, they have a lot of question marks. In one week, the Golden Eagles have went from being co-champions of the district all the way to a loss away from being the 4th place team. They lost to Bradley for the regular season championship, but rebounded to beat a good Cumberland County team to claim 3rd place. The Golden Eagles and Cleveland will play on Wednesday in what should be a great game. Cumberland County and McMinn are very scary and dangerous. They both bring something to the table when it comes to being Cinderellas. Cumberland is a very well coached team. They have a victory over Cleveland this year. They also have some pretty decent players such as Danny Cumby. McMinn has arguably the best player in the district in JuJuan Smith. JuJuan is capable of taking a game over. The Cherokees did not win a single district game this year, but took Cleveland to a double or triple overtime game this year and they held second half leads against Cumberland and Rhea I believe. The only problem with McMinn is that JuJuan doesn't have a whole lot of help. The Cumberland and McMinn County "play-in" game should be a fun game to watch. In closing, I'm not sure who is going to win this tournament. Bradley definitely is going to be the favorite, but I strongly believe that it will be a Cleveland-Bradley final. If this is true, then Friday night at the Jim Smiddy arena will be rockin'! Good luck to all the teams! Until next time...the Backyard Legend is outta here!

What happened to Kellen Pickel last Friday night was very unfortunate. I'm sure that Kellen is asking a lot of questions. I hope that he understands that God is in control. God has a plan and Kellen needs to follow God's lead. Kellen is one of most outstanding young adults in the Bradley County Community. His impact on people in this area goes far beyond what Kellen does on the court or playing field. There are two things that come to mind when I think of the impact that KP has on his town. First, I saw a picture in the paper recently where Kellen visited an elementary school and spoke to the students about the importance of reading and getting an education. He then had lunch with a young girl who had reached or surpassed a certain goal in reading. You could see the joy that KP brought to that young girl just by being there. A lot of athletes today wouldn't have found the time to do something like that, but KP did. Secondly, it was really amazing to see how many people...both from Bradley High School and Cleveland High School called or visited Kellen at both the hospital and at home on Saturday. People were bringing food and gifts. The house was full of people. That should be a sign to Kellen that he means a lot to those around him. So while KP may be a little disappointed about not being able to play for a short period of time, he should know that he can still help the team by encouraging them and pushing them not to let this setback ruin the great season that they have had up to this point and to keep their eyes on their goal of winning a state championship. In closing, this whole scenario reminds me of story of ex major league pitcher Dave Dravecky. Dravecky was a great pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. During a game one day, his pitching arm snapped in two while pitching. When they got him to the hospital, they found a malignent tumor on his arm. Sadly, they had to amputate his pitching arm. When Dave Dravecky was interviewed shortly afterwards, he stated "It would be easy for me to sit back ask "Why Me, God"...but instead I have to ask myself "How can I use this situation in my life to glorify God?"" Kellen...God has blessed you with so much ability far beyond the athletic arena...take this "lemon" of a situation and turn it into "lemonade". If it is truly God's will...then hopefully we'll see you in Murfreesboro playing for the "Gold Ball"! Good luck KP! Get well Soon! Until next time...the Backyard Legend is outta here!

Sorry about that!!! It is Friday night! I guess that I got caught up in wishful thinkin'!

Well...It's that time again! Cleveland-Bradley! It's a great rivalry...even though Bradley has dominated it over the past 3 or 4 years. Bradley is an awesome team. Kent Smith has put together a team that seems to have almost no weak spots. Bradley would have to be any bettin' man's choice to be playin' for the "Gold Ball" in Murfreesboro. The Bears do a good job of distributing the ball to a lot of people. A lot of people are misled by thinkin' that the Bears only scorers are Pickel and Hare. They are both phenomenal players and are worthy of all the praise that goes their way, but the other "role" players can beat you too. This was evidenced in the last meeting. Cleveland was holding their own with Bradley until Yarrish Hammonds drilled 3 straight trifectas at the end of the first half to give the Bears the momentum that they never relinquished. Also, the Bears have somewhere around 8 seniors. Senior leadership is a key to any great high school team. Cleveland on the other hand only has two seniors...Jay Davis and Levonte' Barber. Their inexperience has shown through during a lot of games this year. Slowly but steadily, Coach Aaron Green is makin' this group of athletes a formidable foe for many teams that you wouldn't expect Cleveland to beat. Primarily, the Raiders are two-scorer team. Charles Little is their go to man, and Jay Davis is their "long distance" operator. Their supporting cast lack the offensive firepower to outscore the Bears Friday night. So does that mean that the Raiders can't beat the Bears? No, I'm not saying that...but a lot of things must happen for the Raiders to "Shock the World". 1. The Raiders must cut the game in half. They must be patient on offense, and they must force the Bears to work harder to get good looks on defense. If the winning team scores less than 60, then the Raiders have a shot. Otherwise, look for a potential blowout. 2. Raider point guard Colby Dodd has to play flawless basketball. Bradley will pressure the sophomore. If the Raiders are to have a chance, then he'll have to play a great game as he did against Rhea County last week. 3. Alex Goldston has to look to score. He is only a sophomore and he is too timid to score. Alex needs to score to take the pressure off of Little down low. 4. If Cleveland exposed any Bear weaknesses last time, it was that the Raiders were able to score when the Bears tried to play man to man against them. The Raiders were isolating Little and lettin' him take it to whoever was guarding him. If the Bears try to "Man Up" the Raiders, then Raiders must attack them like they did the first time. 5. The Raiders must rebound!!!! They cannot allow the Bears the get 2nd and 3rd shots on every possession. They've got to limit the Bears to one shot on each possession. Bradley has a lot of height...and they do a good job of hittin' the offensive boards. Finally, The Raiders must believe that they can win. If they don't believe that they can win, then they won't. The Raiders can talk about how they think they can beat Bradley, but if they don't believe it in their hearts...then it will be a long night. The Cleveland High dome should have a great basketball atmosphere tomorrow night....If they turn on the air conditioner (hint...hint). I'm lookin' forward to a great evening of basketball! If ya'll are plannin' on comin' out, then you better get there early! Until next time! the Backyard Legend is out like a fat kid in dodgeball!

Yes... Jay Davis has been cleared to play for the basketball team. The school was informed by the TSSAA right after their last regular season game before the Christmas break. He played in the Huntsville Times Classic. Hope this helps! Until next time...Backyard Legend

Here's the scoop on Coach Green from Ol' Backyard Legend. While on their recent trip to Huntsville for the Huntsville Times Holiday tournament, Coach Green got upset with a referee. The referee slapped a technical foul on him. The referree instructed him to sit down and when Coach Green sat down he made a comment that he thought the call was pitiful. The referee heard him and slapped another technical foul on him. That is an immediate ejection in the game. The suspension is in question due to the fact that the tournament was in Alabama and was under Alabama state athletics jurisdiction. In Alabama, there is no suspension for being ejected from a game on your first offense. In Tennessee, if a coach gets ejected from a game, then he faces a fine and 2 game suspension. No one really knows for sure if the TSSAA would hold him to 2 game suspension since the incident happened outside the state, but the school decided to enforce it just in case the TSSAA ruled that Coach Green was suspended. He sat out their last game in the Huntsville tournament and he will sit out their next game also. I understand where the school is coming from on this issue due to the recent run in with the TSSAA over the post game scuffle at Rhea County in football that got the whole program a year of probation. Better safe than sorry...right? Anyways, that's the scoop on the suspension. Coach Green should be back on the bench in early January. Until next time, the Backyard Legend is outta here!

Well...It's about time for the Ol' Backyard Legend to come out of hibernation for another season of hoops. FYI for all the Charles Little bashers and doubters out there...Charles has no perimeter help from any other Raiders. Every team that plays Cleveland, including JuJuan Smith and the McMinn County Cherokees, have packed it in defensively against Little. It's amazing that anyone could say that 19 points, 21 rebounds, and 6 assists is not impressive facing double and triple teams all night. Those are the numbers that the "overrated" Mr. Little laid on the McMinn County Cherokees in in Athens earlier. I'll agree that Charles Little lacks a true jumper that he'll need down the road in college. He goes in every morning at 6am and works on it. His shot is a whole lot better than it was last year. He does handle the ball a lot better than most players his size. Keep in mind that Charles Little is only a junior...and a young junior at that. I believe that Mr. Little still has a problem with peaks and valleys in the area of intensity. If he can consistantly play with good intensity, and continue to improve his shot, then he should be able to play at just about any college he desires. I guess only time will tell. I guess I better get on outta here and finish my Christmas shoppin'! Ya'll have a great Christmas Holiday! The Backyard Legend

Ted Williams May-Catcher: National Pitch Hit and Throw Champion as a 12 year old, He was intentially walked over 60 times as a senior. He played AA ball in the Cubs organization. Ted Carson: RHP: Broke University of Tennessee season wins record and SEC record holder. Played AA ball in the Cardinals organization. Darius Gash OF: Switch Hitter. Once hit a homerun from both sides of the plate in the same game. Played in the Padres organization. Greg Davis: OF: All State in Football, Baseball, and Basketball. Played collegiate basketball and baseball with Oral Roberts University. Played professionally in the Orioles organization. Tim Dodd RHP- Signed straight out of high school with the Reds organization. He made it to AA before arm trouble ended his career. Coming Attractions: Travis Simmons, jared Gaston, Antonio Westfield, Levonte' Barber, and Blake Carver.

Cleveland's leftfielder Antonio Westfield should be added to the list of Tennessee's best outfielders. Antonio posesses one of the strongest throwing arms around. He also is a pretty good power hitter. There are several scouts that have been seen hanging out at Cleveland's games watching him. If I were a betting man; I'd say that he'll get drafted out of high school.

Cleveland's southpaw Blake Carver...if he's healthy. He's recovering from a broken pitching arm. When he's healthy...he's dominating. A fastball in the mid 80's, an impressive curveball, and a great pickoff move. Definitely D1 material. He could possibly be drafted straight out of high school. He was supposed to make his first start this week, but the weather hasn't been good to him and his team mates this week.

Don't forget Data Caldwell (juco all american), Jane Brock Richardson (She either scored 100 points in one game, or came pretty dang close), and Angie Sutton (Fla. State)

It sure was good to see Cleveland pitcher Blake Carver on the mound. His one inning of work last night was a testimony of his will to get back on the mound. To those who have never heard of Blake Carver; He is a crafty southpaw that throws in the mid 80's and has a breaking ball that will drop off the table. He picked off over 10 runners last year. During Summer AAU, a US select team traveling to Australia, and Fall AAU baseball last year; Blake had a perfect 0.00 era! During this time, he also pitched a one hitter and a no hitter against a couple of Australian National teams. Numerous SEC schools have courted him. Last Fall, while driving home one night, a deer ran in the path of his Jeep Wrangler. In an attempt to avoid hitting the deer, Blake ran off the road and hit a tree. He was less than a mile away from his home. The result of the wreck was a broken pitching arm. He fractured both his radius and his ulna just above his left wrist. He went into surgery the next morning to insert a handy man's collection of nuts, bolts, and plates into his arm. The doctor's guess was that Blake wouldn't be able to throw a baseball for over 6 months. The doctor also advised Blake that it would be even longer before he could ever pitch. Through Blake's hard work, determination, and his faith in God; he was able to pitch one inning last night. He showed a little jitters at first, but once he settled down, he was throwin' smoke again. NO EARNED RUNS! Congratulations Blake! It's great to see you back on the mound. All Raider fans are looking forward to seeing you pitch again!

Ol' Backyard Legend only calls 'em as he sees 'em!

This is Ol' BackyardLegend's Bradley Dream Team Point: Chad Copeland Guard: Steve Sloan Center: Alvin Scott Power Forward: Dennis Botts Shooting Forward: Josh Hare Now that's a pretty physical team right there...I'm sure that there would be bodies flyin' around the everywhere!:)I think that this team would pretty much own the boards.

If you could put together a dream team of past and present players from your favorite high school, who would be on it. Your team should have a point guard, a shooting guard, a wing/forward, a true forward (power or shooting), and a center. Let's see who has the best team! I'll start with Cleveland High School Point Guard- Darnell Mee (Western Kentucky and Denver Nuggets) Shooting Guard- Russell "Juice" Ware (Hiwassee Jr. College) Center- Vincent Yarbrough (University of Tennessee and Denver Nuggets) True Forward (shooting or power)-Del Baker (University of Tennessee) Wing/Forward- Greg Davis (Oral Roberts University) It's tough to name just 5 when you leave great players like Rich Burns and Dale Kennedy off. I'll stick to my guns. What are some other dream teams out there?

1. Alvin Scott (Oral Roberts University, Phoenix Suns) 2. Chad Copeland (Florida State and UTC) 3. Steve Sloan ('nuff said) 4. Dennis Botts 5. Josh Hare (Mr. Basketball and currently at Samford) 6. Steve Williams 7. Jason Richardson 8. Alphonso Pugh 9 Tie. Kellen Pickel 9 Tie. Justin Hare

1. Vincent Yarbrough (University of Tennessee, Denver Nuggets) 2. Darnell Mee (Western Kentucky, Denver Nuggets) 3. Del Baker (University of Tennessee) 4. Russell "Juice" Ware (Hiwassee Junior College) 5. Rich Burns (Western Kentucky, UTC) 6. Dale Kennedy (4 year starter and tri state player of the year) 7. Greg Davis (Oral Roberts University, Baltimore Orioles farm system in baseball) 8. Reggie Tucker (Hiwassee Junior College, Utah State, and LSU) Knee problems all through college. 9. Eric Bradford (Killed in Military action) 10. Dante' Hickey (Juco Football) Coming Attractions: Tim Cooper and Charles Little

Ol' Backyardlegend had the opportunity to take advantage of the recent 70+ degree weather, and watch a friendly neighborhood game of tennis between cross-town rivals Bradley Central and Cleveland. I realize that this isn't the tennis board, but I feel like this story is worth noting here on the basketball board. When I arrived at the tennis match, I noticed a couple of reporters crowded around a tennis player. This sort of struck my curiosity since I haven't heard of any big time tennis players from this area since Eddie Coates. As I made my way over in that direction, I noticed that the attention getter was no one else than Bradley hoops standout Justin Hare! The same Justin Hare, that was named 3rd team All State in basketball, was sitting on a bench holding a tennis racquet!!!! I had the opportunity to sit and chat with him before he had to put on his tennis "game face" and go into battle. We chatted a little about basketball, but our conversation quickly turned to the task at hand.... tennis. It was his first day off of the hard court and on to the green court. He asked me "How many games do we play?" Here's a young man getting ready to start a varsity tennis match against his school's fiercest rivals, and he's not even sure how to keep score!!!! Most people would've have written him off in this match as a sacrificial lamb, but to those who know Justin, know he is truly a great athlete and a great competitor. Justin won his match handily and partnered up shortly afterwards and won a doubles match too! On paper, Cleveland probably should've won this match, but Justin Hare and his teammates won the overall team match 5-4. I sort of hope that Justin wins the district in tennis. I'd like to see him try to jump the net on match point! Good luck for the rest of the tennis season and good luck in AAU hoops, which start up in April. Until next time...I'm outta here. BackyardLegend P.S. Hey Justin, I told you that I'd put a post up here about your tennis expertise.

Without a doubt...Hoosiers! The worst basketball movie, also without a doubt, was "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" starring Dr. J.

There seems to be a lot of basketball players in the SE Tennessee area that are not getting the looks from Colleges and Universities that they truly deserve. I'm sure that the same is true statewide. It amazes me because I'm sure that most colleges and universities field a basketball team. Why is this happening? Is it because coaches don't market their players as well as they should? Is it because these players do not go to camps?...or play AAU? Is it a lack of media coverage? Regardless...I guess that it comes down to one thing. EXPOSURE! In the Bradley County area alone, there are numerous players that I'm confident can play at that next level. Yet, they're not getting anyone knocking down the door to get them. The following are just a few that come to mind and my personal thoughts on each one. Kellen Pickel-Bradley Central. Hopefully, some colleges will open their eyes this week at the state tournament. The consensus of coaches and the press at the district and region tournament was that Kellen can play D1, but for some reason, he's not getting the attention he deserves. I think in Kellen's case is that he doesn't play AAU basketball in the Summer. He is very talented in baseball also. He plays AAU baseball in the Summer. I guess that K.P. needs to decide which primary direction he wants to head collegiately (baseball or basketball) and play that AAU sport this upcoming Summer. I know that he loves both sports, so it will be a tough decision. I guess he could play both, but that would be tough...especially if he's planning on participating in Bradley's Basketball team camp. Trey Sharpe-Cleveland High School- Trey only knows one speed...200 miles an hour. He may be one of the best defensive players that I've ever seen. He hustles every second of every game. He plays with such a passion. He's physically strong (benches over 300lbs), and isn't scared to take it hard to the rack. His height could possibly limit what positions he can play on the next level. He doesn't have enough confidence in his outside jumper to use it as a weapon. I know that Lee University has offered him a full ride, but it may be more advantageous for Trey to go the prep school or juco route. He would play everyday at a two or 3 guard in prep or juco. He might have to sit a year or two at Lee. Lee has already signed Lance Sexton from Soddy and another 3 guard. If he goes the Juco route and works on the development of his outside jumper, then I think he may get some looks by some mid major schools in a couple of years. Either route Trey chooses to go, some coach will get a diamond in the rough. He's got a ton of potential, and he's got a great attitude. Tim Cooper- Cleveland- This junior is exciting and electrifying. He's got a deadly outside shot and is quicker than the cartoon character "Speedy Gonzalez". If you play up on him, then he'll blow by you. If you back off of him. He'll light you up like a Christmas tree! Tim has really grown up in the past year...both on and off the court. He's actually becoming a leader. He has really bought into Head Coach Aaron Green's defensive philosophy. His size might be the only thing that could keep him from getting better looks from colleges. He needs to "stablize" his game a little more. There are times when Tim will take a game over, but there are times when he seems to have mental lapses during a game. He needs to work on keeping his head in the game for 32 minutes. Prep School or Juco would help Tim sharpen his game. He too will get more looks next year by colleges if he continues to grow as a leader for Cleveland. Tim is also a two sport athlete (football and basketball). Corey Pugh-Bradley- Corey is they younger brother of UTC player Alphonzo Pugh. Corey has a great basketball build and great defensive skills. Corey needs to work on developing his offensive skills. Corey could get caught in a trap of playing in the shadows of Justin Hare and Kellen Pickel. This could keep some schools from noticing the talents that Corey possesses. Playing with Kellen and Justin could also work in a positive way. Colleges may come looking at the Bear's Dynamic Duo and hopefully notice Corey. I hope this is the case, because Corey can play. I'm sure there are some other diamonds in the rough that are just waiting to be found. Who are some others that would be willing to "play hoops for food"?

Well...it's state tournament time! This is the reward for all the hard work, and sweat, that every state tournament team has put in for the past 5 months. From what everyone is saying, it looks like this years state tournament should be dubbed "The White Station Classic". It seems that everyone is thinking that the other 7 teams in the state are playing for second place. I personally haven't had the opportunity to watch the Spartans of White Station play this year. I hear that they're pretty good, but I'm not quite ready to just hand them over the Gold Ball. Once you get this far in the tournament, then anyone can beat anyone. Ol' BackyardLegend is gonna plead his case for head coach Kent Smith and his Bradley Central Bears to win the state. First; as a head coach, Kent has been to two previous state tournaments including last year. He had a second place finish a few years back with Josh Hare, Zach Carpenter, and Stacey Scotten. That kind of coaching experience can really be an advantage during a tournament. Secondly; I've watch the Bears many times this year, and I've yet to see anyone match up with their backcourt. Cleveland High School had 5 losses this year. Four of them were to the Bears. Cleveland had a pretty good team, but Bradley's backcourt presented too many problems for the Raiders. Justin Hare and Kellen Pickel may be the best backcourt in the state. You may be able to keep one of them in check, but you can't keep both of them in check. Both of these young men can beat you, but they do it in different ways. Justin Hare is a bigger and more physical player than Pickel. He presents serious problems to opponents due to the fact that he can shoot outside and he can take his opponent to the rack. If a smaller guard is on him, then can post him up. Justin also does an unbelievable job of crashing the offensive boards. Most opponents can't keep him off the boards because of his size and strength. The single most impressive thing about Justin to me is his coolness on the court. He seems to keep himself under control at all times. He's got great court saavy. During the region championship, Cleveland head coach Aaron Green was shouting instructions to his players during a free throw situation. Justin seemed to be more focused on what Coach Green was saying than the Raiders were themselves. He seems to be aware of all things going on. He's like a coach on the floor. Kellen Pickel can also beat you in many ways. He seems to have an infra red laser scope on his shot. Everytime he shoots, you've got a feeling that it's going in. He is very "cat like" quick on both ends of the court. He sorta deceives you with his quickness. I haven't seen anyone guard him straight up for a whole game and hold him in check. He's got great hands and great anticipation. He seems to get a steal whenever he needs one. The single most impressive characteristic about Kellen Pickel is his neverending desire to win. He is the epitome of a true competitor. He refuses to lose. He'll find a way to win. As great as those two players have been this year, it takes 5 players to win. Hare and Pickel have a good supporting cast. Wes Suiter, Cory Pugh, and Chris Brown seem to provided offensive punch when needed. Defensively; the Bears play as good of team defense as you'll see anywhere. In the sub state game against Murfreesboro Blackman, the Bear's defense had Blackman so spread out and backed up, that they had 2 or 3 backcourt calls against them. The backcourt calls were not due to bad passes going astray, but were due to the Blackman players stepping past the half court line because Bradley's defense was so extended. That is the way that defense is supposed to be played. As the old saying goes, "Offense sells tickets and defense wins championships". Bradley plays good enough defense to win the state. In closing, this post is for naught because the games still have to be played. Greenville is a good team. I'm confident that Justin, K.P., and the rest of the Bears are gonna make the residents of Bradley County proud! Good Luck to the Bears! Bring home the Bacon! Until Next time....I'm outta here!

If that's true sly, then there must have been a misprint in the News Free Press yesterday. If Bradley is second, then I stand corrected. By the way...I didn't give that ol' barbequed pig a chance!

Well...Bradley-Cleveland III is history, and for the 3rd time, the Bradley Bears have come away victorious. Although the outcomes have all been the same, this game had a difference. The first game between these two teams was a classic 3-overtime game that neither team deserved to lose. The second game had a controversial ending. Even though Bradley had won both games, people across the state still felt like Cleveland was the better team (evidenced by the AP poll). Bradley's dismantling of the Raiders last night was a statement. Kent Smith and his District Champion Bradley Bears deserve, and have earned, the respect of many true basketball fans. Bradley's second half performance was just dominating. The game was over after Kellen Pickel and Justin Hare hit long-range 3's in the third quarter. The Bears erased a 7-point half time deficit, and basically put the game away in the third quarter. Half way through the 4th quarter, it seemed like the Bears were just "toying" with the Raiders. Cleveland lost their fight. Justin Hare "flushed" home an alley-oop to put an exclamation mark on last night's "statement". I strongly believe that the difference of the game was Cleveland˜s lack of an inside game in the second half. Wes Suiter and Cori Pugh did a good job defensively. When the Raiders couldn't score from inside the paint, then Bradley was able to extend their zone on the perimeter. Cleveland did not do a very good job of penetrating and attacking that zone in the second half. The combo of Justin Hare and Kellen Pickel did their usual highlight film, but the difference in the game was Wes Suiter. Mr. Suiter scored at will all night long. Cleveland head coach Aaron Green has a great coaching challenge ahead of him. He's got to pick up the pieces, and work on correcting the things that fell apart Friday night. He's only got 3 days to do it. I'm confident that he'll have his Raiders ready for Tuesday night. The Raiders need to do some quick soul searching as a team. Coach Green, and his staff, can prepare a great game plan, but the players are the ones that have to make the plays. Someone once said that the true character of a person is how he reacts when his back is against the wall. It's gut check time for the Raiders. Evidenced by all three games with the Bears, the Raiders need to understand that basketball is a 4-quarter game. Not 2 quarters or 3 1/2 quarters...but 4 whole quarters. The bright side for the Raiders is that they can redeem themselves. They're record is 0-0 now. Their new season starts Tuesday. As for the Bears, congratulations on your district championship. You proved last night that you truly deserve that title. You're record now is also 0-0. Your new season starts Monday. In closing, the atmosphere was great last night. The student sections were very vocal and focal. I hope that the championship atmosphere will carry over to the region tournament this week. Oh yeah...I almost forgot! Congratulations to Charlie Cogdill and Cleveland High School on a great tournament. The Hospitality suite was Great! The food was soooo good (especially the Barbeque)! I'm looking forward to next week's tournament. Good Luck to all District 5 teams! Until next time, I'm outta here!

Well...The table has been set. Now, who's gonna eat the dinner! Aaron Green, and his Rowdy Raiders, took care of business tonight in the District 5AAA Tournament semi finals. The Raiders put on a defensive clinic in dismantling the Cherokees of McMinn County. Their defense was so good, that not one Cherokee cracked double figures. Not even Jujuan Smith! The highlight of the game had to be Charles Little's 180 degree backwards dunk from of a pass off the glass by Tim Cooper. Coach Green did a great job of stressing to his squad the danger of looking past McMinn. They took care of business. Last night, Kent Smith and his band of hungry Bears started slowly, but responded well late to defeat a upset minded flock of eagles from Rhea County. The Bears trailed by as much as 12-14 points, but never gave up. Justin Hare, Cori Pugh and Yarrish Hammonds led the way. Kent's crew showed that they are a true champion by finding a way to win despite not playing well. I'm sure Kent was glad to get out of the dome with a victory. He's got a couple of days to iron out a few wrinkles and I'm confident that he'll have the Bears ready to defend their District Championship. Ol' BackyardLegend doesn't see any reason why Cleveland-Bradley III should be any different than the first two. One thing about a game like this. Neither coach has to do much motivating. Both squads will be ready to play. Good Luck to both squads! If you wanna see the best game in town, then you better be at the dome early. It's gonna be a packed out game! Until Next time...The Backyard Legend is outta here!