kilt

Krich is right. Luck has a lot to do with having a great season. Look at Unaka's run to the state championship. They beat several teams at the buzzer that they could've lost to. Unicoi, just like Unaka however, just keeps winning. I think any school in the local area would trade records with Unicoi in a heart beat . Who knows with a little luck they could end up with a gold ball too. John English is another of the areas great young coaches.

Storm, Give it up. Matt is a good coach with a great record. Just because your girlfriend wasn't able to play for Matt, don't criticize his coaching ability. Anyone that will be honest knows Matt is getting as much effort out of his teams as any coach out there. Stop the coach bashing and realize that he must be doing something right because his team plays with class and heart.

Storm, why question a coach who has done nothing but win ever since he started coaching at Cloudland? I don't remember you playing or coaching basketball. I thought our girls played with a lot of heart and Matt did a great job. The Rangers are ranked #3 in the state and the Landers hung in all the way. Unaka has more talent and they have an extremely deep bench. I was very proud of how both teams played. Don't take away from such an enjoyable game to watch.

I've seen Avery's jv team play and if they win the state, Lunsford is not only a good coach, he is a miracle worker. There is not a college bound athlete on the team. There are some good players, but they don't have the potential to be as good as the current team. I don't see anyone on the team with the potential to be as good as Spradling, Johnson, Bare, or Stoeltzing. They will be a good team, but not a great team. They only have two athletes with good speed in Lunsford and Jennings. I don't think either could come close to the four I mentioned speeds. I wish them well but my optimism is a little more guarded. Conference champs maybe, state I seriously doubt.

I posted that this was not an upset but I have to take that back. Unaka parents are very upset . Your team lost, accept it and don't blame individuals. It goes back to expectations. Unaka expects to go to the state tournament this year. Losing to Cloudland wasn't a tournament game. Unaka is a good team who is capable of making a state tournament run. This comes from a die hard Cloudland fan. Move on. Parents, if you can't take it if your team loses, don't go to the games. Grow up and be examples of what good sportsmanship can be. The kids from Unaka play hard and exhibit great sportsmanship on the court. Parents should take notes. Each time Unaka plays you see someone from Unaka post about the problems they need to workout. The only problem seems to be the parents. I don't know any of the Unaka players individually, but they deserve better than this. After all, it is just a game. Don't be responsible for hurting these kids for life. Give them a pat on the back for trying to represent your Community the best they can. These young men a fine examples. Good luck to the Rangers and all the County teams. Especially the Landers.

Cloudland shared the conference title with Unaka the past two years. They have beaten Unaka at least one time per year the past 3 years. We lost in overtime at Unaka this year in a game we could have won. I wouldn't call this game an upset. These two teams are very equal. Congratulations to Unaka on the conference title this year and good luck to both teams in tournament play.

University played a really good game. They were hitting from everywhere. Cloudland seemed lifeless. There was no enthusiasm. I don't know if playing 3 games this week had anything to do with it. Refs were horrible, but that wasn't the reason they got beat. University came to play and Cloudland didn't. Refs were really bad both ways.

Yeah King, I agree with you not!!! I don't remember you playing basketball so I don't think you know what you are talking about. Cloudland would be making a huge mistake by getting rid of any of their coaches at CHS. I remember when Cloudland didn't have a chance of beating the Unakas, Hamptons and others. Coach Smith has changed that. He along with Birchfield are two of the best young coaches out there. My big question is who do you think would do better?

Not knocking Coach Ensor, but I'm real happy with the job that Coach Smith and staff are doing Cloudland. We are now extremely competitive with Unaka and have been at the top of the conference since he has taken over. He's a keeper.

The king does not represent Cloudland people's thoughts in any way. Don't get all hot and bothered by someone who is clearly not very bright about sports or anything else for that matter. I enjoy the competition between Unaka and Cloudland. What I don't enjoy is the competition between the fans. On the fields or the courts the players, both girls and boys, play hard and clean. The fans take things way too far. It is bad when I don't want to take my young children to a game because of the behavior of the fans. Grow up people. It is a game, not life and death. Good luck to both teams.

As long as the privates are in 1A it will take a miracle for the publics to win. Look at all the teams that people are predicting to win in 1A. No publics. Statistics will show that the publics should win by the numbers. There are many more public schools than privates. I went to see the slaughter of Cloudland by Ezell-Harding and there is no amount of hard work that would have prevented it. I loved the movie Rudy when the coach said you can't put in what God left out. The privates have a bigger talent pool to gather from. Mark Byrd was an awesome player, but Ezell-Harding had at least 6 to 8 players of his caliber. I didn't say they recruit. I don't think it is a matter of coaches contacting parents as it is parents contacting the schools because they want to send their children to what they think is the best school in their area.

If no one wants to talk about your team or players, then don't bash ones you know nothing about.

The skilled people that ran over SP were sophomores. The person that everyone forgets about is Dakota Benfield. He ran for over 200 yds and he was a sophomore. This team is a great team because of the leadership of Mark Byrd, but he is by no means alone. The line is great, the coach is great, and the fan support for such a small school is unbelieveable. I can't see SP getting by Boyd anyway, so ignore krp. I don't see many sites about the great SP and we don't critisize our players like krp does his.

Mark Byrd is a great football player and person as well. On career day at the local elementary, he gave students a great talk on why school is so important. He spoke of making good grades and working hard in whatever you do in life. He lives by this motto. He has a 3.8 grade average. I know people on this board get tired of Cloudland people bragging on him, but the reality is he is one of the greatest kids you'll ever meet. As for winning the 1A football award, I hope he does. If he doesn't big deal. We fans are the real winners for being blessed to watch such a fine young man for the past 4 years.