GovMan

Still a little confused over the tournament MVP. Could have been a "Steve Harvey" incident. And that is not to take away at all from the Allison kid who certainly deserved to be on the All-Tournament team ... he is a beast. No doubt ... Bill Duncan can "coach 'em up" with the best of them. What he has done at Heritage in the last 3-4 years is nothing short of spectacular.

ND, I wondered about #5. Full agreement on #'s 1 - 4. I asked those next to me in balcony area if TD was not outside of the three point line, they thought he was inside it. I couldn't tell. I just noticed that Coach Eldridge didn't seem to "plead" too much for a three shot foul, so I figured he must have been inside the arc. Like you said, shouldn't have ever occurred anyway. I was shocked on #2. I watched the Maryville player ask for the time-out, and I saw one of the most tenured and respected officials I know simply shake his head at him and say, "you don't have any time-outs." I thought I was seeing things.

In the overall scheme of things, I believe the boy's consolation game has just as much at stake as the championship game.

RW ...interesting. Always seems MHS has a good student section at their home games. They need to come out Monday because that game is CRUCIAL for the Rebs. If you noticed, WB didn't have many students there either for the girls game. Wasn't sure if they were still rotating host school or not. Thanks for clarifying. Hopefully we can get it back over on our side of the river in the near future.

I was surprised too by the lack of Maryville student section. BTW ...not the greatest venue for the District Tournament. Especially on a night where you have rivalry games like WB vs Heritage; Heritage vs Maryville; and Farragut vs Bearden. Not sure if it's just West's year to host as part of some rotating district schedule or the coaches / A.D's picked it as the sight, but it's not big enough. And parking is atrocious. I'm guessing West has the smallest seating capacity of any school in our district.

Agree ...don't ever remember a more bizarre ending and agree NEITHER foul should have ever been whistled. Do you think second call was make-up for first call?

How about those Heritage girls? Big win for them last night against Maryville. Says a lot about the Lady Mountaineers. Lost one of their key leaders to a knee injury earlier in the year, struggled through some adversity, but have stepped it up in tournament. Next up for them is William Blount on Friday night at 6:00. The Lady Govs handled them fairly easily last time they played, but you know Coach Howard will have his girls ready to go. Should be an exciting game. Hardin Valley vs Bearden in the other girl's semi. Once again, while Bearden would be favored, HV is absolutely capable of winning this game. If anyone is out there, what do you think?

Her name is Karen Donehew (might as well spell it correctly if you are gonna trash talk us). She's really good and with three wins in a row over Webb, Morristown West, and William Blount, I believe it's safe to say South Doyle is pretty darn good as well.

Game has been moved to tonight (Monday) with Girls starting at 5:00 p.m. and Boys to follow. Game is at Bearden.

See ... this is great. Nobody hardly ever wants to talk girl's basketball. Thanks for some good responses Swipes. WB has Bearden tonight, so we'll see how they handle it. Last time, they were down by like 25 at the half and battled back to make it somewhat interesting at the end. Bearden is one of the few teams around here (not NE) that has the athletes to handle WB's style they are playing. I have a feeling Coach Wright will adapt the WB girl's style a little tonight and maybe try to play a little more of a 'half court' game. We'll see. It's good to have at least second guaranteed in our district, but with a win tonight, the Lady Govs would claim first I believe. Ought to be an exciting atmosphere over at Bearden. Hey Swipes ... is there one team in particular that you are a fan of up there in the great North East?

I see that scenario you're describing happening one time all year. Please look back at the edit that I did in that post you quoted for my argument. Your original post made it sound like they had done that all year Swipes. The Lenoir City game was a "trap game" sandwiched between Hardin Valley and Maryville, and they found a way to win, which is what good teams do. WB overall this year has been very consistent ... their 20-6 (11-2) record backs that up. I, by the way, did not say they are "Easily top 2 in East Tennessee". I hope WB gets an opportunity to play an Elizabethton or Mo West. It will be a good measuring stick for our young team. We still have a ways to go but we're excited.

One time the entire season Swipes did WB "lose to a team by double digits that they beat earlier in the year." Not a real strong defense of your lack of consistency argument. From the start of the season through the Christmas tournaments they were 13 -4 (with losses to Blackman;Morgan Park, a Chicago area team that is one of the best in Illinois; Elizabeth Seaton, which is one of Maryland's better girls programs; and to a pretty decent Cookville team). Since the start of 2016, they've gone 8 -2 (losses to Bearden and Farragut). This season they have wins over Bradley Central, McMinn Central, twice over Maryville, twice over Hardin Valley, they beat Cookville in rematch ...). The Lady Govs program is still on its way up. They still have to earn the right to be considered an elite program in ET but your consistency argument doesn't hold water. Better come up with something else!

So who do you like in this one? Lady Govs rolled in the first match up, but then less than a week later, Maryville knocks off Bearden and WB loses to Farragut. The WB girls looked about as good as I've seen them look on Tuesday night against Hardin Valley. Not only did they shoot the basketball well, their defense was stifling. When the two teams played earlier, Maryville was playing their third game in five days. Well, this time, that's the case with WB. They had HV on Tuesday and play Lenoir City in a make up game tonight (Thursday). Looking forward to a great game between two good teams. If anyone else is out there, let me know what you think!

Should be a good night Friday night as the Govs host Maryville. Girls game has all kind of district implications ... pretty sure the winner of the game will be guaranteed at least second in the district (which is huge). Boys game was close last time, but Maryville played without the two Upchurch boys. Of course, WB played most of the game without their really good freshman, Jordan Tarver. He left the game with an injury after taking a charge --which the refs missed incidentally (but you know I wouldn't bring that up) ! If the shots are falling for the WB boys, it could be an exciting game. Hey Maryville fans ... I'll be cueing up some theme from "Shaft" for in-game music. Any other requests?

Hey buddy ... just now catching this post. I watched Maryville girls play in the Renasant tourney and they looked strong. I think a combination of a terribly cold shooting night + Madison being less than 100% = the lopsided result of the WB game. I was not at all surprised that WB won, but didn't expect that margin of victory. Losing Abby Young (moved this summer) certainly didn't help the Lady Rebs. She would have really given them a strong inside post presence and some more depth. There's no doubt that Coach Wright is building a nice program at WB with great talent at every grade level this year, plus another very good group coming in next year. Having said all that, I expect the second match up between the two teams (at WB on February 5) will be a shoot-out and I'm sure Coach West will have his Maryville girls ready to go.

Huge week for the Lady Govs. They host Bearden on Tuesday night, and then travel to Maryville on Friday night. Thrilled to see that Prep Xtra had WB's girls ranked second this week in the Prep Xtra Girl's Top 10. Hopefully, it'll be two great games!

The officiating during this tournament has been "different" than the officiating we've been seeing during the regular season. Possible that because it's a holiday tournament and they are on a time schedule each day that the refs are letting them play a little more?

I keep waiting for the Hall kid to break out. Man ... when you see his size and his 40 speed ... he's a beast. BTW ... my son was telling me he took some recycling down to the recycle bins a couple of weeks ago and saw TD there doing his recycling. Why am I not surprised? I bet he walks around and looks for elderly folks to help across the street in his free time. What an incredible young man. Butch Jones should be camped out in his yard!!!!

And if you think their boys are good ...you ought to see their girls !

You are correct. Sophomore/ junior laden varsity with one freshman starting and one other freshman dressing. Lack of post presence is a challenge (although they do have a "project" player that is showing signs of improvement). Best overall shooting and ball handling team I can remember WB having in several years. They will "live and die" by the three.

Did you mean to say "Upper" East TN in your topic?

Wrong. You may be thinking of the Bowers kid. He left WB and went to Heritage. BTW ... WB freshmen boys beat Heritage last night 81-52. Sounds like the Govs have a pretty good group of freshmen this year.

Nonsense ...91 you know we would still have beaten Heritage even if Derrick Dooley was coach!

You got it 91. Forget about things like film study, stats, and grading out players each week. I'm not even sure why coaches keep up with all that stuff. They just need to ask you!

As many may have noticed, I've been relatively quiet this year. But after reading G91's review of our team, I felt it necessary to share some thoughts: * The Govs absolutely have NOT regressed as the season has gone along. Actually, one of their more solid performances (grade wise) came against Maryville. While the score may not have indicated it, if you've watched WB in years past and saw the MHS game, you could see some positives that have not been there in the past. * Those "difference maker players" that the Bearden fan mentioned (and he makes a great point) can certainly be Myrick (qb), King (rb), and Hannah (wr) next year. BUT player development along the O line will be the key to that happening. * IMO, developing solid high school secondary players that are capable of locking up 1 on 1 on receivers is one of the more difficult jobs at this level. Player development at corner especially can help the Govs next year. * Excited because I believe we will add another good assistant coach to our staff before next season. * G91 talks about our young men "letting up" late in games. Not what I've seen. Players like the Myers kid and the Key kid, among others, give 100% every snap until the final gun. Sometimes as a coach that is all you can ask for. I'm very proud of the fight our guys show every week. Hopefully if we can turn things around in coming years we will look back at this year's players as foundation builders. * With the exception of 2 years in late 80's , I have followed WB since its beginning. Our football program has not been in any better hands than it is right now. * Strong X's assessment is straight on as usual. We (community, school board, Administration, etc.) have to make the commitment necessary from this point to give Coach Shad and his staff the best opportunity to build this program. * New scoreboard, first new electronic clock system since 1979, plans underway for a covered, turf practice facility ... Formation of The Gov Club boosters ... All of this is good stuff. * Solid, well-run middle school program is certainly a huge plus. * As a minister, so thrilled that Shad puts a huge priority on Spiritual matters. Speaking for myself, I'm on-board and I'm stayin on ...true fans don't jump on when it's good and jump off when it isn't.