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Isn't it true that the Hall of Fame games don't count towards a team's official record? Congratulations to Raleigh-Egypt on a quality performance at a quality tournament. Tennessee schools have made a great showing in the major tournaments during this Christmas season.

It was a very good match-up (a little hard to see on the webcast). Chism had 12 points from 3 point range including a half court heave at the end of the second quarter. Most of Chism's points came in the first half. Brandan's were evenly spread and came mainly from the paint. Brandan continues to struggle from the line (3 of 9) but he certainly is countering nicely with the rest of his game.

Good win for BA. Congratulations to Josh Bone, Bill Kottas and Brandan Wright (MVP) for making the all tournament team

Tennessee High School

No question. Way too many turnovers and poor outside shooting. BA made up for the turnovers and poor shooting with stingy defense. Great teams won't be "on" every night but they do find a way to win.

You didn't see BA's A game tonight (no disrespect to Science Hill intended).

Much better webcast than Arby's. Multiple cameras, good clarity and its free (it also helps that the darn thing works-unlike last nights Arbys webcast).

Thanks. Its difficult for the young guys to get playing time with a team this deep and schedule this tough. Their time will come. I wish we hadn't lost the web audio feed at halftime.

That's the phone report I just got from my son. Everyone got some good playing time tonight. The starters and key reserves apparently saw limited action in the second half.

We appear to have lost the audio feed as well as video. Hopefully, they can get this fixed before the next round.

There is a link on the tournament website

By no stretch of the imagination am I naive to think that BA would be nationally ranked or be one of the top three teams in the state without Brandan and Josh. My point was to highlight the fact that there is a core group of five additional players that make them a national caliber team. BA won't be a nationally ranked team next year but will still be one of the top teams in Tennessee. Frankly, they will be the team to beat in DII this year as well as the next two. As long as this year's crop of juniors stay healthy, they will be one of the top ten in Tennessee next year.

Brandan typically scores in the low to mid 20's. Josh Bone is generally in the 16 to 18 range. No doubt they share the scoring load. However, what you are missing is the strong rebounding and defense of Brandon Brown and Brian Wright as well as the ability of Bill Kottas to bring the ball up the floor against intense pressure. It's not all about the point production. I have had the opportunity to see the "team" perform against the best Kentucky has to offer and some of the best in the nation. Brandan is a great player but BA could not have beaten Episcopal for the City of Palms championship without the combined talents of Kottas, Brian Wright and especially Brandon Brown. Keep an eye on the box scores and you will begin to see the scoring averages level out. Brandon Brown will consistently be in the 10 to 12 range as will Brian Wright. Brandan Wright will settle in the low 20's and Josh in the high teens. As I have said in other posts, Brandan scores whatever he needs to score for BA to win. If teams try to focus on Brandan by collapsing multiple players in the middle, then others pick up the scoring load.

It won't be Flatt. With Kent Austin not ready to take the job at BA, Carlton plans to be on the sidelines at BA at least one more year.

BA wins the City of Palms Classic over Episcopal from Philadelphia 74 to 68. This team boasts two D-1 signees (Gerald Henderson - Duke and Wayne Ellington - UNC). BA was up 8 at the end of the first quarter and down by 5 at the half. The Eagles were down by 10 early in the 4th quarter. A relentless press by the Eagles got them back in the ball game. By forcing turnovers and hitting some timely 3's, BA took the lead with a couple of minutes remaining. Henderson and Ellington put on a show for the crowd with 27 and 29 respectively. Brandan Wright led all scorers with 31 and took MVP honors. Josh Bone joined Brandan on the all tournament team. Roy Williams was at the game to see his two future stars. Unbelievable week for the Eagles. No team from Tennessee had ever made the finals. An unbelievable gut check performance by the Eagles.

It was without a doubt the best I have seen BA perform on the court. The Brooklyn team was very athletic and boasted the top Freshman in the country. He is the real deal. BA was clicking on all cylinders. Brandan (once again) put on a show for the crowd. Josh Bone was deadly from 3 point range as was Brandon Brown. Guard play from Kottas, Beasley and Bone was impressive as well. Tonights semi-final against St. Patrick will be a much tougher test. They are top 5 in the USA today poll and play a withering defense.

Actually it is Tuesday. I lost track of the days (too busy getting a tan for Christmas). Should be a good game. If BA wins then the next game will be the top seeded team out of Pennsylvania.

BA looked pretty good against Lake Wales. A little slow in the first half but came alive in the second. Lake Wales was undefeated prior to this game. Brandan definitely put on a show. The fans around me were in awe (particularly his shot blocking and shooting stroke). Wednesday's game agains Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln will be a much tougher task.

BA travels to City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers on Friday http://www.cityofpalmsclassic.com/

I have not heard about attempts to schedule a Siegel matchup. However, considering BA has scheduled Bolivar, Mitchell, Ridgeway and Whites Creek this year, I doubt BA is ducking Siegel. If discussions occurred, then most likely the schedules could not be arranged to the satisfaction of both parties. This wouldn't be surprising considering the amount of out of state travel for BA this year. Siegel's a great team and I would love to see the teams play.

Isn't it odd that BA is 19 in the nation but only 3rd in the midstate according to this evenings Tennessean. Of course the Tennessean is known for their accuracy in high school polls (same goes for football). After beating #'s 1,2,5 & 17 in Kentucky, BA travels to City of Palms tournament in Ft. Myers, FL for some national caliber competition. Hopefully, with the same results as Kentucky.

BA dominates South Laurel (#1 team out of Kentucky and 2004 state champion) by a score of 80 to 60. BA started slow but stetched a 10 point half time advantage to as much as 25 late in the second half. Very strong team effort with balanced scoring and excellent defense. Hopefully, BA has finally shaken off the early season cobwebs.

Bolivar was sluggish for most of the game but Willie Kemp made a close down the stretch.

South Laurel (BA's opponent) is apparently the top ranked team in Kentucky. BA beat the Henry Clay (Kentucky's second ranked team) last weekend.

"If" he made the comment, then it would appear that it was directed at some unruly fans and not the Shelbyville team. Also, based on your response, he did not make this comment to the print media.