Flash Gordon

Snapp can fill it up... good addition to the list. Maryville 2 guard that can stroke it is Wes Lambert. He is another guy that can catch fire from 3. A couple more I thought of were Slusher from Grace and Michael Haynes from Heritage.

Some of the best I have seen: James Gallman-Fulton Jordan Rorex-Anderson County Daryl Florence-Austin East Skyler McBee-Rutledge Jason Seymore-Powell

Everyone has a right to their opinion Irishbball and I would say coachinhoops has a pretty good understanding of the teams in the district considering he coached in this district. I respect his opinion and appreciate him sharing it with us, even though I disagree with some parts of it as well. I do agree with you that Farragut is a top 3 team in the district but I can certainly understand how someone would question Farragut considering they lost a great group of seniors ( Akers, Onusic, Kinney,etc.). Those guys were the heart and soul of a GREAT team last year. I know they have some capable guys waiting in the wings but they really have some big shoes to fill. I think they will be good but not as good as last year.

Bearden could arguably be the favorite even if Douglas does play. Certainly, if he doesn't, they would be the clearcut favorite.

I agree with you about William Blount. They should be good this year. I'm looking forward to see Micah develop. He has the potential to be a very good player. It would be a huge loss to the Rebels if Douglas doesn't play. He is one of the best, if not the best, low post players in the state in hoops. They would still have a good team if he doesn't play but I think they have to have him to contend for another state title.

Quite an array of talent at Mitchell, no doubt about it. State tourney experience should definitely help them this year. I saw them play down there last year and thought Wade was a very impressive player for a freshman. I had heard a lot about Jarvis Jones but quite frankly was disappointed in his play. He had a poor shooting tourney as I recall but his stroke does look beautiful; it just wasn't falling in 'Boro. Torry is, as you say, an incredible athlete but looks like he has a very volatile temper at times. Neal and McCaster are good also. Haven't seen Buggs play but from what I have read he could be the missing piece of the puzzle to get them over the state title hump. The key with a team as talented as Mitchell is to get everyone to play unselfishly and take pride in their defense. If they do that ( big if) they will likely be state champs.

Your description of Blake is pretty accurate, except he was not Mr. Basketball last year. I believe Jewaun Long of Liberty won that award.

I think the Fulton Falcons out of Knoxville will be able to compete with anybody in the state on the AA level. They return all five starters from a state tourney team last year. Their point guard is Shannon Hollingsworth, 5-8 sr. He is a great ballhandler/passer, lightning quick, and defensive lock down guy. Their wings are James Gallmann, 5-11 jr. and Jalen Steele 6-2 soph. Both of these guys are likely D-1 players. Either of them can drop 30 on you on a given night and both will likely average 15-20 ppg this year. Dominique Minor plays one post. He is about 6-3 and is an excellent offensive player that can shoot the 3 or score around the basket. Will Bryant is the other starter. He is about 6-5 and is a very heady, fundamentally sound high school post player. Their coach, Jody Wright, is as good as they come. His teams always play extremely hard and tenacious man to man defense. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Fulton bring a AA state championship back to East Tennessee.

I'd say Bearden, Maryville, Farragut, William Blount, Heritage, Lenoir City, Sevier County, South Doyle. I think Bearden and Maryville both have the potential to bring a 2nd straight state title back to District 4-AAA. Bearden has better depth than Maryville. If Bearden gets solid pg play and can improve their outside shooting, they can beat anybody. They have great size and athletes, and Blevins can coach. Maryville should have an outstanding starting five, the same five who were on the court in overtime of the state title game after Basile and Maples fouled out. Depth will be a concern for Maryville, but a school of their size should be able to produce a few key reserves; you really only need about 7 or 8 guys if they can play. Farragut and WB should be really good, too. I think the top 4 in the district is pretty clearcut.

My predictions: Knox Grace Hancock County CSAS Chatt Grace Moore Co. Culleoka Union City Humboldt

My Predictions: Fulton Austin East Howard Station Camp CPA Bolivar Haywood Mitchell

My Predictions for State Tourney: Bearden Maryville Shelbyville White County Antioch Clarksville White Station Raleigh Egypt

No need to close the topic, not yet anyway. It is all over the internet, newspapers,etc. It is already a very public matter. The bottom line is a law was broken and there must be consequences. It is against the law to possess marijuana. The police found marijuana in Sommer's vehicle. Sounds like an open and shut case to me.

So will another team breaking the rules.

Fair enough. By the way, I LOVED watching Liberty play. They were obviously extremely athletic. However, what I really liked about them was their teamwork and chemistry. I credit their coach for being able to keep a team with that much talent playing together as a team.

First of all, everyone knows Liberty Tech has a great team. There is no disputing that. I certainly think Liberty is better than Maryville. I don't think anyone has said otherwise. I do think Maryville would have competed much better with Liberty than any of the three teams Liberty played in the AA state tourney for the following reasons: 1. Contrary to your ridiculous assertion, Maryville IS NOT SLOW!! They were without question one of the most athletic teams at the state. Don't let their skin color fool you. Do you really believe an unathletic, slow team could have won the AAA championship???? 2. Maryville has a very astute coaching staff ( as does Liberty by the way). Maryville would have done a MUCH better job controlling tempo than any of the AA teams Liberty played. Maryville would have refused to get drawn into a fullcourt, uptempo game with Liberty. 3. Maryville has a stifling 2-3 zone defense which they didn't show at the state tourney because they were playing teams that could shoot the ball from outside. From what I saw, Liberty's outside shooting is the only chink in their armor. Ask Oak Ridge and Science Hill about Maryville's zone defense. It completely shut those teams down. I think Maryville's zone could have caused Liberty similar problems. 4. Maryville has the size with Douglas and Reynolds to compete with Liberty on the boards. Once again, I am not saying Maryville would have beaten Liberty. I don't think they would have. But Maryville deserves alittle more respect from you West Tennessee folks.

Your opinion of Damron is way off base. Jordan Damron is a very unselfish player who actually didn't look to score in most games this year. Before the footballers got back with the team, he did shoot quite a bit more out of necessity. When they got back he scaled his offense way back unless the team really needed him to score, like the championship game. I know Jordan very well and believe me he is not a selfish player. When he shoots a lot, it is out of a desire to help the team and not get his points. If he was really looking to pad his stats, he would have ended up averaging more than 12 or 13 points a game. IMO, Jordan has proven himself as one of the top point guards in the area( if not the top point guard) and doesn't deserve your little cheap shot about him being selfish.

A few thoughts from the MHS/Science Hill game: Maryville seems like a tough team to scout. They really don't have that one guy that seems to be their "go to" guy, although I guess Basile would be the guy if you had to choose. But looking at their boxscores, they have had several different guys with big scoring games this year. It presents a problem in trying to determine how to defend them. After watching the Science Hill game ,I agree with MLREB that pressing Maryville is a bad idea. Maryville's guards looked like blurs going through the Science Hill press time and time again, especially Maples. Science Hill did a good job of limiting Maryville's three point looks but I am not sure it was worth it. By doing so, driving lanes to the basket were wide open and Maryville has some good slashers and finishers in traffic. Douglas was incredible. I don't know if I have ever seen a high school player as strong as he is and he is just a junior. Science Hill had no answer for him. He looked like a man among boys. Wattad put on an incredible show in the last minute of the game. Those three 3-pointers he hit were bigtime. He barely missed the last shot from halfcourt. It was a great game.

Final Score: Maryville 70 Heritage 48

Who will Kelly be playing with this summer?

The top ballhandlers that I have seen around the Knoxville area are: Jared Stephens-Oak Ridge Jordan Damron-Maryville Shannon Hollingsworth-Fulton Cameron Sharp-Halls

I look for Bearden and Farragut to play for the district tournament championship with Maryville and William Blount playing in the consolation game. My projected outcome of the district tourney is: 1. Farragut 2. Bearden 3. William Blount 4. Maryville

This thread isn't about Liberty Tech, it is about Pigeon Forge. You won't have any trouble finding threads on this board telling us how great Liberty is. Why don't you stay on those threads and quit trying to hijack threads about other schools. 27 wins is a great season,I don't care where you are playing. Congrats Pigeon Forge on a great season. Nobody can take that away from you.

My top five, in no particular order would be Kent Basile, Jordan Damron, Aaron Douglas, Kyrus Lanxter, and Justin Ridenour. My second five: Wes Lambert, Dustin Brown, Brian Sommer, Drew Houser, and Corey Welch.