Purple & Gold Standard

Union City wins the battle of the titans 73-61.......

Yep....

You can actually lose three times in the basketball postseason.... Example.... District Tourney... W-Win the first game..Automatically puts you in regionals... L-Puts you in consolation game L-Makes you the #4 seed in regionals... Regional Tourney... W...Win or go home W...Most intense game of the year..Win and you guarantee yourself two more games...Lose and go to the house L....Sends you on the road for Sub-State You can go 3-3 and STILL make it to the Sub-State game..Then if you win 4 games you are state champs with a 7-3 post-season record....Something seems wrong with that scenario but the high basketball postseason is the most exciting time of the year....

I would have to say that #2 Humboldt @ #1 Union City would have to be the marquee game in the state as far as 1A is concerned..... /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Here is the 1st AP Top 10 Poll for this season..... Class A Record Pts 1. Union City (9) 17-0 115 2. Humboldt 10-3 92 3. Manassas (1) 18-4 69 T4. Lake County 13-3 53 T4. Hampton 9-2 53 6. Nashville Christian (1) 15-1 52 7. Culleoka 12-4 46 8. Moore County 13-3 44 9. Chatt. Sch. For Arts (1) 11-3 28 10. Grace Christian 10-3 26 Others receiving 12 or more points: Eagleville 18, University 12.

I'm not so sure why people say someone needs to lose before the tournaments start...Why would anybody need to lose?? Last season UC had the best 1A team in the state,lost three games during the season and still didn't go to Murfreesboro,so those three losses didn't help UC any in that respect.... It will be extremely difficult to go undefeated,no doubt...It will also be added pressure,but as one poster on this site has for his signature,"Pressure is what happens when you don't know what you are doing"..I feel like with seven seniors on this club plus a very experienced coaching staff and the way they have pulled some close games out already this season,this team knows what it's doing....Hamilton did it a couple of years ago...Why not Union City??

Like some of the others have said,if the Rebels play the way they did at South Fulton they will be embarrassed... I don't believe they will because this is a district game,a rivalry game and it's at home.... Dyer County has the better athletes,hands down....If Dyer County wants to go on and win a state championship they will have to go out and win games like this.... Central will have to come out and force their tempo on DC...They cannot run with the Choctaws and they can't have the score in the high 70's to low 80's.....If Central keeps this thing down in the 60's watch out....The Rebels will have to play excellent defense and not allow DC to go on a couple of big runs...If Central can have a couple kids knocking down the threes,hit their free throws and hold their own on the boards they could just pull this thing out... It will come down to who plays the best as a team and if Central can get the fans into the game like they did last season when they played Union City in Troy....That place was loud that night.....

Some gaudy numbers on the line Tuesday nite..... Union City has won 33 of their last 34 games overall..... Union City has won 42 of their last 43 games at The Thunderdome.... Union City has only played 4 of their 17 games at home this season..... Union City closes out the regular season with 7 of their final 11 games at home... The 58 points scored against Lake County was Union City's lowest output since the 47-46 Sub-State win over Middleton on Mar.6th,2006....

Last game at Humboldt the scoring went like this...I'd take these 8 guys right here and play anybody in the state... Union City- Andre' Coby-19 Tony Wilkins-18 MJ Brown-15 Lavan Mosely-12 Humboldt- Cordero Wade-23 Charles Taylor-17 EJ Epperson-16 Odell Jackson-11 Union City led the majority of the game...They led by double-digits alot of that time..The Vikings hit only 9 of 21 from the free throw line and committed 19 turnovers...I would have liked to have seen UC's practice today..I bet it was pretty intense...LC didn't do Humboldt any favors Friday nite...That game probably brought UC's heads out of the clouds a bit... Should be a big crowd at Union City,which is also not good for Humboldt.... My prediction is Union City-83....Humboldt-71

I know,that's why I voted this way in my earlier post....... 1-Union City.....17-0 2-Manassas......18-5 3-CSAS............11-3 4-Nash. Christian.....15-1 5-Humboldt.......10-3 6-Lake County....15-3 7-Moore County.....13-3 8-Culleoka......12-4 9-Temple.......9-4 10-Van Buren Co.....13-4

pride...Honestly,I don't want them to ever have letdowns...They should have beaten Halls,Greenfield Munford and Collinwood period...They are a better team than all of those teams...You are right about when and if they have those letdowns,it be out of district... People have to realize where this team came from...For them to be 11-4 3-0 right now is fantastic... Now as far as Dyer County and their turnaround,yes it can happen but OC has nowhere near the overall basketball talent the Choctaws had to work with last season..With that said is Tuesday nite a lost cause??...NO WAY!!...If the Rebels play with intensity and emotion and back that up by playing smart they have a legitimate shot to win...Nobody much will believe that but it can happen...They probably should have beaten Union City in Troy last season,they just didn't make the plays in the end.... You hit it on the head about their mindset...They weren't mentally in the game last nite...You just can't pick and chose when you are going to be "in it" mentally..Not when you are trying to rebuild a program... You mentioned these players predecessors..I know you mean recent history only..I was a little disappointed in the OC's lack of toughness a few times last night....SF had a couple of kids throwing elbows and giving some of the OC players the business after the whistle had blown...I made a comment to a friend of mine during the girls game that there would be a fight sometime in the boys game if the refs continued to let the extracurricular stuff go on...The only player in the JV game that stood up for himself was the Weaks kid..He got just as physical with the SF players as they did with him and didn't back down when that kid threw an elbow at his head near the end of the game...Then in the boys game after the Shephard kid for SF had thrown his elbows all night when he was double teamed and #22 had rolled B.Smith into the visitors bleachers and nothing happened,Big E. Davis finally had had enough and gently placed an elbow to Shephard's nose..I'm not condoning that kind of retaliation from either Weaks or Davis,but enough is enough....In the Whitby days that kind of play by the Red Devils would never had been allowed to go on as long as it did...He would have inserted a kid from the end of his bench and that kid would have put an end to all that garbage....AGAIN,not condoning that type of action,but I don't think OC wants to get a reputation of being a team that will back down from physical play... You mentioned in your post about sub-state or state....Earlier me and you and a couple of other posters debated on how many games this team would win...15 was the number I came up with as did you if I remember right...Look,if these guys got to the regional tournament that would be a pretty big accomplishment....Personally,now that the season has evolved as it has,15 may be a low number...They still don't have a marquee win on the road..As far as I know,neither the district or regional tournament is going to be played in Troy...They will have to get much better out of their own gym....I know they beat Gibson County,but I said a marquee win...I think a win in Martin or Dyersburg for these guys would be marquee...A home win over Dyer County would be very huge...Baby steps on that state tournament talk,although it's not crazy for the players to believe they can do it....Us fans have to be patient...There will still be games on this schedule the Rebels will lose and we all will wonder what in the world is going on...That's just the way a rebuilding job is...

chipper and ucradioduck....I personally believe that the West teams should be in the first four places in the top 5 and Middleton should be in the bottom 5...But,the East and Middle Tennessee sportswriters won't vote that way...It wouldn't shock me to see CSAS at #1 and Temple in the top 5 even though I don't think either of those teams are as good as UC,Manassas,Humboldt,Lake County(Which by the way is how I would vote the top 4,in that order)...I think the sportswriters in those areas will vote CSAS & Temple because they played each other in the state championship game and they won't shut their teams they cover out of the top spots...

http://www.nwtntoday.com/news.php?viewStory=5676

Here is my stab at 1A....Keep in mind I'm trying to think like a sportswriter knowing that they,like me,will never see some of these teams play and ranking them because of the area I live in which make high school polls pretty much useless..... 1-Union City.....17-0 2-Manassas......18-5 3-CSAS............11-3 4-Nash. Christian.....15-1 5-Humboldt.......10-3 6-Lake County....15-3 7-Moore County.....13-3 8-Culleoka......12-4 9-Temple.......9-4 10-Van Buren Co.....13-4

Chassidy Fussell is as good a young girls basketball player as I have seen....You hear people say she plays like a guy...That's a compliment,by the way....She jumps like a guy,she shoots like a guy,she makes moves with the ball like a guy....Last nite at South Fulton she went up for a rebound,grabbed it with one hand and while falling out of bounds she tried to save it from going out of bounds,all the while,she was palming the ball...She is really good now but it's scary to think how good she is going to be her senior year....If she continues to work as hard as she does in the off-season you will see her go to a big-time women's basketball program...She had sort of an off-night offensively against South Fulton...She already has put up 35 this year and she would have beaten that easily had she hit some of the close-in buckets...vorebs or redbirdfan can tell you for sure but the last 4 games she has hit for 35,22,25 and 25....Then you have Miss Basketball finalist from last year Jana Roney..This team is very good and right now is playing very good...

Chassidy poured in another 25 tonite at South Fulton....I know she is getting alot of attention here lately but she deserves it..She is on a roll right now and the other players are looking for her more...When you have an unselfish team with really good players you are going to be successful...J.Roney is playing solid as well,don't forget about her,she was a Miss Basketball finalist last season and has already committed to Murray State...Gentry Reedy is playing well as is her sister.....They are all playing good right now....

Speller....The ignore button is a beautiful thing /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Just got back from watching three wins(JV boys won)by Obion Central over their county cousins South Fulton in the Devil's Den(Heard that about 100 times)..... To put it as simply as possible,if OC plays Dyer County the way they played South Fulton,the Choctaws will mop the floor with the Rebels... The Rebels won't play like that because it's a district game,a rival and they are at home.... Wherein lies the problem with these Rebels...They don't play the same against everyone on their schedule...They don't play as hard against a South Fulton as they do against a Milan or Westview...If the Rebels want to be a contender,they are going to have to take nobody lightly and they are going to have to play as hard as possible against everybody on their schedule...There was no reason the Devils should have been in this game but there they were within 10 points in the 3rd quarter...OC did finally find their game a little midway thru the quarter and did end up playing everybody that dressed out in a 61-41 win..Had they played anybody good they would have been way behind at half and the game would have been out of reach in the third... You know really,I shouldn't say the Rebels don't play as hard...They do play hard..They just don't seem as focused against a weaker team as they are against a good team.... Congrats on the win.....Good Luck Tuesday nite against Dyer County....

How bad did Humboldt beat Bradford??

South Fulton is up next for the Lady Rebels tonite...The Lady Devils always play OC tough...

Humboldt will not beat Union City in Union City.... A zone will work for a little while against UC but at some point in the game the UC press is going to cause two,three or four turnovers in a row and the Tornadoes will hit a couple threes and convert a couple of transition buckets and bam you are either buried or you have lost your lead.... Nik had an off night shooting as did Mookie....Tony will pop out there and hit two or three threes....Nik's biggest problem was after that first three he got blocked he was trying to make up for it the rest of the time...Had he given a little head fake or a pump fake on those threes later on he would have had LC players falling all over him...Mookie??..I don't know,he didn't look at all like himself...You got to have him in there because he is money in tight situations as far as free throws are concerned...Ryne never did attempt a three I don't think....BJ didn't hit one..Not sure why Brandon Easley was in the game late...Just didn't have the right combo in a few times.. Plain and simple had 31 not been hitting those corner threes,LC wouldn't have been in it....

Now is the time to talk of the big game at Tha U.... Union City will go back to work tomorrow(Sunday)and from what I hear Sisco may have a little message for them...Look for the Tornadoes to rebound from and un-Union City like game at Lake County to play inspired ball...Everybody needs to come out for this one and make it a tournament type atmosphere...You get your $5 worth when these two teams lace em up....Look for Brooks and Mosely to come out strong...I would say that Tony Wilkins will probably play alot more Tuesday...Good to see him on the court again Friday nite....If the Tornadoes get this one it looks likely that the Tornadoes will come into the final district game undefeated with Lake County.... Good Luck Tornadoes!!

First off,OC has to travel to South Fulton tonite to play the Red Devils....The Red Devils have been playing better of late..They almost pulled off a couple of wins in the Martin Lions Club Tourney and they lost a close game to Gleason last nite...They are young and improving....This is the type of team that still gives OC problems..A single A team that they should beat and playing them away from home after a big win the game before.... JV game tonite also...The young Rebels are looking better every nite out....

First off,I knew I was going to take heat when I posted what I posted...Like I said,I'm not going to talk about the officiating again... I'm not a sore loser...The FEW losses I have had to post about on here I have ALWAYS given the opponent their props....I will continue to do that....If I was a sore loser,you would have seen a post for the ages last season after the Humboldt loss in the regional semi-finals but I gave Humboldt their due because THEY DESERVED THE WIN... Bigster...I agree on this night in Tiptonville,LC was the best team on the floor...BUT,they are not better than UC....You will see that 1-If you go see Humboldt and UC play Tuesday nite or 2-When UC and LC hook up in Tha U at the end of the season...It will come down to UC and Humboldt on that regional final nite... Union City almost lost this on a questionable coaching decision in the 4th quarter....After UC made their run to take the lead on LC,Sisco started letting the air out of the ball....I know that's probably sound coaching strategy but UC had LC rattled and staggering on the ropes..They had just forced some turnovers and hit a three or two and a fastbreak lay-up and it looked like UC was about to put LC away...The slowdown game just isn't UC's game....I thought three or four times UC had the wrong combination of players in the game...The whole team looked out of sync...I didn't expect LC to come out flat but they did...UC started strong,Coby hit a three we got a lay-up to go up 5-0 and then MJ knocked down a three that would have put UC up 8-0 but he stepped on the sideline wiping it off... It wasn't the two superstars that had much to do with LC's near win...It was that kid stroking it,Chris Lofton style,from the corners...23 and 30 were not a factor....A little advice for 23,If you are going to try and start something with someone,don't do it with Polk...That's all I'm going to say about that... I love going to Tiptonville...It's going to be a great atmosphere when you play there....You know Whitby's kids are going to play with alot of heart....You see alot of folks waving at each other across the floor..People know each other...You got to give Union City's Andre' Coby and MJ Brown mucho props..They won the game for the Tornadoes..When they needed a shot they hit it...UC never quit and to be honest they never let what was going on around them affect them..UC is a very strong team mentally...The seven seniors are going to take them where they want to be...I thought Shane kept his cool,when he could have just gone nuts and got a "T" or two...Thank goodness that we have MJ Brown and everyone else doesn't!! Lastly,Lake Co is a very good ballclub...People just don't realize the level of competition you get when you play LC and Humboldt...This is the cream of the crop when these three hook up with each other... I'm glad that Legend and his coach was at the game....They saw a UC team that had I saw them for the first time I would be wondering why all the hype also...So go back to Memphis, tell everybody that will listen that UC is a fraud and get all overconfident..That will be fine with me..Rank Manassas #1 and put the bullseye square on their back....

I wouldn't be so worried about the student section..... Congrats on the huge district win tonite....If someone would have gotten on here in early November and said OC would be 10-4 overall and 3-0 in the district most folks would have laughed you off the site....Continue to improve and take em one at a time..Learn something from every game and never stop hustling...Good hustle will mask some flaws in your game...It costs nothing to hustle....Nobody outside your lockeroom will give you a snowball's chance against mighty Dyer County,but it doesn't matter what those people think...The only thing that matters is what you think....That's my Lou Holtz pep talk for the week.... It was good to see the JV Rebels put a 20 point beatdown on Westview tonite also....69-49 /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />