aj1133

WOW! Congrats to Greenbrier as well. Seems like to me that that game was a huge upset. I wonder what they did that no one else has done or figured out about Station Camp?

I predict Portland comes out on top against DCA to take hold on the number 3 seed going in to the tournament. Despite critical injuries, Portland has had to grow this season and will continue to right through the tournament. I would love to see someone in 8AA upset the big 7AA powerhouses.

It blows my mind that Mendenhall could miss anyone's list in AA. I am undoubtedly biased, but know enough about basketball to understand that this young lady is special. She would start for most boy's teams in the state. She is undefendable on offense and has become an outstanding on the ball defender. If you haven't seen her play you are missing out!

15 NWTF 08 - I will have to disagree whole heartedly with your last point, Waverly, nor any other team that Harpeth has played this year has shut Mendenhall down. She is a very intelligent player and realizes during the course of the game that she can benefit the team nore at times by distributing the basketball and getting her teammates involved. that is what makes her such a special player. Maybe one of the most important improvements to her game is that she has gained the intelligence to understand when she is needed to score or when she is helping the team more by drawing the defense and finding the open player. This is a sign of a great high school basketball player and boy does she have so many fooled that believed she could only score. She has the total package and those who are just watching the box score and ppg average are missing one heck of a player.

In AA girl's basketball, I believe that Mandy Mendenhall is hands down the best all-around player. She does exactly what is asked of her. If she is asked to lock down the opposing team's best player defensively - she does that. If she needs to keep her teammates involved - she does that. And if Harpeth is having troublr scoring and they need a basket, she can get one any time she wants. She has some of the most impressive offensive moves I have ever seen in girl's basketball and her on-the-ball defense has really caught up with her offensive skills this season. I don't know what more you could want from a player of the year than what Mendenhall gives.

If the outside shots are falling for Stone then the Road-Runners might have some problems. Stone has a well disciplined, hard working team, the type that could cause Austin East some problems.

Similar to Mount Juliet in AAA, Harpeth in AA is a team that plays up tempo and presses for a large portion of the game. They are allowing 42 ppg but opponents are shooting about 26% from the feild against them. One clueless coach commented in the paper, "If we would have hit a third of the 64 shots we missed, we would have beat Harpeth." The point is, they forced the team to play beyond their pace and they took quick, bad shots. Good defense will do that to you. Conditioning is such a huge part of solid defense, and this team is very well conditioned.

Let me preface my response by saying that I have only seen Liberty play once this year. I was impressed but did feel like a well coached, disciplined team could expose some of their few weaknesses. I understand that athletically there are very few teams that can match-up with Liberty, however, I think a team like Harpeth could pose a threat on a good night. This year's Harpeth team is as athletic as they have ever been. To go along with that athleticism they have outstanding outside shooters and good size, tough nosed kids in the post. They are an intelligent bunch that hustle and play solid defense. There is a good chance this match-up could take place several weeks from now and I trluy believe it could be an interesting game to watch.

I was just curious as to how rare it is to have a group of seniors that will have won in the neighborhood of 110 games by the time their season ends? It seems like this would not happen very often, I could see it happening at Shelbyville when they were winning back to back championships, but how bout other, smaller schools? Anyone have an idea whether or not this should be treated as a great feat, or is it not as big of a deal as I am thinking it is?

As a coach, why do you care who scores? Make a big deal about playing solid defense, rebounding well, handling the ball against pressure, taking a charge, or my favorite, I throw a party on the sideline when a player makes a good pass, I think that is the ultimate sign of team play and unselfishness. If you are worried about everyone scoring and stressing that, then that explains why you have taken the stance on this subject that you have. My players know that they will be rewarded for other keys to the game. I have started to develop kids that want to be the one to take a charge or make a nice assist moreso than if they score. I think your putting more pressure on a kid if you are trying to get them the ball to score and they know that.

Way to much emphasis being put on how many points the bench players scored and how proud you are or their parents are. That's not what playing team sports is about. Success is not measured in how mant points an individual scored but rather they have met the goals that have been placed before them. If the goal would have been to run two minutes off the clock with your motion offense before scoring a lay-up, and they 3rd team was able to accomplish this, that would be a feat to be proud of. This also would have kept the margin of victory down and no one looks like a jerk for beating a team 70+. Who really cares if a 3rd string player scored five points. You might say that the child or theit parents do, but in the whole scheme of things, considering the situation, that would seem very selfish to me and not what being a part of a team is all about. I have wondered if Antioch would have felt like it was no big deal if they would have gotten throttled by 70. If we weren't talking about teenage girls I might wish that they should have the same happen to them at some point, but because NO ONE deserves to feel the way I am sure the Stratford team felt, I wouldn't wish that on anybody. I am considering scheduling Antioch in the future.

What difference does it make whether or not I saw the game? I am intelligent enough to know that they did not pull the ball out and run the clock based on the score. For instance, if I were up 30, which is plenty in my opinion, I would have my girls pull the ball out and work the defense. The challenge would no longer be whether or not we score, because obviously with a large lead that is not in question, the challenge would become how long can we run our motion, continuity offense without turning the ball over. If you work enough time off the clock then scoring 91 is not an option. There have been very good basketball teams that operated in this way. I have watched teams that were clearly better from the tip hold the ball throughout the game for this very reason. Who cares who saw the game, it doesn't take a genius to realize that beating someone by 70 can be prevented.

You absolutely can tell your players not to fast break 3 on 1 if you don't need the basket. I do this almost every game towards the end of the game. We are a transition team, but if we are up 8 or 10, much less 60 or 70 with time running down, we are not looking to score. We will pull the ball out and run time off the clock. Like the post that opened the thread, there is no excuse for this.

There are many ways to slow down scoring while still improving. For one, while running a motion offense you could assign a certain number of passes that must be made or a length of time before scoring. Next, you could work on gimmic or zone defenses placing focus on positioning. At the very least you could play shell defense similar to the way you would in practice or warm-ups where the focus is not on stealing the ball but rather on making sure help side and denial defense are properly positioned. Finally, in games like this, I find it is the perfect time to introduce new plays, both offensively and defensively, in the huddle. I will call a timeout and draw up a new play that my team is unfamiliar with and challenge them to execute it properly. This can be great practice for time and situation plays against more formidable opponents. Regardless of whether or not you agree with any of these suggestions, the bottom line is, beating anyone by 70+ points is completely uncalled for. As a coach, I could have done this on several occasions myself throughout this season, but I couldn't live with myself knowing that there was a group of young ladies on the other side of such a terrible display of sportsmanship.

There is no replacement for this group of seniors. They are all good athletes and basketball smart. The job Coach Johnson has ahead of him will not be to replace these girls but to regroup. The game plan will have to change to accomodate a more post experienced team, but there is talent still there and coming from the middle school. Sometimes the younger girls are more eager to learn from a new coach than a group that has been doing things a different way for three years. I wouldn't expect a team that is as athletic or puts as many points on the board, however I would expect them to play extremely hard and work well together. Sometimes hard work and heart can make up for a lack of athleticism.

I think it is margin of victory against each other before they go to overall record. Who beat who by more.

I didnt realize that Mullinax was averaging 18 ppg. The Tennessean has her at 13. I guess more props should have been thrown in the direction of Harpeth last time they played Waverly for holding one of the mid-states top scores (18 ppg would have her in the top 15) below double figures. Harpeth played like a team with something to prove tonight, not sure that Waverly would have pulled this one out anyway, and as for Burlison, she was completely a non-factor the first time these teams met. She played but did not attempt a shot. If Harpeth can build on this one they will be heading in the right direction. They scored anywhere they wanted and played outstanding defense. Good game Harpeth, glad to see you are back on track, I guess you were off track by some people's standards.

I feel like Mandy Mendenhall from Harpeth will have a great opportunity to start and contribute big time at Tennessee Tech. This is a young lady who could have signed at a major DI school but just felt more comfortable in the setting that is provided at Tech. Her offensive skills are rare in the women's game and that will be an area that she can provide immediate help to the Golden Eagles. Defensively, she is much improved this year and has really learned how to work a ball-handler. If she continues to progress in this area she could find herself helping Tennessee Tech get back on the right track and in the record books years from now.

I think Harpeth will be better prepared to play any team the second time around, but especially a team like Waverly that they knew so little about prior to playing them the first time. I think watching film and making some adjustments will be a big factor for Harpeth. This team has had two impressive offensive performances the last two games out, obviously the level of competition was not particularly high, but they scored 24 last night in the first quarter before turning their focus to other areas of the game. I believe they scored or got a great look out of every offensive set. Defensively, they look great at times and very poor at others. This is the area that they must improve in to make a run in the tournament.

Yes, both the player and her parents are at every game. Tonight will be the first that they have missed and that is because it @ Stewart County, can't blame them for not wanting to make a two hour trip. As far as the injury goes, she had been playing with the injury from early in the season. In fact she has had several appointments to try to pin point the problem and has two more within the next week. Practices are hard physically and equally as hard mentally when watching from the sideline. I think it was killing her not being able to be on the court with the other girls and having to watch without participating. She is an awesome person and still a great supporter of the team. Any chance you would provide your source or was this purely speculation?

It would be very suprising if the "good player" went to a private school next year considering her parents along with a couple of other families are probably the biggest Harpeth supporters in the community. From what I understand, her sister leaving the team had nothing to do with the team or with the coach, it was simply a medical issue. I am not sure where you get your information but would have to believe you have been misinformed wareagleblue.

It absolutely could have been that both teams played tough defense, although many of Waverly's baskets came when the Harpeth defense made mental errors. The Harpeth girl's are still learning the basic fundamentals of man to man defense but are just good enough athletes to pressure the basketball to the point that entry passes are unavailable. I have noticed that most baskets come from the helper's man. When they learn how to hedge and recover or how to properly play helpside defense from the weak side wing, they will be extremely tough. As far as the Waverly motion offense goes, I felt like they struggled with that as well. Harpeth forced the ballhandler to penetrate and make hasty decisions. I guess it would be safe to say they took less quality shots and turned the ball over more often than having quality looks at the basket.

WOW! That's like the nicest thing theglove has ever said about Harpeth. But papatiger, surely if you saw the game Tuesday night you can't possibly say that the defense had nothing to do with it. Waverly did not run a set play all night, they couldn't. They were pressured and took numerous bad shots, several of which went in, and when they didn't go in, Waverly absolutely did a better job rebounding than Harpeth did. Without the free throw attempts, Waverly would have gad another single digit scoring quarter. Neither team was impressive, but anytime I watch a game I try to pick up some sets that a team runs, it was obvious that Waverly was not effective in doing so at any point in the night. Also, I would think that any defensive minded coach, which this guy at Harpeth appears to be, woul be happ holding a team around 37-38 points per game. Bottom line is if, if, if, if, Harpeth would have been more efficient offensively they might have doubled up Waverly's score, but do we really want to get into the "if this would have happened or that wouldn't have happened" nonsense. The only hing that really matters is that Waverly didn't hit those free throws and didn't cash in on those opportunities and Harpeth continues to win games. It doesn't matter if it's pretty or if it's ugly, bottom line is that it is a win. Playing hard on the defensive end sometimes equals less effective offense, but it is also an indicator of how hard a team works and how much heart and desire they have to win ballgames.

They are not a bad team. If you check scores of their previous games they lost to Cheatham by 5, Creekwood by 1, and played Dickson to a two point game. I am suprised at their improvement but this started last year when they beat a very good Cheatham County team in the district tournament. They are scrappy defensively and can really force teams to play ugly. I think they coud just as easily be 5-1 as they are 1-5 in district play.

I don't think Station Camp is getting enough credit. They are a good team and are getting better with each game. The new coach is maximizing the potential she has there and has her team playing hard. They are dangerous to anyone that they play.