33viking

Sorry, but Johnson City (Science Hill) and Blountville both are large schools in Area 1....only Rogersville is considered small school.

Vance split the two regular season games with Sevier and lost both regular season games to CH by a total of 4 points. They are fairly balanced but streaky as witnessed at the area tourney when they laid down to CH and were beaten by 20+. Never know which team will show up, but that's girls. Being one, raising one, and coaching a whole team of them, I think I know.

Area 1 Teams: #1 seed Colonial Heights (Kingsport), #2 seed John Sevier (Kingsport), #3 seed Vance (Bristol) All 3 teams are from the Middle 8 Conference. Vance defeated Pigeon Forge Middle yesterday in the first round of the Sectional.

Sevier is John Sevier Middle School in Kingsport. Vance is in Bristol. Colonial Heights is also in Kingsport (county school). All 3 are from the Middle 8 Conference (formerly the Middle 7 until CH joined this year.) And yes, I am asking about Cherokee Middle in Kingston. I thought this topic was about the Large Schools in the East Sectional being held in Pigeon Forge. If not, I apologize. If so, info is appreciated.

Area 1 was fairly close competitively from top to bottom. The last place team in the Middle 8 Conference lost to the first place team (CH) by a few points in the conference tourney. Colonial Heights beat Sevier in the Area 1 championship on a last second put-back. CH has a big girl (45) who is pretty good. 34 is also good and loves to drive off a hesitation/semi-fake, but she was guarded by the smallest player on the court for Sevier and had a tougher time. Sevier is well-balanced. Sevierville is the No. 1 seed from its area, according to the brackets. Anything on Cherokee from Area 4 (large schools)?

'bout last nite's HV-SG game...Past few games, most of the Lady Warriors are pretty much playing without passion and heart.....Williams can't play alone out there, and the guards just aren't playing inspired ball right now. Hope the downward spiral can be stopped, or the post-season will be mighty short. Maybe some younger girls should get a chance for more floor time...might provide the competitive spark the veterans seem to lack right now. Hopefully it would carry into the post-season! Best of luck to the Lady Warriors next week as they travel to West Greene (scary place to play now...just ask Unicoi) and to Unicoi (always a supreme challenge)....

Who won the game???

Still waiting??? When is the bomb set to detonate??? Men, women and children of Carter Co. need to know when to run for cover. thumb

In addition, we play the winner of the game between Area 2's second place team (who is???) and Lafollette. Any 'scouting report' on either team? We've played against teams that run-n-gun and teams that prefer slow, half-court, so it'd be nice to get an idea of what to expect from these two teams.

So what is the girls' Sectional schedule for Pigeon Forge, especially tomorrow (Saturday)? We were informed the tournament starts tomorrow, and we're scheduled to play the Area 4 runner-up/Lafollette winner on Monday at 5:00 (Vance Middle School) from Area 1. Just wondering....

Any schedule yet for the Sectional tournament? Area 1 finishes tomorrow nite, so does the Sectional tourney start Saturday, and if so, what are the potential pairings and game times, especially for the girls?

In the girls' bracket, it will be Vance facing Blountville on Thursday at 6:30. Blountville won a wild one with about a two seconds remaining. Down by two, they inbounded the ball, a girl launched one from the opposite free throw line and was fouled. She was awarded and made all 3 of her free throws for Blountville to win by one. Vance eeked out a win over Science Hill by 2 points after being up by 14 at one point in the third quarter. Very sloppy game...lots of turnovers and missed free throws by Vance. Lucky to survive for their 4th victory over Science Hill this season. Hopefully, they'll play much better ball come Thursday. Go Lady Vikes!!

As a coach, I know the girls would like to advance further and play for a state championship. As a teacher, I feel they'd miss too much school. The pressure we are under to get standardized scores at such a high level is tremendous. Plus I personally feel the state championships should be reserved for high school. We start doing all these things way too early. Also, many middle school athletes play several sports. Half my team also play softball (and most of the others run track), so that would rob the spring sports of many players should a state championship be held. And where does it stop? Football state championship running into basketball? Basketball into baseball and softball (and even track)? I know the high schools struggle with this, and forcing younger athletes to pick one sport over another is not fair to them. They should be able to enjoy as many as possible before possibly having to settle on one to concentrate on in high school. The point was also made that middle schools don't have the budget that high schools do. This is true at our school. As is, if we make it to the tourney in Pigeon Forge, we either have to travel down and back each day we play (about 5-6 hours total round-trip on a school bus), or parents must foot the bill for hotel rooms. Some of our families just cannot afford this. Just several other points to ponder before considering a state championship in middle school...the principals just might be right this time....

Score??? Details???

Congrats to the Lady Cyclones of Elizabethton for getting over the "Unicoi hump" in a thrilling game...great job ladies! The Cyclones played as a team tonite, with no single player having to carry the load, but MVP Baughman and All-Tourney Pietrowski played well at both ends. Best of luck in the next round!