MtJBears

IF Smyrna, Wilson Central, and Mt Juliet finish with (10-2) District Records it is my belief that there would be a COIN TOSS to determine the TOP THREE SEEDS. Ofcourse the TOP SEED gets a BYE in the first round of the District. It is my belief that Smyrna, Wilson Central, and Mt. Juliet are possiblity the TOP THREE teams in the STATE. Ashame one of these 3 will not make it to state. The important thing in the District Tournament is WHO finishes SECOND. Because the DISTRICT CHAMPION will be in the same bracket with the THIRD PLACE team in the REGION Tournament. So, that would project TWO of the BIG THREE playing in the REGION semis. Too bad the Region is in Clarksville this year. I still haven't figured out why District 11 and 12 are in Nashville and District 10 is on the west side of Nashville. Does seem kinda weird. BUT then wasn't it WEIRD a few years ago when the TSSAA placed Oakland and Riverdale in DIFFERENT REGIONS for FOOTBALL. Not only in different REGIONS but they could have played for the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP if they BOTH had won their side of the Draw.

Class AA is loaded with some outstanding teams this year. Austin-East Upperman Livingston Academy Loretto Harpeth Martin Westview Milan McNairy Central Jackson North Side Dyersburg Chester County Just to name some of the most noteworthly teams. Not sure what 8 teams will make it. West Tennessee is really loaded this year in AA Will be a tough road with some really outstanding teams not making the field. I'll go on the limp and pick Martin Westview to play Loretto in Championship game

I thought the Smyrna crowd was kinda down last nite. As usual MJ fans pack the gym for the Lady Bears. 48 in a row. Wow !!! I didn't know it was that many. That just shows how much tradition the MJ program has build up.

BIG WIN for the Lady Bears last nite over Smyrna. I question the decision to schedule this game AFTER playing a BIG DISTRICT game opponent like Smyrna. I know games like this will help get you ready for the tournaments but its kinda hard to come back the next nite after a BIG emotional game like last nite. I see where McGavock has kinda fell off since they're win over MJ in the Leroy Wright Tourney in Nov. Two programs going in 2 directions. Hunters Lane has a good team and it will take a all out effort to beat them. Hopefully the ladies have something left in their tank. Going to Hendersonville next Tuesday is a BIGGIE.... Hendersonville has played Smyrna and Wilson Central down to the wire. Losing to Smyrna by 2 at Smyrna and losing to WC in OT at Hendersonville. Go Lady Bears........ see ya at the game

Paige McFarlin played a outstanding game scoring 17 and (Soph) Taylor Hall had 18 points. It was really good to see Paige back out there. She is the only post player the Lady Bears have. The game was nip and tuck all the way. Actually MtJ didn't have a lead till into the 4th quarter. The Lady Bears press caused Smyrna some problems. As mentioned the officiating was very inconsistant. Refs would call a little bump a foul and when bodies were hitting the floor no call.... Go figure. Big Win for the Lady Bears. Got to go on the road to Hunters Lane tomorrow and then to Hendersonville Tues nite. Keep it up Lady Bears.....

This is obviously a game between two teams with totally different styles of play. Central wants to push the ball in the paint to Hassle. Jenkins will take the ball and drive to the bucket. Williams I think is playing out of place at the wing, she has hit a few shots from outside but her game is in the post. Central's guard play has been very suspect. No one has stepped forward to be the play maker. Seems like Jenkins is the only girl who can bring the ball up the court under perssure. Mt Juliet's game is to push the ball up the court. Shoot 3's. and Full court press and get turnovers. McFarlin will have her work cut out for her playing in the paint. Someone else is going to have to step up and help inside. Not sure who that will be. Maybe Hall or Van Atta. Should be another CLASSIC. I'm taking the Lady Bears by 6.

I hate to say this but I said in a post on the results of the Smyrna - Wilson Central game that Smyrna better beware because Shelbyville is "DANGEROUS" and I was INFORMED that Smyrna had ALREADY beat Shelbyville TWICE and BOTH games were at Shelbyville and there was nothing to worry with. WELL As my Momma always told me.... Don't count your chickens before your eggs hatch. If you wanna talk the talk you gotta walk the walk.

Poor free throw shooting killed Central. Brown missed 4 big ones in the fourth quarter. Central had a 10 pt lead in 3rd quarter 30-20 and let it slip away. Central has a excellent front line with Hassle, Williams, and Jenkins. But the guard play leaves a lot to be desired. Half the time Jenkins had to bring the ball up court. Smyrna has a outstanding team but it will be very difficult for them to go undefeated. They deserve to be rated Number 1 in the State right now. A lot of games yet to be played. Should be a interesting game when Shelbyville visits Smyrna this thursday. Shelbyville is dangerous. I noticed Rick Insell was at the Central-Smyrna game friday nite. Wonder who he was checking out? Oliver maybe?

I think your point is correct to brag on your team if they're doing great and especially if they're ranked highly and undefeated. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. And I am a believer if you if you talk the talk you have to walk the walk. Nough said. I do believe Smyna, Wilson Central, and Mt. Juliet are the 3 best teams in the Region and 3 of the Top 10 teams in the state. Since only 2 teams can make state it will be interesting to see who the odd man out is. MJ is young and gaining confidence every game. The Sophomores are really comming on strong. They are playing in a holiday tournament in Ohio so we'll see how they do in a hostile envirnoment. Smyrna is a veteran team with a good inside outside game and plays good defense. Taylor Oliver is a jewell. Outstanding outside shooter. Great passer and plays great defense. They've already beat Shelbyville TWICE both times at Shelbyville. Wilson Central has a tremdeous inside game. With Williams, Jenkins and Hassle (the super freshman) they will be hard to handle. Their weakness may be their guards play. I know one thing for sure I'd want to finish 2nd Place in the District 9-AAA Tournament. That way you avoid meeting one of the other 2 in the Region Semis. That is unless the consulation game turns into a shocking UPSET ! ! ! Surely not.

Didn't Hunters Lane beat McGavock in the Championship Game? Why wasn't anything said about that? I think the Lady Bears learned a lesson against McGavock. Having a young team such as MJ has this year sometimes lessons like this make a better impression that a coach preaching. MJ's starting lineup 3 seniors, 1 junior, 1 sophomore has some veteran players. However when Fry makes substitions the first 3 off the bench are sophomores (Burroughs, Nixon, and Sharpe). Hopefully these girls are gaining experience and will be ready for the tough district games comming up.

I was really glad to see McFarlin get into it last nite against HH. But lets consider this, HH is nowhere the team they were last year. They lost their top 3 players. And HH really showed me no physical presence under the basket. For the Lady Bears to be a force McFarlin is going to have to provide a inside game. I really liked the way Bowman handled the point position when she was in the game. I know Frye doesn't like to run a up tempo game and Bowman does just that when she's in the game. Sharpe is a steady player and runs the offense the way he likes it. Taylor Hall is showing why she's in the starting line-up and Burroughs isn't far behind. These sophomores are going to be special. I hope your right on your pick of the Lady Bears BUT Smyrna is a tough place to win at. Last year with Clark we had a dog fight to beat them so I'm not as enthusiastic as you are. But I'll be there cheering them on. Go Lady Bears...

Smyrna should be the favorite in 9-AAA this year. Consider they have their "main" players back and MtJ and WC lost their key players. Two victories over Shelbyville on Shelbyville's floor gets my attention FAST. Early test for Smyrna will be MtJ week frow tonite at Smyrna. I'm not sure if MtJ's inside game exists this year. Without Clark we're going to find out how good she made the girls around her last year. If MtJ doesn't start playing defense Smyrna will kill them with their inside game. I'm hoping the Lady Bears can make a game out of it but if I was a betting man I'd pick Smyrna by 8 pts.

Thats alright with me. Let 'em write off the Lady Bears and put the pressure on someone else.

Wilson Central lost 2 starters... Gassie and O'Connell. WC will have a very good inside game but who's going to get the ball to them. Gassie was the heart and soul of last year's team and she will be missed. O'Connell was the starting point guard and probably their best 3 point shooter. Calhoun the sophmore is expected to be the point guard this year. She's a gunner but I don't know about her ball handling. District 9-AAA is without question the toughest district in the state. Tennessean ratings had Mt Juliet #1 and Smyrna #2 and Wilson Central #6. Nough said. Mt Juliet lost Clark and that will be a big loss but with basically 4 starters returning (if you classify Van Atta a starter, which basically she was) the Lady Bears will be a force again. Smyrna lost nothing and will be very strong.

I agree with mjuhb. Bring it on !!!!!!

Pre-Season rankings are nice to get attention and Heritage definetely deserves some recognition and I congratulate them. They are the strongiest team in East Tennesse and they should make it to the Boro.

Its been 8 months since I walked out of Murphy Center as happy as I've ever been before. What a SEASON it was. Incredible and Overwhelming. I felt like something special was going to happen and it did. Obivously Clark was the backbone to last years team and she will definetely be missed. Take 24 points away from anybody's total points and it will hurt. And lets not foget Holly Hudson. Her senior leadership was a big asset. Both these young ladies will be missed and we wish them the best in their college careers. Now for the upcoming 05-06 season what can we expect. With McFarlin, Pigue, Gibson, and Van Atta returning as starters it will be interesting to see who is the 5th starter. Will Fry go with Muniz or Bowman. I don't have a clue yet but you can bet BOTH will play a lot. The Super Sophomores I like to refer to will definetely give them depth. Hall and Burroughs are going to get playing time and Becca Sharpe is as steady a point guard as you'll ever find. She seems to have ice water in her veins and nothing seems to rattle her. The team will as usual rely on the high-low game with McFarlin playing the 5 and Van Atta the 4. Muniz would be a perfect 3 (she's a gunner) and Pigue at the 2 and Gibson at the point. With Bowman in she'd take the point with Gibson moving to the 2 and Pigue the 3. So it will be interesting to see which direction Fry goes with. This team will be tough to beat. They are playing a strong schedule and a undefeated season will be hard to accomplish but are very capable of winning 24-27 regular season games. I'm looking forward to another exciting season. The Leroy Wright Tourament starts Nov. 21 and I'll be there cheering the girls on.

You are so naive Mailman.... Remember this..... Where there's smoke THERE'S FIRE There has to be something of this..... LOL I have it on a credible source that its a 50/50 chance of her transferring

Mailman you conviently seem to forget what Gassie meant to Wilson Central. Is she going to be that easily replaced????? You seem only interested in how MJ is able to ajust without Clark. Granted Clark was one of those ONCE in a lifetime players. I think the honors she received at the end of the season speaks for itself. I think MJ will be one of the top teams in the state next year even without Clark. On the other hand I think the loss of Gassie is going to be tougher for WC to cop with than the loss of Clark is for MJ True enough Williams and Jenkins inside will be a dynamic duel.... but whose going to get the ball to them? You lost both O'Connell and Gassie. Whose going to take their place? I'll be interested to see how WC reacts to not having Gassie or O'Connell

I'd love to see Jenkins play at Mt. Juliet next season. There would be alot of advantages she'd have at MJ

Thursday APRIL 7 Celebration Reception honoring the Mt. Juliet Lady Bears @ Wilson Bank & Trust 1476 N Mt. Juliet Road 4pm to 6pm COME OUT and Congratulate these GIRLS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll believe it when I see it. being competitive is one thing but their are ego's involved here. I just don't see Harlow being anybody's assistant. He's got too much pride for that. Time will tell.

DREAM ON 3pointer The Basketball Tournaments wil NOT leave the Middle Tennessee area. You can book it. First and forth most it is by far MORE FAIR to ALL teams if the tournament is in Middle Tennessee. For the purpose of travel it makes COMMON SENSE to have the tourney here. It would be a unjustice to have a team in Greeneville or Bristol travel all the way to Memphis and visa versa it would be injust to have a team from Memphis area travel to Knoxville. I have to give the TSSAA credit for having the common sense to have the Basketball Tournaments in Murfreesboro which is practically in the exact middle of this state. Making it fair for all teams. And its not a short trip for some of the middle Tennessee teams aka Dickson County, Lawrence County, Cumberland County and White County just to name a few.

Doesn't a person have to live in that school zone to go to that school? And if said person did move out of one school zone and move into another school zone wouldn't that person have to attend that school? In layman terms if Jenkins was to move from where she lives now and move into the Mt. Juliet zone would she not have to go to Mt. Juliet High School? I heard the rumor also. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Maybe Sara Williams will transfer too....

Don't penalize Mt. Juliet for being closer to Murfreesboro that Dyersburg is. AND just to let you know whenever Mt. Juliet played a road game this year they had a bigger crowd there than the home team on several occaisions. ALSO, Mt. Juliet played in the Greene County Ladies Classic in Greeneville which is about a 3 hour drive and they had GREAT FOLLOWING from their fans. Your comment if Dyersburg would've lived closer they would've smoked Mt. Juliet's student section is unfounded. You don't know how supportive this community is for the Lady Bears.