AlumnI01

Science Hill bounced back from the loss Friday night with a nice(86-54) win over Cocke County yesterday. They came out and started the game fast, took better shots, and played much better defensively. I figured the letdown of the loss the night before might affect their play yesterday but it didn't. Cutlip had the guys focused and ready. Conference play for the Toppers starts Tuesday.

I've heard about this kid and look forward to seeing him play. I'm interested in how SH's super Sophomore Shannon Hale matches up against him. I know this Williams kid is a little taller than Hale(who is 6'7 and fairly thin). Hale is an Alabama commit. If SH comes out and plays the way they're capable of, the game against Southwind could be a good one. If they don't, it could be a long night for the Toppers. Looking forward to December. I'm in East TN so I can't get to the Melrose/Oak Hill Academy game easily. I'd love to go but I don't think I'll be able to.

Melrose lost? I knew White Station was good but didn't think they were nearly as good as Melrose. Wow.

All 3 teams are very good and could easily be playing in the state tournament. Memphis is full of talented AAA teams. I can't wait to see Southwind next month in the Arby's Classic.

Whenever the other team applauds(along with the fans)when there is finally a foul called you know something's wrong. The Toppers didn't play anywhere near the way they've played up to today. Even the first game against East Ride, they played sloppy the whole game but got away with it because their shots were falling. Not so in the game vs Morristown East. They couldn't hit anything and that sloppy play came back to bite them. BTW does anyone know when SH/DB will make a decision on their game tomorrow? I hope they play. I'd love to see an early season game between these two.

Melrose is easily number 1. I agree with some of those you listed but disagree about some others. For instance, no way is SH number 2. They are a good team but definitely not the second best AAA team. Where's Bearden in your list?

Toppers lose the game vs Morristown East 62-56. I want to start off by congratulating the Hurricanes on the win. They are a very scrappy bunch who play very good defense and are patient on the offensive side. They deserved the win. SH continued their sloppy play from their first game today. When you play like that you aren't going to win a lot of basketball games against good teams. I know a lot of SH fans are going to blame this loss on the officiating(which I'm not even going to comment on. Those who were there saw it)but I'm not going to do that. Truth is, SH didn't play good defense and had poor shot selection the entire game. How many 3's did they take, and how many did they actually make? I think they took about 15-20 3's and hit maybe 2 of them. Poor game by the Toppers. Championship game is tomorrow night, Morristown East vs Stone Memorial. Good luck to both teams!

Science Hill beat East Ridge 69-34 today. Toppers play Morristown East tonight at 7. Very sloppy play by the Toppers in this game despite a big win. They'll have to play better tonight.

Attention AE fans! Topper fans aren't on any cloud. However, they are excited about the very young yet talented team they have. The loss to West was Monday night not Tuesday. Science Hill also played games last Friday and Saturday, in fact, they played 2 games Saturday. You really can't use the excuse of the game by AE Monday as the reason for their lopsided loss to SH but if it makes you feel better..... My brother was at the game last night and said it wasn't even close. He said SH dominated AE the entire game, especially on the inside. He also said AE couldn't handle SH's pressure at all, which caused AE to have over 30 turnovers. Truth is, the score could have ended up being worse. As someone else mentioned, SH really didn't shoot very well in the first half. My brother said the Lopez kid is as good as advertised but that he's about the only good thing AE has going right now. Yes AE will get better as the season goes on(as most teams do)but so will SH.

I didn't get to go to the game so I didn't see it.

How good is AE? Sorry, I don't know much about them. My brother went to the game so I didn't get to see them in action. The scary thing about SH is that they will be even better next year.

Science Hill beat Austin East tonight 86-52. Toppers continue to look good.

Science Hill looks good so far. They are a young but talented group, way too talented for the rest of the Big 8. Their problem is they really don't have any competition in their own conference. That will hurt them in the long run.

Adams and Good are both great players. As long as the team is doing well and happy I don't think it should matter who starts. Adams does a great job coming off the bench and leading the team. A kid as good as he is, coming off the bench and taking over is a dangerous thing. I wish his brother would've played this year too. I heard he wants to focus on football though.

Seniors are Carter, Vaught, and Songster. Carter is the only one who really sees a lot of playing time.

A young team that is loaded with talent. They just need to continue to work hard and play well together. They've been very impressive in their first few games. As long as they continue to play well they should be able to run through the conference pretty easily. Talent-wise they are head and shoulders above the rest of the Big 8. They will get other teams best effort so they need to be sure to just take it one game at a time and not overlook anybody. If they do this, they can make it to state. They are a young but dangerous group. They've got the talent to make it to state but they are going to have to come out and play hard every night to get there. Players to watch are Shannon Hale, Jaylen Allen, CJ Good, Will Adams, Will Carter.

The Memphis Southwind/Science Hill 1st rd matchup should be a pretty good one.

Ha no problem. The Toppers also won their first home games of the season yesterday. They beat Columbia Central 81-51 and Virginia High 76-46 later in the day. They host Austin East at Freedom Hall, Wednesday.

Science Hill played 2 games in the Holiday Classic at Johnson County yesterday. They beat Holston(VA) in the first game 90-20. The Hill lead 42-4 at the end of the first quarter. They won the second game against Unaka 92-37. Shannon Hale and CJ Good lead the Toppers in scoring in both games.

I agree with the comments about Shannon Hale. He's already verbally committed to Alabama and should easily be a Top 100 player by the time he's a Senior. It's pretty scary how good this kid could end up being.

Art is right about 2 things right now, the team and coaches for the DB football program are better. You won't have many disagree with that. As for the bands and fan support, I disagree. I was at the game and both bands are great. One is no better than the other but of course Art is going to say DB's is better, he's an avid DB fan. I sat with 2 friends who are DB alums and both commented on how great they thought the SH band is. And the fan support, if DB's football program was anything like SH's their fans wouldn't be out in full force, making arrogant comments etc. DB is a football school. They field a good team every year and that's why their fans come out in full force like they do every friday night. Besides, what else is there to do in Kingsport?

You have got to be joking. Science Hill will be the team to beat in Upper East TN, Southwest VA. ANYONE in these areas who knows anything about high school basketball will tell you that. No question. SH has Hale, Allen, Good, and the Adams boys(Jahmar and Will).

Hale was just a Freshman last year and as mentioned, had a nagging foot injury most of the season. He was a force on his AAU team over the summer and had very good showings at some elite camps. His performance at the UT camp even got him an offer. He got stronger over the summer and improved his play. I know several people who saw him play with his AAU team and said he dominated in the paint. He, Jaylen Allen, Good, and the Adams boys are going to be very tough to stop for the rest of the big 8.

I just heard SH Sophomore Shannon Hale committed to Alabama today. Is this true? If so, why? Programs like UT, Louisville, Marquette and even UNC were after him. And he commits to Bama? Wow.

DB should win this one but like they say, anything can happen. This is THE rivalry game for SH so I look for them to come out and give it their best. I was talking to a few other SH fans at the game the other night and one thing they all agreed on is the physical play by this team is not what it should be. These kids just aren't playing physical enough and that's their main problem. They play too soft and that's why their getting dominated at the line of scrimmage. If they don't learn to play tougher, meaner(and I'm not talking "dirty"), they are going to get beat a lot more than they should. SH has some big boys and the fact that they don't play more physical than they do is a little baffling to me and some of the other Topper fans.