slinky1

SC hasn't had much luck this year. First three key players decide not to play. Craighead injured and just now playing limited time. And the schedule they've played has been brutal especially when they're playing sometimes three freshmen. Makes sense they'd go to the beach for some R and R, and play a team with the size of Hilton Head. Let me say that they seem to be improving, though. Huff has had two 20 plus point games which is pretty special for a freshman. Carter has had couple of 20 point games and he's improved by leaps and bounds. I believe they'll put it all together by the end of the year. Good luck to SC and White County!

Craighead played a limited time tonight with the ankle injury for Smith. They were up 20 something and Central hit a couple threes after both teams had subbed to cut the final to bout 16. Sounds like Livingston played well and Cannon's always hard to beat there.

Games tonight: Dekalb at Cannon Smith at Central Magnet Livingston at York Thoughts and predictions? I've got Livingston over York by 17, Smith gets their first win of the season over Central Magnet by 17, and Dekalb over Cannon in a close one by 7.

It was a good game. Go SC! This could be a crazy year with the beatings they've taken early on but just wait til they get healthy and playing time together. I'm predicting they become a district competitor by the end of the year. Melton has had his work cut out for him no doubt, but he'll get this group together by tourney time.

Nice game. Dekalb looked a bit unorganized but how bout some credit to Smith County. Howell would make a difference no doubt but Smith was still without Craighead. He's gotta be one of the best in the district too. Talk about short handed. Six of SC's twelve players are freshmen. One of those is Huff who had 24 last night. Donnell is fresh who played alot last night. Smith County finally stepped up and played together. Atnip did play well, but some of DC's sloppy play might have been SC's defence, vice versa. I know that SC fans were proud of their team. They've taken some bumps but keep coming back and working hard. Once their young guys mature a little and get some playing time and Jordan Craighead gets back, I think it'd be a mistake to overlook them. I said it before and last night was proof. Give them some time. They will get better. They may be a spoiler come tourney time.

Smith County. Let me shed some light. They played a great first half against FRA and were only down 7 with 5 min left in third but were just overpowererd. They looked horrible against Cumberland County, and then played a good first half against Cookeville. I've never seen J Craighead not have a field goal but he didn't. I think he only had 2 free throws against Cumberland County. Smith was only down 7 at half against Cookeville but only had about 15 minutes between games since the girls game before the Cumberland County game ran long. And right now they just are not deep enough to play back to back games like that. Here are some factors. Three kids who would've seen significant pt this year have decided not to play. There were no problems to my knowledge. One has to get a job and the other two wanted to focus on football and baseball. All three of these were in Coach Meltons regular rotation this summer and are great kids. The football players still look out of sync and two are battling illness right now. They are now very young with 5 freshmen on the varsity team. They have opened with about as stiff a competition as anyone around and should only get better.