eastten

Grainger and Northview will be the obvious choices from East TN (let me clarify the MOST East so MC fans don’t get upset) 

After seeing all of the games so far I’m going to say that Karly Weathers is the best player at this tournament. I’ll be rooting for Loretto to win gold. 

5 hours ago, sportslover88 said:

Who wins this one and why?

Westview by 8+

46 minutes ago, TNSPORTS1234 said:

LOL! If you think they have earned anything yet you sir do not know sports. Just sit back and watch Westview do their thing. 

Hey, I hope you’re right! Would love to see a tight one Saturday. 

10 minutes ago, eastten said:

Everyone okay with just going ahead and giving Macon the gold ball here at halftime? Assuming tourney will be cancelled/postponed after today. 

Spoke too soon. But I say we can still go ahead and give it to them. 

Everyone okay with just going ahead and giving Macon the gold ball here at halftime? Assuming tourney will be cancelled/postponed after today. 

9 minutes ago, UTRok said:

I watched just over half of this game online. Not sure I agree with you on 30 being the best player on the floor. I do not even remember which one she was. What were her stats? I know Hurst from UHS had 21 points 3 rbs and 2 assist. Johnson from UHS freshman non starter had 16 points 9 rebounds. When you say best player. Did she have a bunch of assist and do a great job involving her team mates? Or did she have 2/3 of there total points? What does best player on the floor no question mean?

18 points and 11 rebounds from media on Twitter. Whole game ran through her. Struggled first half, was doubled, but still they didn’t get her enough touches and shots. Scored 18 in the second half. When I say best player I mean most talented, best player. Hurst is very good. She just does not have the same or near as good of skill set. Her team is better definitely. Taking nothing away from her. Bales from Gatlinburg, 30, was just extremely impressive to me in that second half and is a better overall player. 

I thought attendance was definitely affected yesterday. I expected them to go immediate family only today but heard they’re not doing that until tomorrow. Makes no sense. What’s the difference between today and tomorrow with the info they have now that they can already be planning to do that?

9 hours ago, LadyCavsFan said:

Fritz almost brought back Maryville single handily!  She had a monster 4th quarter.  Probably didn’t shoot enough.

Definitely didn’t think they got her enough shots yesterday. When you’ve got a player like her you have to go to her in big games and throw out the game plan where everyone else scores. Players like her have to have the most chances to make big shots!

The girls from the East put up a valiant fight. No one thought all year Gatlinburg would make it out of their Region and definitely never a pick to make it to Murfreesboro. Their #30 was the best player on the floor in that game. No questions. 
 

Grainger will continue to be a favorite from this area to make it back down as they lose one starter and no one else who saw significant minutes. My pick for next year is Greeneville! I hope they’re team two from over here. Northview and Alcoa will definitely be in the mix though. 
 

Proud of all the East TN teams and will keep rooting on all of our girls! 

Westview better not overlook Grainger. They are very long, shoot it well and can score in a hurry. Rutherford makes a HUGE case for shoulda been a Miss Basketball finalist. She doesn’t put up flashy stats every night but she makes this team go and does it ALL on both ends of the floor. She is better than one if not two of the chosen ones this year. And Longmire is better than her on some nights. 

1 minute ago, pioneer42 said:

I haven’t seen them play. All I have is looking at schedules. May not be close, but man GP and South Green has a lot of tradition and are usually two good teams.

South Greene lost a ton from last year and he still managed to get them right in the mix in the region tourney. They’ll be back soon I’m sure. That district will be very though next year with Grainger, South Greene and Greeneville who has one of the top freshmen in state this year. 

10 minutes ago, pioneer42 said:

Okay they beat Gatlinburg Pittman by 9 and beat South Green by 16 at South Green. GP made the state. Last year Eagleville knocked off Clay County and Midway from the East knocked off Eagleville. I agree Greenfield is tough but is the East really this bad this year? Grainger smoked TKA who won the silver ball in the private sector. I know Greenfield is pretty good but the East is getting no love at all.

They are not better than South Greene or Gatlinburg. I’m not sure what happened in those games or if both teams were fully staffed with their players but I can guarantee if they’d played SG or GP past month they would have lost by 15-20 easy. This game won’t be close. 

I’ll take Loretto at -32 for $500 please. 

1 hour ago, Dadof2 said:

Westview and Covington play each other, and I will be really surprised if Elizabethton makes it.

Yep. Mistake there. Meant Crockett County. Betsy just seems to be real hot right now. Anyone that gets Grainger by 10 at Grainger has to be very good. 

Elizabethton

Grainger

Macon

Upperman

Westmoreland

Nolensville

Westview

Covington

9 minutes ago, Dadof2 said:

Big shack up last night in the East in 2A, with Alcoa, South Greene, and Northview all going down, the only teams to survive that must where picking was Grainger and Meigs. The biggest shocker to me was Elizabethton beating South Greene, I definitely didn’t see that coming.

Elizabethton has played a grueling schedule while Central and the other teams making an early exit played weak non-district schedules with an exception of a couple games. Makes a difference. I think Betsy will keep it closer with Grainger than most think!

Who are the 8 to make it from this point? 

7 hours ago, SWVAHavokFan said:

Tournament begins Friday night at the higher seeds and then moves to Morristown East on Monday and Wednesday of next week for the semifinals and finals.

Bracket:

Quarterfinals at higher seed (February 28):

• D1 1 Science Hill vs. D2 4 Cocke County
• D2 2 Sevier County vs. D1 3 Dobyns-Bennett
• D1 2 Daniel Boone vs. D2 3 Morristown West
• D2 1 Jefferson County vs. D1 4 David Crockett

Semifinals at Morristown East (March 2):

• Science Hill/Cocke County winner vs. Sevier County/Dobyns-Bennett winner
• Daniel Boone/Morristown West winner vs. Jefferson County/David Crockett winner

Finals at Morristown East (March 4):

• Semifinal winners

Predictions?  Thoughts?  Who advances to sectionals?

I will go with Science Hill, Sevier County, Daniel Boone and Jefferson County in the semifinals.

Science Hill and Jefferson County in the finals and Science Hill to win the tournament.

It would not surprise me to see District 1 take 3 out of 4 however as District 2 seems to be down with the exception of Jefferson County.  Crockett is playing their worst ball of the season right now at the worst time.  D-B seems to be a "Jeckyll and Hyde" team.  Play great one game and stink up the floor the next, so you never what you're going to get with them.  It's hard to beat Boone in Bobby Snyder and their fans love the Lady Blazers, so that place will be rocking on Friday night.  Science Hill is the clear favorite to win the tournament.  They're just simply better than all the other teams in the bracket.  And I say that not really knowing anything about the D2 teams except for Jeff County who I saw twice this year.

I will be travelling to the D-B/Sevier County game on Friday.  Which way would be the best way to go coming down I-81?  Taking exit 407 off of 40? Or coming in the back way through Newport and by the Bush's factory?  Good luck to all the teams and looking forward to some good basketball this weekend.

 

I’ll go...

Science Hill

Dobyns-Bennett

Daniel Boone

Jeff County

Final:

Science Hill

Daniel Boone

Winner: 

Science Hill

Both get thumped in sectional. 

9 hours ago, Khall555 said:

That depends on the Regional and District Tournaments if either lose tonight then that would probably make a 1-3 elimination game, and I don’t know if Upperman or Macon could go to Meigs and win. Meigs lost in OT to Upperman earlier this year. 

Meigs only beat Central by 7 their last meeting. Central has gotten beat by some average to way below average East TN teams. Don’t see them knocking off the states two favorites for a gold ball for sure. 

1 hour ago, repoman said:

We know you are and those  rose colored glasses bought at some flea mkt in Sevier county area it sounds like.

Greene County. Mosheim area. 

7 hours ago, repoman said:

Carter has taken her team to state every year in the brutal 8AA district, she is more than deserving.  Hurst plays AAU ball with both Penland and Rutherford.  I would venture to say they all are happy for each other. Heck private message thier east tenn AAU coach you probably can go watch them practice together in few weeks, and you can satisfy your appetite. and you also will get to see Fritz, AAA finalist..

Yes, I’m from East Tennessee, hence the name. I know who they all play for. And, yes I’m sure they are all happy for each other. That’s great. Still doesn’t change my mind. And, again, individual award, not team. Thanks, though. 

Just now, Americal198 said:

Picking three from each class ain't easy. The truth is no matter who gets picked someone else will be unhappy. Lots of players are considered, but unfortunately only a handful get chosen. It's a safe bet the ones only receiving consideration will be playing in college some day. They'll all be happy. Scholarships are money in the bank. 

Absolutely! +1

3 hours ago, Americal198 said:

Recent finalists Taylor Lamb and Braelyn Wykle come from a storied program, but they both added to the "story" by leading South Greene to state titles in 2016 and 2017.

My pick this year was Tori Rutherford from Grainger County. Grainger made it to state last year, but lost in the first round. This year Grainger has an excellent shot to get there again. So, if Grainger makes a run in Murfreesboro and maybe even wins the AA title this year, then their program will gain real bona fides. Rutherford is a junior and should get more recognition next year. She is a fine player fortunate enough to have some fine teammates.

If you were to ask any of these players, their preference would be that their respective team win the title—personal accomplishments take a back seat.

The committee has a difficult job rating individual players. It's natural that they put a certain amount of weight on a player's individual success and, possibly, an equal amount on the success of their team.

Wykle is playing lights out at Carson-Newman and starting as a Freshman. I predict she will someday be an All American. There is life after high school basketball.

I agree on Rutherford. I definitely think she should have received high consideration. I personally think that just from the East, her, Campbell Penland from Northview and the girl from Gatlinburg are all better than a couple of the AA finalists. Rutherford will likely receive the nod next year but I actually think Penland is a better player. However, if the “criteria” continues Rutherford will win that battle because Northview is a newer school and her team isn’t as good. Still doesn’t make sense to me. 

More baffled by AAA. Just shocked no one from Bradley Central, Stone Memorial, or even Bearden was chosen as that third finalist, with the other two being locks. 

50 minutes ago, RealisticFan45 said:

Idk if i agree with this statement. 14AA is not that great aside of South Side. I think they still are top 4 without her. The issue I have with this nomination in AA is, as I have stated on another post, I have seen 3 other players in AA the last few years with way better stats and way better character and not be pushed as much as I have seen her pushed this year. I hate that media and whoever else has a hand in this only seems to push the kids who have signed D1 or play on a "big name" AAU team. I question her character after seeing some of her actions this summer and and in a couple regular season games. 

Honestly haven’t seen her. But I think character should play a role in selections. The other in AA are great players on great teams. Maybe not best on their team/in their district but certainly great players.

6 minutes ago, GCPioneer said:

Add Khyla Wade-Warren in AA to this statement as well... McNairy Central wouldn't be in top 4 of district without her... and with her, they're a top 10 team in AA....

I did not realize they were ranked. Did not see them on TN Report Coaches Poll or AP. However, she is deserving.