Grainger got beat by Greeneville this week and struggled with Gatlinburg on the road. Grainger has talent but will struggle against well coached teams. They will miss Combs on the bench this season. Looks like he was a BIG piece for them.
Northview and South Greene are solid but not near as good as last year. NV has the Penland girl but not a ton around her, although they do have some shooters who help if they’re “on.” SG is well coached but just doesn’t have the scorers they usually do and lost probably 60-70% of their scoring from last year.
These teams get the publicity because they self promote but here’s my outlook on East TN, or at least this substate area:
Sullivan Central (Abbey Crawford D1 post is TOUGH), Elizabethton (long and will be matchup problem for post season teams) (1 and 2) Greeneville, Grainger, South Greene (even)
Alcoa, Gatlinburg-Pittman, Northview (Top 3) Carter, Pigeon Forge (even)
