HereComesTheCloser

12 hours ago, HawkGuy06 said:

Y’all keep watching! No juniors or seniors! We will be back & the competition in the region is very weak! 

HawkGuy is right.

For recent historical perspectives, Bolton made it to the 2022 dance with only 6 wins.

Could SS be this year's Cinderella?

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An absolute thriller last night (Monday Jan 30, 2023) vs North Side.

Both teams had streaks in the game. The key players for SS were Simeon Graham (fr) and Amari Goodman (so). Also tip of the cap to Donte Lacy for his point guard play. He had no problem driving into the post against the bigs. Goodman and Graham should be super stars for the Hawks for years to come.

NS was lead by the Kurrie brothers.

Senior center Malik Kurrie is a force on defense. A 6'7" shot blocking monster that can swat the ball 3 rows into the stands. His younger brother AJ Kurrie drained a buzzer beater to take down their arch rival Hawks.

South Side did not play like a team coming in with only 3 wins. They played like a team that could play with anybody and given a few more breaks & a few less mistakes, take anybody down.

South Side is getting better as the year goes on.

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5 hours ago, WestTNHoopsFan said:

Lexington @ Humboldt

Haywood @ South Side

Munford @ North Side

South Gibson @ Gibson County

Lexington

Haywood

North Side

Medina (SG)

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4 hours ago, VOLnWTN said:

Smooth! SS is just smooth.  They are unselfish and dish it as good a team I have ever seen. Athletic and long!  Very good team! I was highly impressed.  First time I had ever been in that gym.  I like it. Has some character and plenty of room.  Very hospitable to us as well. 

Thanks so much. Hope we (SS) welcomed everyone well.

Love the heart and passion that McKenzie plays with. It's easy to see why they are the defending 1A State Champs. I echo everyone here saying we wish you guys were at 100%. That game would have been epic!

Respectfully, from a competition standpoint, we dread coming to play at McKenzie. I bet the entire town will be there looking to cheer on their team. Playing in a jam packed gym, on the road, against championship caliber teams is what a good old fashioned high school basketball barn burner is all about!

Part of me can't wait. Another part wishes it wouldn't happen.

See you guys there.

And both hopefully at the dance too!

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10 hours ago, Tnfootball1234 said:

i don’t believe SS has any 11th or 12th graders on the team.. I’m sure they will get it figured out by tournament time. They will be a force next couple years 

You are 100% right.

From inside the locker room: there isn't a single junior or senior on the '22-23 roster. There are 2 freshman starters.

SS is already getting better as the year goes on.

The game at home against Bolivar on Tuesday Dec 13, 2022 they fought hard and kept it closer than some believed. Example, in the first game at Bolivar on Nov 21, 2022, SS was blown out by 31 pts. In the rematch, they lost by 8.

If anyone can get the most out of a young squad, it's Coach Fuller.

As a longtime supporter of SS, I feel the ceiling for the '22-23 squad is a sub-state appearance. The bottom would be a rd 1 region exit.

The previous bottom happened in the region qtrs in 2019 in an upset loss to Medina. Then they went on a tear with 3 straight trips to the dance, inlcuding an undefeated ranked #1 team that qualified for the covid cancelled 2020 tournament. It culminated with 2 straight state runner ups.

SS will be fine.

#HereComesTheCloser

If any of the kids want to try out, drive on up Hwy 18 to South Side. Make the team as a freshman and you're likely to park it on the dance floor in Murfreesboro twice in your career.

We'd be glad to have you!

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On 6/27/2022 at 3:48 PM, OldSportsGuy said:

2. South Side is a complete rebuild. They will struggle in post season for the first time in a long time. Really young and I didn’t see one familiar face from last year

Yep, lot of truth there. But we do have some experience.

The loaded Freshman class of '21-22 went to the dance as part of a senior heavy team.

The Senior class of '22 was once part of a loaded freshman class. They wound up making 3 straight trips to the dance (including Covid cancelled).

This year we may very well be down a bit. The '22-23 dance may be out of reach.

But give the Freshman class of '21-22 a bit more experience and we expect them to park it on the dance floor a couple of times.

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On 6/24/2022 at 1:33 PM, maddams said:

TN Report “Way Too Early” Rankings

AAA

1. Jackson South Side  3. South Gibson

Thoughts?

I envision some wars between these programs for years to come.

As a SS alumnus, we took the next step as a program with our game at Medina (SG) in 2022. Went into their hostile environment, silenced their crowd and brought a big win back to S Jackson.

That was rewarding as we needed to cross that hurdle. That win propelled us to the state title game. After that night in Medina, we thought we could play with anybody in AAA anywhere.

After the dance, now we know we can.

AAA will have some super tough competition this year.

We hope to be part of it.

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9 hours ago, WestTNHoopsFan said:

...why Lexington fired the coach who is at South Gibson now.

Keith Runyon is a good coach and a better man.

He's a deacon where my mother goes to church.

Word around Sunday School was someone didn't get playing time while he was there.

Their loss.

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A few recent statistics about South Side mens program for all the keyboard wannabe's to commit to memory;

Four year (2018-2022) record: 104-9

Third straight dance: 2019 - 2022

Three straight years as AP ranked #1 wire to wire. 2020 - 2022

Third DIFFERENT Mr Basketball finalist in 9 years.

Five appearances at the tournament in 9 years

Two State runner ups in 9 years

One State Championship in 8 years.

2 players at major D1 schools including Cincinnati and Arkansas in 8 years.

For any program that has some success even if fleeting, congratulations on the accomplishments. For others that have some sustained progress, we wish them well also.

Year in and year out, South Side is the gold standard in mens high school basketball in this state. We don't want to be like anyone else. Everyone else wants to be like us. And everyone wants to beat us. Some do and that's ok. We'll reload every year.

To conclude a lot of dialogue from computer cowboys, Nick Saban says it best, "Everybody wants to take the week off before playing us."

Best of luck to everyone out there.

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8 minutes ago, DevilMan03 said:

Do you still trust what you see?

Obviously I was wearing rose colored glasses.

Congrats on the win.

Lesson is: never, EVER, believe in your arch rival. Eff NS

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Just with the eye test this year:

- in W Tn (alphabetical order)

Fayette Ware

Medina (South Gibson)

South Side

- from the 2021-2022 dance (alphabetical order)

Page

Upperman

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Bolivar

Milan

South Side Hawk pulling for our W Tenn friends!

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Westview

McKenzie

South Side

Bearden

58 minutes ago, pioneer42 said:

South Side is just another animal with intensity and pressure.

Hard fought win for South Side.

Page played with passion and ability. They have a lot to be proud of.

The Lady Hawks? We dancin'!

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McKenzie

Dresden

South Side

Creekwood

Not familiar with last 2 matchups - no picks.

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Sending positive vibes for the 4th qtr to WV from South Side. Love seeing our W Tenn teams doing good at state! Come on Westview!

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On 3/6/2022 at 9:15 PM, HereComesTheCloser said:

Page

South Side

Upperman

Creekwood

 

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So far, batting 1,000%

NS vs Greeneville - I'm conflicted with this game. Greeneville is the defending champs, Beat us (South Side) by 1 point last year because we played terrible. They are talented and could repeat, but likely won't. The eye test of having seen them 3 times at the dance last year as opposed to what has been seen from NS this year may, may, leave that all in doubt. North Side has gotten better as the year went on and can play super tough D. Lights out 3's from the parking lot. Their win over SS in the Region 6-3A Championship was an overtime thriller. Anyone in Tennessee would have said that game was an instant State Title caliber classic. When in doubt, trust what you see - North Side.

Stone Memorial

South Side

Fayette Ware

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38 minutes ago, Swipes said:

I must say @HawkGuy06 you have some athletic, fast, and tenacious girls on that team.  Full speed ahead at all times.  Glad my Lady Greene Devil's never gave up and played their hearts out (Could have easily folded when you all made it double digit lead early on).  There are only two Senior on that team so hoping to make it back next year.

Greeneville's ladies played a super tough game. Were down double digits a couple of times and fought hard to tie the game late. Lots to be proud of!

South Side also showed toughness in adversity.

Now if we're able to clean up some free throws and make more wide open layups we may be in good shape.

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Page

South Side

Upperman

Creekwood

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13 hours ago, WestTNHoopsFan said:

North Side finally beat South Side...Both of these teams will be in the boro

I feel you are right.

For a while in the 21-22 athletic year, I suspected there would be 2 teams from the same District at the dance. But I believed it would be on the girls side.

As time went on, it became evident that the North Side boys were getting better. They certainly peaked last night, Thursday March 3, 2022 at the Hawks Nest.

They did something they, nor any other team, could do for over 3 years. Get a win at South Side.

Early Jan 2019 was the last time South Side lost at home.

The line was 500 feet long to get into the place for almost an hour leading up to tip off.

The sold out, standing room only crowd was treated to an instant classic. And in a tale reminiscent of David vs Goliath, David slew the giant on that night.

North Side knocked downs 3's, played velcro-tight D, and out rebounded South Side.

And yes South Side missed a ton of shots right under their own basket. Among other things.

Congratulations to North Side. Best of luck moving forward.

And what does a wounded Hawk do to an adversary moving forward? It claws their eyes out.

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20 minutes ago, Swipes said:

I don't think anyone is sleeping on Fulton and think they will be in the Glass house along with Greeneville, Clinton, and probably Stone Memorial for the East Quad.  Has Fulton approved enough to compete with and beat the likes of Greeneville or South Side? (The two teams people have picked to win it all) That is going to be the biggest question since Greeneville beat them by 25 in the sectionals last year and 13 the year before

I agree with @Swipes, there are 2 favorites as the people's choice in AAA. But in our area, there is a team that has taken us to the limit 3 times already this year. North Side (Jackson) is an AP top 10 ranked team and we aren't overlooking them at all. We play them for the Region 6 - AAA title tomorrow, Thursday March 3, 2022, night and it will be a sold out war!

(I was chastised by @HawkGuy06 and told to act with class on Coach T. just before the game where he was screaming relentlessly at the refs and calling them trash! )

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13 minutes ago, WestTNHoopsFan said:

Yall done?

As indicated several times, I've tried to get it back to the topic of the thread.

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3 minutes ago, Swipes said:

You’re comebacks...

are boring everyone here. And wasting everyone's time.

The manager wants you back from break now.

Your conversation is over.

Now that he's been properly dispatched, what is everyone's predictions for the dance?

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