Norman Dale

Friday: Top Half Losers @ 11:30 am Bottom Half Losers @ 2:30 pm Top Half Winners @ 5:30 pm Bottom Half Winners @ 8:30 pm Saturday: 7th Place Game @ 11:30 am 5th Place Game @ 2:30 pm 3rd Place Game @ 5:30 pm Championship Game @ 8:30 pm.

McDonald can play. He is ranked as one of the top 25 juniors in the country. He is a silky smooth 6-5 wing who can stroke it from downtown and has a very nice midrange game as well. Briarcrest has a lot more than just McDonald. They have at least 3 other potential D1 recruits- 6-3 senior wing Elgin Lee, 6-2 junior pg Greg Wooten, and 6-8 junior post, Johnny Williams.

Let's hear some eyewitness reports from the Knoxville game of the week. Hopefully, the Knoxville News Sentinel is covering the game but you never know with that newspaper.

Games start on Thursday, 12/27: Upper Half of Bracket: Gallatin vs. Lewis County 11:30 am G.W. Carver vs. Maryville 2:30 pm Lower Half of Bracket: William Blount vs. Henry County 5:30 pm Beech vs. Sheffield 8:30 pm Tourney play will continue on 12/28 and 12/29.

Any reports on how this game went tonight?

Actually, CPA is playing Mason County High School, not Pikeville High School. The game is being played in Pikeville, Ky. It should be a good one. Chris Lofton of UT is a Mason County grad and led them to a state title his junior year. This year, Mason County is led by Darius Miller, a 6-7 wing who is a consensus top 50 player in the nation. He signed with Kentucky in the early signing period. I have some relatives who will be at the game. I look forward to hearing how it goes.

I think the previous post was about some players who were suspended from Clinton, not Maryville. I'm not sure why it was posted as a reply to the Oak Ridge-Maryville thread. There were no players suspended by Maryville for the game. They were at full strength, other than Douglas who hasn't rejoined the team yet. I'm a Maryville fan who was at the Maryville-Oak Ridge game. Oak Ridge was the better team on that night and deserved to win. Dowdell didn't play his best but the length of Jay Reynolds had something to do with that, just like the pressure defense of Oak Ridge had a lot to do with Maryville's 7 for 28 shooting from 3 point land and 25 turnovers.

In Alcoa's last two games, Taylor has scored 31 and 30 points in wins over Carter and Morristown East.

Congrats to Maryville and Maplewood. There is really nothing more you can say at this point about Maryville....... 60-0 over the last 4 years says it all. Maplewood definitely proved they belonged in the championship game and should feel very proud of themselves, even though I know are disappointed because they wanted the championship. I know it is a team game but I wanted to give a shout out to # 17, Caleb Clement for Maryville. Two plays he made I will always remember. First, he was literally on an island by himself against the Maplewood receiver on the long bomb and he absolutely laid out just enough to cause the Maplewood receiver to miss the catch on a PERFECTLY thrown ball. That was tremendous coverage and a super effort. Secondly, was his bone jarring hit on the receiver in the flat that caused the incompletion. What I liked most was how Clement helped the guy up that he just waylaid.... great sportsmanship in an era when guys usually celebrate such a hit with a self promoting dance and the "incomplete pass" gesture. Great stuff, imo.

I agree that 93-90 sounds like no defense on the surface, but it was 77-77 at end of regulation, which is still high scoring, but in the era of 3 pointers isn't quite as bad. But I do agree with you that the defense will be better by both teams the next time they play.

Thanks Heather for that insightful analysis. Not only is it a neutral college field, it is a neutral college field with Astroturf. I'm not sure the Rebels have the right kind of shoes to play on that kind of field and that could slow them down as well.

Side note about Rule and Holston. Does anybody remember the year ( think it was around 1978) that Rule and Holston played each other five times ( twice in district, district finals, region finals, AA state finals)? I think Holston won 4 out of 5, including state championship. Those teams were LOADED. I think Chris Harris and Rick Campbell were during that era but I'm not quite sure.

I really like Matthew Harper of McMinn Central. I'm sure the folks down in the McMinn County area know all about him but I haven't heard a lot about him elsewhere.

Very good observation about Maryville. Maryville's staff is the best I have ever seen at game plan preparation, exploitation of opponent's weaknesses and neutralization of the opponent's strengths. Quarles also does a great job of keeping his players hungry despite all their success. It would be easy for complacency, overconfidence, etc. to set in given their winning streak but it simply doesn't happen under the leadership of GQ and his staff. They do a remarkable job of staying totally focused on the present task at hand. They also thrive on stepping up to new challenges when they are presented. I am sure that the Maryville staff has presented the challenge to the team of shutting down a D1 player like Phillips and Sullivan South. I look for Maryville to come out very hungry and determined to totally shut down Sullivan South. I expect Maryville to build on last week's performance and be at their best come Friday night.

Well, with November games almost finished, I would have to say Darryl Florence of A-E would get my vote, hands down as the best AA shooter in East Tennessee. He is off to a great start this year. I saw him drop 30 on Maryville in the Hall of Fame game, including 7 treys, most of which were with guys right in his face. Judging from the box scores I have seen, he has continued to shoot it very well since that game.

Red Bank also lost arguably their best player, Tim Benford, with a broken arm in the Halls game. That is a MAJOR blow to the Lions.

Fulton and Maryville scrimmaged Saturday morning at Fulton. Fulton won, 66-59. It was a good workout for both teams. Fulton has great quickness, plays tough D, and can really shoot the basketball. Even though Maryville lost the scrimmage, I think it was good preparation for them before they play at A-E this Thursday night. Last week Maryville scrimmaged Anderson County and Daniel Boone and beat both teams, AC by about 10 and Daniel Boone by about 25. Anderson County was missing 3 or 4 key players, but they still competed very well with Maryville. Anderson County has a chance to be really good this year, imo.

Add 6-9 junior Jay Reynolds of Maryville to the list. Imho, he is as good or better than several on the list that have been mentioned. He is poised to have a breakout year this year for Maryville. I saw him play this morning in a scrimmage at Maryville High School and he just keeps getting better and better. He isn't as flashy or spectacular as some other more highly touted big men in the state. If you are looking for monster dunks or blocked shots into the third row of the bleachers, Jay isn't your guy. However, if you are looking for a guy who is interested in helping his team win by doing the dirty work, he is the man. He patrols the paint, blocks shots while keeping the ball in play, passes out of the post to open teammates and rebounds. His offense is also improving greatly. I predict his stock is going to skyrocket this year.

Taylor Brown, who is a junior at Alcoa, is definitely a pure shooter. He played well and shot well for the Tornadoes as a sophomore last year. I look for that to continue this year.

From a Maryville fan's perspective, there is no question that Aaron Douglas is a bigtime difference maker. However, Maryville's program has evolved to the point that they don't depend on any one player. A few years ago, everyone was calling for a rebuilding season after Andy Tipton and Tyler Gaskin graduated. The next year, with a lot of previously unproven players, Maryville went 27-5 and won the regular season district championship. They have won at least 20 games per year for around nine years in a row. They are not a "Johnny come lately" program. Obviously, I hope Douglas plays and I know he will if he is physically able. However, if he doesn't, their track record indicates the Rebels will still be good.

I don't know if Aaron is the best big man in the state but I think he is the strongest physically. Nobody wanted any part of him in the state tourney last year.

Look for Jay Reynolds and Ryan Click to have outstanding junior seasons for the Maryville Rebels this year. Both of these guys are projected starters for the AAA defending state champs. Jay Reynolds is a 6-9 center who is still growing. He contributed last year as a key reserve and has a tremendous work ethic. His game will expand this year with more playing time. Everyone remembers Click hitting the title winning shot at the buzzer but believe me this kid is MUCH more than a one hit wonder. He started 10-15 games for Maryville last year as a sophomore and was a key player all year long for the Rebels. Now that Basile and Maples have graduated, I think Click will really emerge as an outstanding player.

I agree with you on the stupidity of the rule. I also think Quarles takes the foot of the accelerator much earlier than most, if not all, of his coaching peers that are in the same situation. I have noticed that most teams that are behind Maryville by big scores tend to leave their first stringers in against the Maryville 2nd, 3rd, and 4th teamers. In these situations, the teams become pretty evenly matched and the score doesn't change much, if any, after Quarles pulls his frontline players. If teams substituted as liberally as Quarles does when they got way behind, I would venture to say that the Maryville subs would equally dominate the subs of other schools and the margin would keep expanding. However, I don't think GQ would ever let the score get too ridiculous because he is so sportsmanlike.

Congratulations to both teams on a classic game. I know it is a cliche but both teams really laid it all on the line tonight. I feel very bad for the WB kicker. He kicks a very nice looking ball. The last extra point couldn't have missed by much; it looked good from where I was sitting. This was the first time this year I have seen WB in person and I was very impressed. Their secondary played much better than I thought they would... they had one great INT in the end zone and should have/could have had at least three more that could have easily swung the game in their favor. WB has all the ingredients they need to make a deep run in the playoffs. I know they are disappointed to lose but their performance tonight has to give them a great deal of confidence for the rest of the season. They do need to cut down on some totally unnecessary penalties. As for Maryville, they showed tremendous grit to win against an opponent that was pretty much their equal. GQ and the players themselves never cease to amaze me with the timing of the razzle dazzle play calls ( GQ) and flawless execution ( players). The defense was very good for most of the game but gave up two huge plays in the fourth quarter. I thought they contained Garner very well but they had a lot of trouble when Burstrom faked the inside handoff and kept the ball.

I think Douglas runs and jumps very well for a guy around 6-7 255. He may appear slow when compared to fast tailbacks and wide receivers but he is an athletic freak for someone his size, imo. I think he definitely could play tight end at UT but I wouldn't be surprised to see him converted to be an offensive tackle in college. He has a frame that could handle some more weight and he has the athleticism and toughness to block the physical defensive ends/linebackers that he would be playing against in college. He also looked pretty good on defense for a guy who hasn't played there in varsity action before.