Norman Dale

The matchup with Whitehaven will be very tough physically but Sevier County is very well coached. Ken Wright is one of the very best coaches in TN high school basketball, IMO. For those who don’t know his background- he coached at Augusta Westside HS in Georgia for several years in the 1990’s and in fact led them to a state title as well as an Arby’s Classic title over George Pitts & Science Hill in their heyday. Two of his former players at Westside later faced off as starters in an NCAA championship game between Duke & UConn- William Avery (Duke) & Ricky Moore ( UConn). Coach Wright obviously doesn’t have the talent at Sevier County that he had at Westside but he always coaches them up and gets his teams to play to their maximum potential.

Oak Ridge HS,Tuesday night schedule: Maryville vs Bearden 6:00 PM Catholic vs. Oak Ridge 7:30 PM

Sunday night or Monday?

I think you are right and although I definitely think OR will beat West, I also think West is very comparable to Karns and Karns gave OR a great game in 3AAA championship so we will see. The Region tourney always is pressure packed- some teams respond well to it, others don’t. From Maryville’s perspective, assuming Rebels beat Karns, I would rather play Bearden at OR than at Bearden so I hope OR wins tonight from that standpoint. But I am a little apprehensive about this road game at Karns tonight because they seem to be playing their best basketball of the year right now and I don’t think that is the case with Maryville.

I think I read that district ties in which the teams split their head to head regular season meetings would be settled by a pre-season blind number draw. Bearden had the better number in the blind draw than Maryville so Bearden got the # 1 seed.

It will never happen but I really wish TSSAA would restructure the district/regional tourneys so that only 3 district teams instead of 4 advance to the regional tourney with the district tourney champs getting first round regional byes. This would make the district consolation game an elimination game- the idea that a team can lose two games in the district tourney and still advance has never made sense to me. It would also end any temptation to “tank” in the district consolation game in order to avoid a clearly dominant team.

I’ve got to chime in on this Player of the Year discussion. IMO, it is absolutely NOT an injustice if Joe Anderson is selected as the district Player of the Year this year- I think you can make a great case for it in fact. He is clearly the best player on the team that tied for the regular season title and he outplayed Glover and Stephney in one of their two head to head games. That said- I would agree that Anderson probably didn’t deserve the award as much last year although he had a good year last year. But this year he is absolutely as deserving as anybody else, IMO.

Since the OP bumped my previous post to get this ball rolling again I will chime in. Yes, I would agree with the thread title that Maryville is overrated at #2 in the AAA rankings. I’m not saying that to knock them at all - their very own Coach Eldridge said the same thing in the paper even before the Bearden game. Good win by Bearden on Tuesday- they were certainly the better team without question and I can’t say that I was surprised at all with the outcome. Pember’s excellent defense on Anderson was the only thing that was really surprising to me about how the game unfolded. Hope OP feels better now.

Very good points, RR. I hate to say it but IMO, for Maryville even to have a chance to beat Bearden, Joe Anderson has to have a HUGE game. In the first game, Joe played great and it still took a great last second three point shot by him to get the W. Last night, Pember did a great defensive job on him and Bearden won with ease.

Good decision by TSSAA regarding the post season bans for the teams noted above. That kind of stuff has no place in high school athletics. It’s one thing for two players to get into a fight during a game. When it escalates to include other team members and fans from the stands into an all out brawl, severe penalties MUST be handed out.

Coach Eldridge has done a fantastic job at Maryville HS. He is a great coach and a class act.

Thanks for the info, hoopsguru & qsouth.

I know it’s way too early to talk about next year but I would give Catholic a very slight edge over Maryville looking ahead to next year- if they are even in AAA next year. Isn’t Catholic going to be in the private division next year?

Fortunately , there are two spots available for teams from this area to make the state tourney. I would be totally shocked if Bearden isn’t one of the two. Right now, I would consider Maryville, Catholic, and Oak Ridge the frontrunners for the other spot from Region 2. Can’t forget about Region 1- from looking at records and past results it looks like D-B, Morristown East & West, and possibly Sevier County & TN High may be the top teams. Science Hill appears to be WAY down this year. The kicker is that tournaments often have some unexpected results so who knows what will happen.

That can actually become a big problem if not managed properly.

How about giving a team credit for being 20-1 instead of saying they are overrated? They have a PG who can shoot the lights out, multiple other excellent 3 point shooters, and are well coached. They may not be quite as physically talented as some other teams but beating teams that are more physically talented than you are is a good thing. Maryville is having a great season. I just don't know how you can say anyone that is 20-1 is overrated.

Totally agree Govman. Bearden is hands down the best team in ET on paper. They have it all- quickness, ball handling, shooters, size, multiple all-state caliber players, very good "dirty work" role players, and experience. Their senior class is absolutely loaded. Like you say- IF they are healthy, eligible, and avoid T's/ejections, they will beat anybody and everybody in ET by double digits, IMO.

Not a Bearden fan but I watched the game. I think you have to give Coach Eldridge a lot of credit for his game plan , plus Joe Anderson played an outstanding game and the supporting cast contributed. Tactically, Maryville played box and one on Ques Glover and Bearden did not attack it well, IMO. The rematch at Bearden on February 5, plus their inevitable game(s) in the post season will be very interesting. I have no idea how the upcoming game(s) will unfold but IMO, if Bearden is even close to full strength, keeps their cool, plays their game, and refrains from all the extracurricular talking, taunting, etc. they honestly should win.

Bearden wins the Arby’s Classic championship tonight , 61-57 over Carmel Christian. Great accomplishment by the Bulldogs.

Congrats to the Tribe- very nice win. Coach Poore appears to be doing a very good job at D-B so far.

D-B vs. Gate City should be a great one. Good to see these two teams going head to head.

I watched some of the OR games vs Whitehaven and Brentwood Academy in-line. Wildcats looked very good. They can really shoot it this year. As for the loss to Anderson County- inexplicable is all I can say.

I hear you, Gov- just trying to show Christian Gale a little love. He is having a great year shooting the ball and is flying under the radar a bit.

The sad part is I think he is actually a pretty good ref when he sticks to calling the game and doesn’t try to become the center of attention. I know firsthand from playing and then watching HS basketball for many years that it can get very emotional, especially when the gym is packed and two rivals are playing. Coaches and players have to keep their poise, especially when you have an officiating crew that is known for calling T’s. Cutting to the chase........for Bearden fans that think they might have gotten a raw deal last night because of the technicals just remember that Maryville got two critical T’s called on them in last year’s game at Maryville in the fourth quarter for trash talking to Bearden. The moral of the story is pretty simple- just shut up and play basketball.