SemperFi10

I'm not saying Hudson is all they've got, but there is no denying that she is the dominant player responsible for more than 50% of their offensive production this season. JC is more balanced. I suspect that they will focus defensively on Hudson (double or triple team) and make someone else beat them, and if someone else steps it up, Gleason will likely win. Or, Hudson may be so good that it doesn't matter and have big game anyway (big time players often do that in big time games, i.e. anybody see what Big Baby did to the Vols yesterday) in which case, Gleason will likely win. However, if I'm Jim Brown I roll the dice and focus on stopping Hudson. Enough of strategy however. I am just the humble spectator. I think we all agree that both of these coaches are great coaches, in the end though, as someone already stated, it comes down to the players being able to execute and get it done. That's the big question, as a JC fan, I take comfort that we've been there last year in crunch time, and know what it feels like. Experience is very valuable. And yes, I'm sure it well seem as though the entire town of Gleason has rolled up the sidewalks, shut down the town, and drove East to Murfreesboro. Let me let you in on something......I've NEVER been to a game at the 'Boro involving a small town team, Boys or Girls where I didn't think "Dang, it looks like they've rolled up the sidewalks, shut down the entire town, and come to the game." It will seem like the entire counties of Weakley and Jackson (Gainesboro) are there. As it will seem like 1/2 of Anderson County will be there for Oliver Springs, all of Overton county and the entire town of Lewsiburg for LA/Marshall Co. The ENTIRE town of Baxter for Upperman, and I suspect Riverdale will have a massive hometown crowd a little later on as well..... Ahh...March....tournament time.....JC playing at 12:30 and the 'Dores at 2:30, and me stuck at work.....good thing I've got access to a computer /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

Neither has Jim Brown. /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" /> His only 2 losses in the 'Boro have been in the 99 and 06 finals. So looks like today, one of them will remain undefeated on semi final Friday and one will be going home with their first ever semi final loss..... Pretty amazing for both coaches. I checked into Fraziers resume. In one word......Impressive.......500+ wins and a ridiculously high win percentage somewhere around 85% over 21 years. 2 State Championships. You don't do that if your a slouch. I dare say there are many good coaches out there who never get a trip to Murfreesboro in their whole career. Brown's winning percentage is only around 65-67%, However......the bloke's less than 40 years old and has 4 championships and 350 wins coaching in perhaps the strongest area for girls hoops in Tennessee. His teams have been very, very, very good. And yes, after he lost a dominant low post player to Smith County, most folks didn't give his little squad a snowball's chance. Instead he adjusted his team to a peremiter oriented 3 point shooting offense and has taken them all the way to the state semi finals. It's rumored he turned down the oppurtunity to replace Ensel at Shelbyville a couple of seasons ago. He's extremely well respected and has had numerous players awarded college scholarships. I wonder how many coaches at high school or greater level in any sport have won 4 championships and 2 runners up before their 40th Birthday? My guess.......not very many...... Sounds like Kayla Hudson of Gleason is a great player. Hope she has a great career at Union. Should be an awsome game this afternoon. BTW - what about those great games between Upperman and Jackson North Side, Austin East -& Lipscomb yesterday, don't you just love state tournament time /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

Agreed, this should be a great game. Looks like Jackson County is going to have their hands full tomorrow. Gleason finished the regular season ranked #2 in the AP poll, #1 on CoachT.com. Their record is an impressive 34-1, the only loss being in their district tournament semifinal to Lake County, a team they had already swept in the regular season. They went on to avenge that loss with a win over Lake County in the Region championship. Jackson County has a record of 22-15, easily the worst of any team, Boys or Girls, that made it to the 'Boro this year. They were unranked in the AP poll, and CoachT.com has them ranked as the 16th best single A team. In a pick the winners poll on CoachT.com poll 89% of the participants are picking Gleason to win tomorrow's semifinal game. Looks bad for the Lady Blue Devils, right? Here's what that 11% know...... 5 of Jackson County's 15 losses were against Livingston and Upperman, easily the best two AA teams in the state (both still alive and headed towards a showdown in the AA final) 2 losses were against AAA rival Cookeville, 1 was to fellow district powerhouse and state tourney team Clarkrange, and 5 were district losses in 7-A, arguably the toughest in the state. Their only other loss was by 2 points to a good Moore County team from 11-A. In a CoachT.com strength of schedule poll, which ranks teams according to the combined winning percentage of their opponents, guess who has the #1 ranking?..........Jackson County. Guess what ranking Gleason has in that same poll?.......65th. Guess what Jim Brown's overall state tournament record is?........17-2. That's right, 17 wins and 2 losses. That's a Murfreesboro winning percentage of 89%. Would you want to be coaching against him? Jackson county lost in the finals last year, (by one point, no less) Do you think those same girls who played last year and lost by one point want to win it, and win it bad this year? Last time the year after Jackson county lost in the finals, they went on to hoist 4 straight gold balls.

Thanks for the info! I figured there might be something like that in place

I've been following along the interesting home school debate about home schoolers participating in high school sports, and I understand that legislators here in Tennessee were considering laws that would allow home schoolers to participate. I don't have kids that are homeschooled, but I just got interested after reading about Tim Tebow down at Florida, etc... My question is this. Let's say I have a child who may have the oppurtunity to attend a magnet high school in a couple of years, say Hume Fogg or MLK in Nashville. Neither of those schools has a football team. Can my kid participate in football at the school which he is zoned for, like Hillsboro? Anybody ever here of something like this happening? Also, what about a kid who lives in a small town where the public high school they attend does not have a sport they want to play, like say, Girls Soccer, or Girls Track. Can they participate anywhere else? Are there any small towns or counties that do not have football teams in Tennessee? I know Perry County just got a team a few years ago.... Just curious, I know this has probably come up before and I'm sorry if it's already been discussed in detail, just wanted to get your thoughts...

Congratulations to the Toppers of Hillwood. 12-0 and first time ever in the quarterfinals. You have made all of us old Alumni proud. Good luck against the White House Blue Devils!

Lipscomb by 3

I knew that Marissa was a great player, but I didn't realize she was on the verge of breaking 2,000 points for her career. That's a lot of points. Does that make her the #1 scorer in JCHS history. I know that Andrea Davidson has a bunch. Who are the top scorers in Lady Blue Devil History? Congrats to Marissa, hope you shatter the 2,000 point barrier. Tech is lucky to have you on their team next year.

DevilFanatic, you are in for a surprise if you think Lipscomb does not match up well with Smith Co, McAlister at Lipscomb is an awsome player. I'll be following her college career in a couple of years. Good basketball genes in that family. Big Bro was a 1,000+ point scorer and finalist for Mr Basketball a couple of years ago. Little sister is an 8th grader starting on a good Ezel Harding team, Uncle was an awsome athlete at NCS many many years ago, Mother was a great athlete up in New York, Father, well he is definetly a has been. But you know the best thing about being a has been? It's better than being a Never Was !

That's correct, If Hume Fogg loses then Smith plays Lipscomb, a very good team. But this is tournament time and anything can happen. 7AA is probably the toughest district in the state so it stands to reason that their 4th place team - Smith Co, is a good team. They certainly aren't going to lay down and give it to Lipscomb, also Hume Fogg could upset Lipscomb tonight, not likely, but they did split during the reg season. The past couple of years I think that 7AA has swept 8AA in the region tourney, but this year with the absence of Upperman and Jackson County being a bit down, I don't think 7AA will complete the sweep. When it comes to coaching, Jackson Co has everyone else beat, but I think that everybody agrees that the talent level on this Jackson Co team is not the same as the past. However, being 4 time state champs gives you a tremendous mental edge. They have been in a ton of big games and the seniors on their team have more state tournament experience that any player in the state, boys or girls, any class, any division. The crown belongs to them until someone else takes it. Regardless, if you haven't got you tickets to this Region 4AA Tourney in Portland, RUN don't walk to the ticket booth, because the future state champs are playing in this tourney. The road to Murfreesboro and the ever elusive gold ball runs through a town known for strawberries about 40 North of Nashville at this Region 4AA tournament.

District 7 will go 3-1, The only team from District 8 that will survive and advance will be David Lipscomb. The top 3 teams in the Region are LA, Jackson Co, & Lipscomb.

Speaking of district 11 AAA, what about David Vaughn of Whites Creek? Does he still play in the NBA? What about Germont Wade from Hillwood? He had great offensive skills. Whatever became of him? What ever happened to Brandon Wharton after his days at UT? or his real tall teamate at Overton, Brian Watkins? Overton used to have this guy named Jeff Lockridge, he had a withered hand, but was still an amazing ball handler and shooter.

Whatever happened to Eugene Lockett from Hillwood and Marshall Hyler from Pearl-Cohn? They were both good hoops players in district 11 AAA, and I heard they both played a little while at Aquinas JC in Nashville.