EastTnSports

I'm a Lady Rebel fan and saw the last three quarters of the Elizabethton/Gatlinburg game while waiting for the Rebel boys to play. I don't post much but figured I'd put my 2 cents in. After watching GP beat the Lady Rebels Tues. night I thought they were very hard to play against because they don't let you play a half court game even if you want to. They double team and trap your guards on every pass in the half court which leads to some easy baskets but also forces some turnovers and tempo. I thought Eliz. would have a very tough time matching up with their quickness and relentless pressure (and fouling). The three quarters I watched was a very competitive game with GP getting the edge on officiating and just making a couple of plays that Eliz. didn't. I thought other than a couple of 2-min stretches Eliz. played a good game and seemed well prepared. That game could have went either way. If your guard hits that shot with about 20 seconds to go that went in and out you're probably not having this conversation. Eliz. had a terrific year and won all the close ones until last night so I wouldn't over-analyze it too much. Somebody wins and somebody loses and it's always painful at this time of year. Be proud you won 30 something games and dominated our district with good teamwork but not overwhelming talent. The Lady Rebs will hopefully be back in the elite group before too long and compete for district, regional, and state championships again with our freshmen and our incoming group of 8th graders. One thing I did think was that District 2 had more talent than District 1 if you include Claibornes 2 injured players. Not making that long trip tonight so go Rebels.

Just a reply to screenandroll: I am a Greene County and East Tenn sports fan from way back. I'm not sure who he was talking about when he said Weems wasn't successful when he coached in Greene County. His second year at West Greene (yes, West Greene) he won about 15 games and had the unbeaten and no. 1 state ranked Claiborne County girls team on the ropes until the final seconds in the regional tournament with a much less talented team. This was the team had Katasha Brown (Southern Conf. player of the year at Chattanooga), Debusk and many other very good players. In his fourth year he won the District Tourney for the first time in 20 something years at West Greene and played Eliz. to a stand still in Elizabethton in the regionals. In his last year (year 5 I think) they won 16 or 17 and went to the regionals once again only to get beat by Elizabethton and if you saw them their tallest player was about 5' 8". He wasn't very successful against Ricker... but who was there for a long time. I heard his JV team at DB won the tournament last year as well. If I were starting a girls basketball program he would be one of my first choices along with Fisher and Ricker. I'm not sure about Elizabethtons talent but I know they lost 2 very good players from last years team which is always a challenge. Oh yeah, look for South Greene to be a good team with Amy Hawk leading the way and Fisher is always good in Erwin.