The Highlander

Y1627, I'm assuming you are from Mitchell County since you have so much information about the school. Not really sure what North Carolina calls a 'small 1A' school, but according to the North Carolina State Department of Education website, Mitchell County High School reported a total of 665 students enrolled in grades 9-12 for SY 2006-07. http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/schDetail...mp;pSchCode=334 According to the Tennessee Department of Education's website, Cloudland had a total enrollment of 361 students grade 7-12 for SY 2006-07. https://edu.warehouse.state.tn.us/pls/a ... 7095::NO::: Now, we fully understand that enrollments fluctuate from one year to the next. If Mitchell County truly lost half of their students this year, I'm sure the Director of Schools is looking into why. With that said, I really don't think the two schools compare in size. At any rate, thanks for a great game. We enjoyed having some competition. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The Highlander

I have mixed emotions about this topic. Our girls play a very fast-paced, high energy, pressure game. That mean's they are going for the steal, going for the pass, rebounding, and setting hard screens. On offense, we push the ball up the floor quickly and drive to the basket. That means we are going to be initiating contact and getting called for fouls. Okay, that is acceptable to us. I don't like the intentional dirty play we encounter. And honestly, since we are a border county, we play a lot of out of state teams, they can be worse. One of our players received a bruised sternum from an Alabama team (intentional elbow), and in another game a strained knee ligament from another out of state team. We just recently played a North Carolina team, and as the team videographer I got to film three girls in one play intentionally trying to hook our point guards foot as she rebounded and took off for our goal. The same point guard was tackled from behind in another game and had the girl roll up the back of her leg. Ankle sprain there. Our other guard went driving on the basket and had a girl "low-bridge" her into the floor. The result was a fractured shoulder-blade. Injuries and contact are a part of the game, I just don't like the intentionally dirty plays. Usually when you see hooking, holding jerseys, etc. it is because the player is too out of shape to keep up and just wants to slow you down. I don't think it necessarily means a poor player, just a player in poor shape. The players today, both female and male, are so much better athletes than we were in our generation. Don't forget that with harder more aggresive play, the chance of injury will go up. Let's just hope the ref's will take care of the intentional stuff, and consider the rest a part of the game. As I have said in other thread's, we have made our share of trips to the physical therapists', emergency rooms for stitches, and chiropractors offices. And that is with two girls playing. The boy's can be even rougher! My $.02. The Highlander

King, Sydnie B. played one of the best games of her career in scoring only. She ALWAYS has a ton of rebounds and plays fantastic defense! I'd love to see her score like that in every game. She is certainly capable. One of the neat things this season is the number of players we have had lead the scoring. Jordi has several times, and she and Syd tied for the lead at Unicoi. BJ led early in the season (sometimes by a bunch), and Bekah led with 22 against Chuckey-Doak. Most of the games haven't had a standout, they have had balanced scoring, which is really neat to watch. Bekah was indeed held scoreless in the game. She had a little defensive sagging keeping her from getting good looks at the ball. She played a big roll in getting the guards open though, she sets one massive screen, that is for sure. Absolutely floored (literally) one girl. The Highlander

I was told Mitchell has over 700 kids, in Tennessee that would be a AAA school I believe. Cloudland actually has 320 kids...in SIX GRADES! The school is actually grades seven through twelve. So Mitchell has approximately 3-4 times the size of Cloudland. That is far from being a "small school" in Tennessee. Not taking anything at all away from Mitchell County, they are a very good ball team, that has a lot of talent, and is well-coached. Of course, they had to come to Carter County to get such a good coach! The Highlander

Now, if only something can be worked out so we can go to Harriman. Having two Carter County teams there together will be special. Krich, So are you going to Harriman with us? The Highlander

Hey Krich, I thought you were coming to Cloudland last night. I had even left you a prepaid ticket at the gate, and was going to buy you a burger from Bob's Dairyland. Oh well, your loss! I'll still make the offer when Unaka makes the trip up the mountain. I wish someone would post the game recap from the other Tr-County Seven schools. In particular I'd like to know what happened in the Elizabethton-Daniel Boone game. Well, Merry Christmas to everyone! The Highlander

LADY 'LANDER UPDATE: Cloudland 48, Mitchell County 39 By quarter: 1st Cloudland 7, Mitchell Co. 9 2nd Cloudland 11, Mitchell Co. 9 3rd Cloudland 7, Mitchell Co. 11 4th Cloudland 23, Mitchell Co. 10 Definitely a fantastic ballgame! Mitchell came out and jumped to an early lead in the first quarter. The second quarter saw the return of Shellie McKinney to the Cloudland lineup, coming back from an ankle injury. She was able to contribute very quickly, with a couple of rebounds, and a free throw in the second. The first half ended in an 18-18 tie. Both teams played pretty well, not too many turnovers or blown plays from either side. I really don't think either had much of an edge, although Mitchell Co. typically had the lead, with Cloudland hitting buckets to tie the game several times. The third quarter was more of the same. A well-played game from both teams, although the Mountaineers outscored the 'Landers 11-7 to pull out a 4 point lead to start the final period. Much like the Unicoi County game, the 'Landers owned the fourth period. To be specific, Sydnie B. and Jordi Miller owned the fourth. To give a little bit of a rundown, without the same level of excitement of the game... With 7:00 to go in the game, Sydnie B. hit her first three of the game to put us up 31-29. Around a minute later, Jordi drained another three to put us back on top at 34-31. At 4:30 to go, Jordi pitched a beautiful assist to Sydnie B for her second three to give us another big lift. As many experts will tell you, free throws win games. Shellie was 1-2, BJ was 1-2, Sydnie was 1-2, and Jordi Miller hit a perfect 100% from the charity stripe, nailing 8-8 in the final 2:30 of the game. The lesson here is "don't foul 23." The scoring recap looks like this: Jordi Miller 19 Sydnie Buchanan 18 Brooke Johnson 6 Shellie McKinney 3 Brittany Reece 2 Congratulations to the Lady 'Landers on beating a very good team. Mitchell County is a large AAA team in NC, and had only lost two this year, with one of those being to 4A powerhouse McDowell County. The Highlander

Oh man, did you miss a game! See my write up in the Cloudland thread, J definitely got her aim back. Congratulations on the twins. That is great, except for twice as many diapers to change!! The Highlander

I hate to hear that Courtney was injured. She is not only a very good player, she is a very sweet girl as well. Fantastic shooter and lots of experience. I hope she is able to come back quickly and play. I'm not familiar with the Deaton girl, but I wish her the best also. Good luck Courtney. The Highlander

I agree that from REAL Upper East Tennessee, Cloudland's team with Aimee Story, Hanson, etc. was a great team. Lost in the state tournament in the last minutes of the game. Partly because of a player cutting Hanson with her fingernail, then complaining to the ref that she was bleeding. It took our shooter out of the game with literally seconds to go. But I have to say, this years team is better. If you ask about the best team over the last 3-5 years, I say Cloudland. For a consistent program, year in and year out over the last twenty years, South Greene and Greeneville get my vote. The Highlander

Hey SNR, I was typing my post, then I read yours. It sounds like you and Krich and I got together and compared notes before we posted! I have the utmost respect, both personally and professionally, for the poster who mentioned Elizabethton's reason for not playing some of the county schools. I just cannot for the life of me fathom that line of reasoning. The Highlander

Screenandroll, Yes, I watched the Junior Lady 'Landers play at Freedom Hall. We didn't play very well, however. But we did manage to hand T.A. Dugger a loss. And oddly enough, no one on either team got hurt, no technicals were called, and I don't remember any obvious displays of "we beat the bigger school" mentality. We just EXPECTED to beat them, and did. Then we turned around and didn't even show up against Blountville. Kind of embarrased ourselves in that game. Fortunately, I don't recall the score. As for future talent, I think Cloudland will be fine on the JV next year. Summer Hughes (Jordan's sister) and Sydney Miller (Jordi's little sis) are a fantastic pair of guards. Both played on the 8th grade team that won a sectional State Championship last year. They also have help from Hope Baker, Renee Proffitt, Andrea Guinn, Natasha Clawson, and several others. At Unaka, Louisa Espinoza (Weezie) is a standout. TAD has a couple of players, can't recall the names except for Casey Jones, but she wasn't the only talent. I just happen to know her family, so I remember her more easily. I've got to comment on some of the prior posts as well. I can speak, I think, for at least some of the players at Cloudland. They wouldn't look at beating Elizabethton as a huge accomplishment, I can assure you of that. And to imply that a cross-county game is more "dangerous" than any other is mistaken. If the players don't have the same level of motivation for every game, they probably shouldn't be on the floor. The referees and coaches are responsible for controlling the game, I agree fully with that. But let's not use the "homer" ref excuse either. The county uses the same pool of referees as the city, so that one will not fly. Frankly, many of the Unaka players are friends with girls from Cloudland, as are some of the Happy Valley players. My daughters have made friends on basketball teams across East Tennessee. One has dated players from other schools more than once. They certainly wouldn't go out of the way to try to injure another player simply because they were from a county school. We have made several trips to doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors, and emergency rooms for stitches due to being athletes. Not one of them was because we were playing a particular team. If an overiding factor in scheduling games is to not get hurt, or to prevent injury to one's pride...don't even play the games. The next step would be to do what has been done in the Johnson City youth league, stop even keeping the score. Of course, I guarantee you that the kids know who won, even with the scoreboard off. Sports are a microcosm of life. There are winners, and there are losers. There are whiners, and there are those who take responsibility for their own performance. Testing yourself against the best athletes you can find is the only way to truly know how you measure up. The Highlander

Well, well, well...that does confuse the issue doesn't it ?!? Congratulations to Johnson County and condolences to Hampton. I think I may have mentioned the Lady Longhorns had improved somewhat this year. And I understand they were short a starter, not sure who. I'm very surprised they could drop 76 points on someone though. Where the heck did that come from? As for the HV/Unaka game, Krich can give us the details, sounds like a good one. And the Lady Cyclones shouldn't feel too bad...Greeneville is one of the best teams in the state. The Highlander

Sportiemom, Actually I'm throwing everyone a curve tonight. I watched the games at Freedom Hall, but I can tell you that Johnson County ladies beat Hampton ladies by 13! Now I just want to know how the Elizabethton v. Greeneville game went. The Landerlover/Highranger If you only knew..................

Krich, I can't believe you would give away my alter ego, NumberOneRangerLover, to this crowd! I didn't think you'd do that. Oh well, just because I know where Earl's Grill was, and just because I've lost my car keys in Lick Skillet, and wrecked a motorcycle on Muddy Branch, just because I've shot at the Southern Archery Club, just because I know where Lane Hill Academy once stood, I don't think that was nice of you. I'll remind you that I bleed Old Gold and Royal Blue. Well, and UT orange of course. As for my rankings, I've mentioned why I don't do it, I haven't seen everyone play. I don't feel qualified to add much, and I defer to you guys! The Highlander

LADY 'LANDER UPDATE: Cloudland 60, Chuckey-Doak 44 Well, the game was not much to write about. The 'Landers were never stressed, unless you count playing the Black Knights and the zebras at the same time. More on that later... The score by quarter was 1st CHS 15 CD 6 2nd CHS 26 CD 17 3rd CHS 45 CD 33 4th CHS 60 CD 44 CD never had a lead, unless it was early in the first. CD only had one player Jessica Mathes that scored in double digits with 11. They were just outplayed at every position by the 'Landers. Not that they don't have a couple of decent players, just the defensive intensity and pressure didn't allow them to do very much. The 'Landers continued to answer any questions about there depth, with yet another stating line up. I've lost count at this point. Brooke Hughes had possibly the best game of her career with four threes and 100% from the charity stripe on her way to a career high 16 points. Bekah Tolley had her breakout game for the season with 22 points spread liberally around the quarters. Brooke Johnson had another stellar game at point and pumped in an additional 12 points. Sydnie Buchanan and Jordi Miller got in foul trouble very early and each spent some time riding the bench as a result. It didn't stop Syd from getting her season average of 35 rebounds (more or less!). And J added 3 steals, 3 assists, and 4 rebounds of her own. The bottom line is that with Shellie McKinney still out of the lineup, and J not having a great shooting night, we had two more players step up in a huge way and beat a decent team by 16 points. The entire team again played, giving a little more experience to the only two young players on the roster. I would think that by now there is a little less concern with our depth than at the first of the season. Next up is a very tough game against undefeated Mitchell County on Friday night in Roan Mountain. If you don't have a game to go to, you would be hard pressed to find a more exciting place to be. Oh yeah, I mentioned the zebras. We had a crew I haven't seen much this year, and apparently since they were being reviewed, they took it upon themselves to call the game VERY tightly. Jordi and Sydnie seemed to draw a lot of attention early, and both sat as a result. Reviewing the numbers, the fouls were exactly the same in the first half, and only one different in the second, with CD being whistled for 8 and Cloudland 7. What seemed to get both coaches and groups of fans was the EXTREMELY tight calls alternating with no-calls that brought howls from the crowd. It was very tough for either team to figure out how to play defense, they couldn't figure out what the ref's were going to give them from one possession to the next. Oh well, perhaps they were just nervous with the TSSAA gentlemen reviewing them. The Highlander

SNR, Actually I was supporting Krich's thought process and right to his views. I respect his opinion, knowledge, and love of our area basketball. as for his rankings, I don't agree with them to be honest. The Highlander

I have to support Krich. I haven't seen all the teams play and I don't feel like I'm competent to rank them. That is why I never have. Later in the season, when I've at least watched them all play a game, I might feel more qualified. But if you look objectively, with apologies to Johnson County, any one of them could beat any other on a given night. I do not think Unicoi is 22 better than Eton for instance. And I know the two worst games of the year for Cloudland were against MoWest and Johnson Co. because I know our girls VERY well. I will go out on a limb and say for certain that none of you know which of our girls was upset over a problem with a boyfriend, test stress, etc. But I do. I just do not have the same level of knowledge about Unicoi for instance. Hampton and Unaka will both surprise someone big this year. Cloudland/Hampton and Cloudland/Unaka are always competitive, no matter what else happens in the year, they will be up for those two games. It's nice to see that we have this many area teams with pretty good parity. Just keep the in-fighting amongst ourselves, and support all our area teams when we venture "Out of Area!" The Highlander

OS91, Don't pay any attention to the "strength" rankings and "schedule" rankings on CoachT. They are quite skewed. For instance Cloudland is a small single-A school, with only 325 kids in six grades, seven through twelve. Yet they have played only one single-A team this year. The out of state games in NC are against what would be AAA schools in Tennessee, with Mitchell County being a premier team in their state. They only blemish on their record is against a pretty good AAA Morristown West team. As I understand it, the only thing that counts on CoachT is won/loss. That means that if a team loses to a AAA powerhouse by a handful of points, it has the same impact on their "ranking" as if they lost to a horrible A team by 50. If correct, that can be misleading for many of the teams on the boards. In other words, the A schools playing primarily a AA and AAA non-conference schedule don't get any "credit" for playing up. It would also be true then that the larger schools aren't penalized for playing a bunch of smaller schools in non-conference games. I think ptguard12 does an excellent job of ranking the teams statewide, considering the difficulty of obtaining first-hand information on all the teams. I certainly don't quibble because my team is ranked lower than teams we played and beat over the summer in scrimmages. Heck, we beat more than one of last years state-tournament AA and AAA teams over the summer in middle Tennessee team camps. But you know what, it doesn't mean a thing in the regular season. The Highlander

Krich, Only one slight correction to your posting. Cloudland has two games this week, Monday against Chuckey-Doak and Friday against Mitchell County in Roan Mountain. If you don't have a game to go to, we can use support from the Tennessee side when Mitchell comes to town! The Highlander

The Landers will be in Harriman as well. Maybe we can make it an All-Carter County Show!

Sportiemom, Thank you for the comments, I enjoy doing it, but it's nice to know someone is actually reading what I write! I wish we had someone at each of the area schools that would take a few minutes to update after each game. Unless we are playing each other, I think most would agree we will support a Tri-County team over outside opponents, and I like to know how our other schools are doing. We play Mitchell County on 12/21, so I'll be able to speak a little more intelligently about their game then. We have played them for several years in both games and scrimmages, so I'm fairly familiar with the team. They are quite literally closer to us than Unaka is, for instance. Good athletes, good coaches, and a BEAUTIFUL basketball court. We lost to them last year at Mitchell, and I'm not making excuses, but dang those officials and their calls are harder to figure out than Greene County rules. BJ nearly fouled out because every time she brought the ball up the floor and a Mitchell Co. player bumped her while trying to steal the ball they called the foul on BJ. When the crowd "questioned" the calls, the ref explained to us that BJ had initiated the contact!?! There are other differences in the North Carolina rulebook, that one just sticks in my mind. Another discrepancy is traveling. I've noticed the interpretation seems to be a little different from Tennessee. Primarily jump stops. Of course, I've also seen TN ref's call traveling on our 8th grade guard three times in the last couple of years when she was dribbling, tripped to her knee's, kept her dribble, and stood back up. For whatever reason, Mitchell County seems a little different than Avery County. But then again, no one in East Tennessee plays by the same rulebook as Greene County either, so I guess that is just something to deal with. Players can't get hung up in how the ref is calling, or who the ref may be. Once they figure out the flow of the game, just play with what they will let you have and adjust. The Highlander

Hey King, you do have your good moments as well, I'm just not sure anyone on Stoney Creek would agree! Matt is doing a great job with these young ladies, that is for sure. They would run through a brick wall for him. Actually, BJ did up at Unaka a year or two ago! His brother Randy coached the current group of Juniors for a couple of years when they were in Middle School as well, so they are used to the Birchfield Method of Coaching. Unfortunately, at the time we were not a part of the TMSAA and were not eligible for a sectional state championship. I would bet that group would have won at least one, maybe two state championships already if we could have played. That would have been nice. Not taking anything away from last year's eigth grade team that won a State Championship for Cloudland. Incidentally, Jordi Miller's little sister Sydney played on that team as a seventh grader, and she is on this year's middle school team as well. Look forward to seeing her and Jordan Hughes little sis Summer next year at the high school. The 'Ladies next home game is on Monday against Chuckey Doak. The Ladies Varsity will probably play at about 6:30. Hope to see you there! The Highlander

Krich, Sorry to hear about the accident, that isn't good. On the other hand, we could have told you the easiest way to Mitchell County is over the Roan! Which way did you guys go? Sounds like Unaka played a great first quarter, Mitchell has a very athletic, well-coached basketball team. I know the final score might not have been what you wanted, but take a little consolation in a good defensive performance for that quarter and find something to build on there. The Highlander

Now, THAT's funny. I don't care who you are...