limestonecove

More parity at this time of year than I can remember. The distance between the bottom and top isnt very great as evidenced by Johnson Co playing Unicoi and Eliz so close at home. Districts could provide some upsets. Why isnt McCurry a part of Betsy's team anymore? Usually injured players still sit on the bench.

Unicoi beat Elizabethton 45-38 last night. Unicoi is getting better as the year goes on and its obvious that the injuries have taken their toll on Eliz. Even though they host the district and regional, that may not be enough of an advantage to make a sectional game. Where are you coachh with your analysis? I have a feeling you would have already posted if they had won.

McCurry has a stress fracture and her return was questionable at best. Why she would turn her uniform in is a mystery unless Dugger put her on waivers...........

Hate to see a player get hurt, especially a senior. Unfortunately it sounds like an acl. Dugger had no significant injuries the last couple years but the injury bug has hit Eliz hard this year. 3 of their top 7 players possibly out for the year. Who will the full time point guard be while DePew is out? Is McCurry going to try and play with the stress fracture?

Does Dugger know one of his players is posting on here? Or is it Mommy? Come On Man...........

This year the 3 Rivers conf may be the weakest top to bottom in a long time. The weakest (Johnson Co) is better but the usual top two dogs, Eliz and Unicoi are both down from previous years. Unicoi is very young with a new coach who has no HS experience. They are taking their lumps and at this point are likely one and done in the regional qtrs. Eliz is very experienced on both counts but seems to have a group of seniors that are somewhat soft and more interested in individual stats. It will be interesting to see how these two teams progress during the stretch run over the next six weeks.

Coachh, Unicoi will still be strong next year. Eliz returns alot, but faces uncertainly on their coach. I would not be surprised to see some Eliz players go elsewhere, and that hasnt happened in a long time. Coach Wilson is not the long term answer, but may stay one more year. Sparky I know you want Dugger back but I dont see that happening. What do you Eliz insiders see happening on the coaching front?

hate to say I told you so but I feared a D 2 sweep and thats what happened. when was the last time this happened?

Tonight the Lady Devil team played their game and showed what they are capable of doing. Holding Eliz to 35 points is feat. Eliz did not play well but I credit the Unicoi defense for a big part of that. Eliz has had a nice season given what they have gone through, but Im not sure if they can beat Grainger on a neutral court in the regional semis if they get past Greenville friday. The Blue Devils have to play a much improved South Greene team which will be a dogfight. Folks it pains me to say this, but its possible District 2 could have all four teams in the regional semifinals. I sure hope not...... The real season starts this friday, although its nice to be able to say Congrats to the 2011-12 District 1 and three rivers conference Champs, the Unicoi County Lady Blue Devils!!!!

coachh, you should call your old buddy Wilson and tell him what needs to be done!!! JK. Its hard to learn that match up zone in midseason especially since its so different from what defense Dugger taught. Dugger pointed out in Novemeber that this team lacked toughness; and other than Hodge, the posts are more finese type posts. Now Unicoi has their own set of troubles. I would not bet for or against either of them even making the regional semis. Both are going to draw a good team from D 2 in the qtrs and even though it may be at home, it will not be an easy win like in years past.

Eliz is fueled by their shooting and DePew's drives; thats just their personality. Teams that play them physicially without fouling too much will give them trouble in the post season.

coachh and sparky are NEVER wrong; just ask them.............JK As I said before this is the most wide open Region I AA has been in quite a while; I give five, maybe even 7 teams a legitimate chance of winning.......Unicoi and Eliz from D 1 and Grainger, SG and Greeneville from D 2 with West Greene and host CD as darkhorses.......

Unicoi County beat Grainger early in the year but to be honest that was one of the better games the blue devils have played this year. It was over two months ago as I recall. I would not underestimate the GRizzlies.

Sparky I didnt think it would be you; sorry if you took it that way. It was a middle school game so the quality of officiating would be lower anyway. TAD has a very good team this year and will most likely get back to the Forge for the Sectional tournament and make some noise there. Ref definitely took a bad situation and made it worse.

Hey Sparky: Were you one of the 3 TAD parents thrown out of the game with Unicoi thursday night? Just wondering as I know you have a daughter that plays. Didnt see the game but it sounds like it got out of control on and off the court. I hope the TAD girl that got injured is okay.

It was obvious that Eliz was on a mission last night, especially DePew. And Unicoi wasnt ready to play. The home team got the calls, but thats what you expect; Unicoi got the calls at our place. Depew was outstanding, and Unicoi clearly had no answer for her and looked lost most of the night against the zone defense. Hopefully this is a learning loss for the Lady Devils. Game will not keep them from winning the conference and top seed IF they learn from it. They will meet again if things go according to plan in the District final which will be at Unicoi. Regional this year is at C-D high school with four teams likely to be Grainger, South Greene, Greenville and host CD. It will be a very competitve Regional this year as there is more parity between the Districts than in years past. As to what happened last night; its pretty simple. Eliz wanted/needed the win more than Unicoi and it showed. They went out and got it. Unicoi's coach and players have some soul searching and work to do. PS to coachh: You might want to check your drawers as when you made that post you were so happy I bet you peed down both legs!!!!

Sparky, no excuses here if Eliz wins. Unicoi has been playing catch-up to Eliz for about the last 8 or 9 years. On paper they should have caught up this year, but on the court, where it counts, that remains to be seen. Unicoi has a chance to take another step in that direction tomorrow night. Should be a good game.

Given the coaching mess at Eliz, they are more likely to lose more players than get a recruit. Coachh is even having a hard time defending his old boss these days. Now with Demoss likely out this week for her brawl with the HV brawler, he will have a built in excuse IF Unicoi should win tuesday.

11-8 team coming off two losses ranked over 16-5 team coming off three wins; teams have split two games this year but the one that counts in the conference standings was won by the 16-5 team, AND the 11-8 team has lost both games they have played since their freshman phenom hit the road, yeah coachh your logic makes perfect sense. I guess Wilsons vaunted zone defense will make all the difference. I could care less what the tri 7 ranking are as they are meaningless; top spot is not in dispute as Cloudland is clearly the best team in the 7. But what really counts is the conf and district standings. Those are not subjective.

This is really hard for coachh since he coached with Wilson. Im going to lay off him. Cyclones are reeling now. Usually a loss to South Greene isnt so bad but this year they have a losing record and are just not very good. Eliz is struggling and its no wonder given what they have gone through the last month.

So the Tri County seven is so bad this year that the number two team can lose to Sullivan East and not drop in the rankings, oh wait, its those orange colored glasses again Like it or not coachh, your team is not the same team this week that they were last week and it showed friday night.

Where is the new poll coach?

How did Wilson and the Eliz admin bungle this so badly? I have a feeling that Dugger wouldnt have let this happen.

Its obvious its the freshman guard Bowers that has moved on. No one can accuse her dad of playing daddy ball as she and Depew were clearly the two best guards on Eliz's team. This is what happens when politics invades coaching. Actually its what happens when politics invades ANYTHING!

Unicoi had a tough week but hopefully it makes them better down the road. They need to learn how to keep a team down when they have their foot on their throat. They should not have blew a 16 pt lead against Eliz. Now Eliz played lights out in that third quarter but unicoi made it too easy. Open looks were there that werent in the first half. Whats this talk about Eliz losing a player?