Driven

Livingston Academy beat Independence 68-67 (Chase Dunn led LA with 30 pts.) Union City beat Sycamore 76-66 Brentwood Academy beat Haywood Co. 67-57 Riverdale beat Mt. Juliet 54-41 Livingston Academy will play Union City on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for the Championship

I saw the game tonight and UC did not look great. They struggled at times both offensively and defensively. MJ Brown is obviously a nice player but UC's overall quickness did not appear as good as last year. As a result, their press and desire to play uptempo is not like last year. Still a good team and fun to watch. Hopefully, Coach Sisco will keep pushing them and things will go well.

Interviews began Monday for the Hoover High School football coaching position. Names of candidates were not released. There were between 50 and 60 applicants for the job, which opened after Rush Propst resigned Oct. 30. School board member A.W. Bolt said he believes eight to 10 candidates will be interviewed, including some with college coaching experience Oxford's Niblett interviews; Nease coach has interest Wednesday, December 19, 2007 JON SOLOMON News staff writer Oxford High School football coach Josh Niblett confirmed he interviewed Tuesday for the vacant Hoover High position. "When you have someone contact you, you owe it to your family and from a professional standpoint to listen," Niblett said. "I feel like when God gives you an opportunity to talk to someone, you take it and then God is going to show you what He wants you to do." Niblett has a 21-11 record on the field at Oxford in three seasons. Oxford was ranked among Class 6A's top 10 teams during the 2007 season but officially finished 3-7 after forfeiting seven victories for using an ineligible player. That ruling in October - amid a flurry of similar rulings at several other state high schools, including Hoover - dropped Oxford out of the playoffs. Oxford Principal Trey Holladay said at the time the player's parents gave false information to the school. Niblett declined to comment on the ruling Tuesday nor would he say to what extent it was discussed in his interview with Hoover. "There's always going to be questions that you're always going to have to answer," he said. "My biggest thing as a coach is you want to make sure that everything you do, we put the interests of our kids first. That's what we work hard every day to do." Before coming to Oxford, Niblett was 51-14 in four years at Oneonta High School with a Class 3A state championship in 2004 and a state runner-up in 2003. Niblett was an assistant coach at Jacksonville State from 1997 to'99. Niblett lettered as a fullback at the University of Alabama from 1993 to'95. Meanwhile, the former high school football coach of Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow expressed interest Tuesday in the Hoover job. Whether Craig Howard, the coach at Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla, is a candidate is another question. Howard said he would be honored to be considered at Hoover, describing the position as "one of the top five jobs in the United States of America." Asked if he has spoken with Hoover, Howard replied: "I haven't really talked to anybody at Hoover. Not yet." The deadline for coaches to apply was last Friday. "I might have missed all the deadlines," Howard said. "I wasn't going to apply for the job with my team still in the state championship game." Nease finished 13-2 after losing last Saturday to nationally ranked Miami Washington in the Florida 4A state championship game. Howard has been to three straight state championship games, winning in 2005. In 2006, Nease was placed on restrictive probation for six years by the Florida High School Athletic Association and fined an association-record $20,000 for violations of its special inducements policy. The FHSAA said Howard admitted awareness of the violations.

How did Vogel and Leonard do?

Battle for the State @ Lipscomb University Dec. 20 -22 (Haywood County, Union City, Brentwood Academy, Sycamore, Riverdale, Independence, Livingston Academy, Mt. Juliet) Riverdale Tournament @ Riverdale Dec. 27 - 29 (Riverdale, Clarksville, Shelbyville, Wilson Central, Red Bank, Columbia, Memphis Central, Oak Ridge) Overton Tournament @ Overton Dec. 27 - 29 (Overton, Lipscomb, Knoxville Webb, ?????) What other local holiday tournaments are there? What about McGavock? Are they still having one? If so, what teams are entered?

UK signee Darius Miller had 12 points and seven rebounds.

I have not seen Prather's name in the box scores in a few weeks. Is he hurt? Have I missed something?

Ben Leonard led the Waverly Tigers to a victory over Creek Wood, scoring a game high 23 points which is also a season high for the junior. Ross Primm scored a team high 18 points for the Red Hawks. Waverly High School Stats Adam Copeskey 6 Cody Gilbert 1 Josh Graham 8 Jackson 7 Ben Leonard 23 Alex Sensing 1 Justin Vogel 17

Where's Casey Prather? I have not seen his name in the box scores in a couple of weeks. Is he hurt???

Cheatham Co. was blown out last night at Hume Fogg and they lose again tonight against Fairview. What's up? They looked horrible last night against Hume Fogg.

49-44 in OT. Ezell was 38 - 33 in regulation and Lipscomb closed with the final 5 pts to send it to OT. McAlister scored 19 pts. for Ezell and Ross scored 21 pts. for Lipscomb.

Yep, 41 pts and 16 rebounds. Not a bad night.

They are 4-4 on the year with wins over Stratford (twice), Hillwood and Whites Creek. Losses are to Antioch, Hume Fogg, Hillsboro and McGavock. Glencliff's best scorer is Deantay Alexander (Jr. 6'0" SG). Robert Sutton (Jr. 5'8") can shoot the 3 pretty well. Chris Johnson (Sr. 5'9") has been in double digits scoring in several games. Had four 3's against McGavock. Darrell Bond (Soph 6'4") is up and coming. Michael McCray (6'6") provides some offense at times on the inside.

Thanks. Let's hope that they keep playing well.

bump

I have heard a lot of great things about Vogel. In particular, I understand that he is a solid 3 pt. shooter. How big is he?

Huge win for Lipscomb! With 3 starters and several other players still out because of football, the win is even bigger. I hear that the Lipscomb sophomores really played well.

Ensworth's web site (game highlights) shows Pope with 29 pts. and McFadden with 20 pts.

Ensworth won 89-66. It was fairly close until the 4th quarter. Ensworth outscored BGA 32 - 15 in the 4th quarter.

At Webb.

NCA is Nashville Christian Advancement Academy (see earlier thread for more detail). As for Sound Doctrine (located in LaGrange, GA), see below article for more information. Playing the big boys Sound Doctrine faces rugged hoops schedule By Kevin Eckleberry - Sports Editor It was kind of like going to play the high-school basketball version of the New York Yankees. Sound Doctrine??™s travel basketball team, which brings players in from across the country, made a road trip earlier this season to play some of the country??™s top teams. Heading that list was Oak Hill Academy (Va.), which has so often been the case, sits atop the USA Today prep national rankings. Vacher Hammett, the head basketball coach at Sound Doctrine, thought it would be an excellent opportunity to see his players put to the test against one of the country??™s best teams. ???That was something to play the No. 1 high school team in the country,??? said Hammett, whose team lost 110-74. Earlier in the day, Sound Doctrine played a game against another elite team from North Carolina, which meant the players probably weren??™t at their best against Oak Hill. That was the day Oak Hill had available, though, so that??™s when Sound Doctrine played the game. ???On that same day, we played at 2 p.m. in North Carolina, and we played the No. 2 prep team in the country, which is Patterson,??? Hammett said. ???But in order to get my foot in the door so I can know coach (Steve) Smith and he knows me, I took it.??? Sound Doctrine started the program a year ago when it began inviting players from across the country to come live in LaGrange and play basketball at the school. The program offers a way for players to increase their visibility across the country, and it does the same thing for the school. This year, the team is spending more time on the road, and the schedule is more difficult. The team is playing games in North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Illinois, Alabama, Mississippi and Ohio. ???We??™re doing a lot more traveling,??? Hammett said. ???We??™re playing a competitive schedule to get our program known nationally. That??™s what we offer the kids who come here is the national exposure.??? The team also has plenty of home games. On the weekends, the team plays its games at the Griggs Center. During the week, the team plays at the Hogansville Recreation Department. There is an abundance of talent on the team. Already, two of the players have signed letters of intent to play college basketball, including the 6-foot-7, 285-pound Shane Burrell, who is going to Alabama A & M. Also, guard Kurtis Woods is going to Jacksonville State. Burrell is from Los Angeles, and Woods is from Alabama. Also this season, Sound Doctrine is again fielding a varsity basketball team that includes some of the players on the elite team, as well as other students in the school. The varsity team was off to a 5-0 start, including a victory in a tournament at the Cobb Civic Center. Hammett said the small private school has big plans, and that doesn??™t just include basketball. On the academic side, Hammett said the school is about to receive its accreditation from the Georgia Accrediting Commission. The GAC sets stands academic standards for the schools that fall under its umbrella. ???They come here for basketball, and they come here for academics as well,??? Hammett said. ???That (GAC) process is about to be finalized, so that??™s a big step for our school and this program. That says a lot about this staff.???

McGavock won 77-75 in 2OT

The last that I checked Ensworth is undefeated (3 wins and 0 losses). When did NCAA play Ensworth? I do not see it listed on Ensworth's schedule.

Sycamore is hosting the Battle of the State tourney at Lipscomb University Dec. 20 -22. Brentwood Acadmy and Livingston Academy are both entered. Not sure about the other teams. I do not believe that Lipscomb is in the tournament. They are scheduled to play at CPA in a district game on Dec. 22.

Final Ensworth 77-69