Tri-County Seven

[krichunaka]

Strengths - - Weaknesses - - Biggest Question Mark(s)

 

1-) Elizabethton - - Senior Leadership - Size - Depth - Experience.

Who replaces Lees McRae freshman, Cameron Crapps.

 

1-) Unicoi County - - Great Guards - Coaching. Underclassmen, Depth.

Who becomes the new starter to replace Kayla Hill?

 

3-) Cloudland - Size - Depth, Tenacity.

Jessica Lunsford is a Lady Bobcat.

 

4-) Unaka - - Athleticism - Defense.

Sallee Taylor's Health? Megan Johnson will be missed.

 

5-) Happy Valley - Quickness - Aggressive - Great Summer.

Replacing Milligan College Lady Buff, Keila Williams.

 

6-) Johnson County- More experienced players and Coaches.

Confidence.

 

7-) Hampton - Guards - Quickness.

Lauren Pitman is a Lady Buff. Yet another Coach. Seven Grads!

 

 

This week, we'll begin to post notes, articles, opinions, coaches comments, etc., on the sportsedit website. For now, a quick rundown:

 

Talent-wise, The Lady Cyclones have the edge, but there's some question at Pointguard, where Unicoi County has the advantage. For now. Happy Valley could be the spoiler.

 

Unaka must be stronger to challenge Cloudland. Hampton has fourteen basketball shoes to fill.

Edited November 5, 2006 by krichunaka

[CycloneFan]

Krich, looking through orange colored glasses, here are answers/comments to the questions posed:

 

1. Cameron will not be replaced by any one person. Kyla Jones looks to be the starting point guard--she has good quickness and ballhandling ability. The scoring void will likely be filled by committee--more output from the other returning varisty guards/wings--Victoria, Bri, Hannah, Jaz, Kelli and Kyla. Post production should also increase--Michaela, Marti and Mariah have had a full year to work with each other in Coach Weems system. Overall team defense should be improved for the same reason.

 

2. I think Edwards probably ends up starting at 4 for Unicoi. What lineup did they go with in summer league this year? I will get to watch them in the Happy Valley tournament. They play Science Hill on friday. That should be an interesting game to watch. Unicoi should be very good this year. The three returning guards/wings(Barnett, Engle and Cannady) and post Mainer are all very good.

 

 

3. I expect Cloudland to do well this year, and should go into the season as the district 1 A favorite.

 

4. Unaka is the team most likely to challenge the Landers. The transfer, Scott, is a player, and they return alot of talented sophomores. Taylor should be good to go in a few weeks. Chambers is a very good coach. I expect that by mid January he will have his girls hitting their stride.

 

5. Happy Valley will miss Williams on both ends of the court. I understand they beat both Boone and Science Hill in summer league so they appear to be on track to challenge Elizabethton, Unicoi and South Greene in district 1 AA.

 

6. Leon Tolley is instilling a new attitude at Hampton. Big emphasis on discipline. Hampton will play hard and tough, and might just challenge Cloudland and Unaka when it counts most. They are undersized and inexperienced, and may be a year or two away from a Regional final game again.

 

Elizabethton and Unicoi as co-1s coming into the season works for me. Cloudland at 3. Unaka and Happy Valley as co-4s. Then Hampton.

Edited November 6, 2006 by CycloneFan

[krichunaka]

In spite of my co-ones, ultimately Elizabethton IS the team in our area. And with the emergence of Mariah, I don't see anyone consistently stopping them, or for that matter, managing to score on them. Thirty-four points wins most games for the Lady Cyclones, and with the potential firepower, that number could barely equal half their offensive output.

 

The Blue Devils get their rating based on their performance in two of three games (though, both of them losses) with Elizabethton, and the fact that they return so many key players (just like the Lady Cyclones). They didn't look all that good this summer, but a few weeks with Coach Fisher should have them re-synchronized.

 

Edwards is one of three that will play a lot at the three-four position. Most impressive this summer: I think her name is Vanhoy. She's very quick, a good leaper, runs the floor well. If she contributes offensively, the Blue Devils will have their much-needed "other" offensive threat, and thus, they're a legitimate contender.

 

You're probably right on about the others.

Edited November 6, 2006 by krichunaka

[GLee]

The BIG question for Elizabethton will ball handling out front. I hope Kayla has improved her skills......like dribbling with her head up and not heading for a trap and not knowing it. That was her biggest problem on offense last year. That along with being a little over agressive on D and getting into foul trouble. The answer to the ball handling delima is to put it into Hopson's hands and spread the floor. I'm ready for a tip-off!!

[ghostbuster14]

Cloudlad is looking good! With 3 seniors leading them, Clawson and Harold can shoot and drive. Mathesis is a great post player. The jouniors are made up of Pritchard, Tolley and Wilson.Wilson is recovering from an injury last season and Pritchard should be a help also. Tolley of course is a "BIG" player for the landers! She is great! The sophomores are also a key for success. Johnson, Miller,McKinney and Buchanan are great shooters, drivers,posts, and rebounders. Johnson can drive and score on most anyone! Miller will shoot the 3 in your eye, and Buchanan will bring out a post move or 2 on u! McKinney can also bring out some good moves from the post and crash the boards. B.Hughes is also joining the Varsity team as a sophomore! The Lady Landers are I think expecting success!!! Good Luck Ladies!

[coachh17]

Time and distance have clouded my vision, but I still know enough to rank the top three.

 

1. Elizabethton- I would love to see this great group of seniors make the return trip to Murfreesboro. They deserve to go out in style.

 

2. Unicoi Co.- Very good nucleus. Can they break the Lady Cyclones' four year hold on Upper East Tennessee AA basketball?

 

3. Cloudland- I like their talent and expect them to make it back to the state tournament.

[coachh17]

CycloneFan,

Please post Cyclone scrimmage results as they become available. Will any sophomores other than Mariah, or any freshmen be able to make a varsity contribution? How good will the JV team be? I will be in Thanksgiving and hope to catch a game or two in the Happy Valley tip-off. Can you send me the game times?

Thanks,

coachh17

[CycloneFan]

coachh17:

First scrimmage is wednesday at Sullivan South. Then thursday at Sullivan Central; then the Carson Newman play day. Next week jamboree is tuesday at CD; then hall of fame games wednesday at Morristown East and thursday at Dobyns Bennett. DB moved the game from friday a couple weeks ago in anticipation of perhaps hosting a football playoff game that night.

Rest assured I will keep you updated on results.

 

I will post rosters and schedule on the home page later tonight. We had 10 varsity returning. He brought up two-- one more sophomore (Anderson) and a freshman (Jefferson). JV team is youthful, but good. At HV tournament, on wednesday we play Sullivan East at 530; friday its Daniel Boone at 7; saturday its UH at 830. Looking forward to seeing you and the fam.

 

edit: Rosters and Schedule are posted. Only games not posted were the Christmas break tournaments: December 19-23 at Myrtle Beach in the Cresent Bank Holiday Invitational; and December 28-30 in the Volunteer Christmas Tournament.

Edited November 8, 2006 by CycloneFan

[coachh17]

Thanks for the information, you are the man! I look forward to seeing the Cyclone crew as well. We may not make the Wednesday game, but should be able to catch the Boone game Friday. Go Cyclones!!!!!

[GLee]

Any scrimmage updates?

[CycloneFan]

Cyclones won 59-46. JV won two qtr game by about 6. Hopson and Jones were held out of play to allow them to recover from minor injuries. Gave Gouge and Treadway lots of experience at the point, and experiment with different combinations. Weems even played a three post lineup for alot of the fourth quarter. As I posted on another thread, good first scrimmage for the Clones.

[krichunaka]

Cyclones won 59-46. JV won two qtr game by about 6. Hopson and Jones were held out of play to allow them to recover from minor injuries. Gave Gouge and Treadway lots of experience at the point, and experiment with different combinations. Weems even played a three post lineup for alot of the fourth quarter. As I posted on another thread, good first scrimmage for the Clones.

 

Gouge at the point is intriguing; another scoring threat from way out front. How'd the Redhead do?