Blount County Freshmen Boys Tourney

[GovMan]

First round of Blount County Freshmen Boy's Tourney played tonight at Alcoa.

 

Game #1 - Maryville over Heritage in a romp. Maryville jumped out 19 - 0 and never looked back. Freshmen Rebels are loaded ... great point guard; strong, slashing type wings who can also pull up and shoot; 3 -4 kids in the 6'4" and over range. THEY'RE HUGE!

 

Game #2 - William Blount over Alcoa in a thriller. Third time the two have played ... all three have gone into at least one overtime. Blount has won 2 of the the 3, including the one that mattered tonight. While Micah Ballard has cemented the fact that he's the best freshmen in Blount County (27 tonight .... 27 last time they met) ... the difference in the Gov's right now is that some other players are stepping up to help. Dylan Keith and T-bone Stinnett have both scored in double figures the past two meetings; Ty McBrayer doing an excellent job of running the show at point and distributing the basketball; Zach Seivers plays solid, steady wing spot, handles it well, and always seems to hit at least one clutch three every game; Tyler McGraw might be most improved on team at post ... rebounds well, starting to contribute in the scoring column, great defensive stopper. Jeremy Snyder gives them some good minutes, very aggressive, threat to hit the 3-ball.

 

Tyler Robinson for Alcoa is a Stud with a capital "S". Dominates the paint one possession, then steps out and drains a 3 on the next. He hit one from 3 or 4 steps behind the arc tonight at the end of regulation to force overtime.

 

It'll be Alcoa vs Heritage in the consolation at 6:00 Wednesday night, then Maryville vs WB in the championship at 7:30. Games at Alcoa High.

 

Maryville and WB split in the regular season. It would be a huge upset if WB could pull this one out. Maryville is much bigger, much quicker, and has much more depth. But, WB has probably played their best basketball of the season in the past three games (losses to Lenoir City and Alcoa in overtime, then tonight's victory). They seem to be peaking at the right time ... .hopefully, they can at least make it interesting!!!

[I'vegotskills]

I feel like the game will be more than interesting and I've heard a rumor that there might be quite a few William Blount students there to support the WB Freshmen team. I also feel that this WB Freshmen team can put the rest of the county on notice as to who the best team is and will be over the next few years as long as these kids continue to improve. They may be outsized and overmatched, but there is absolutely nobody that plays with more heart and mental toughness than these kids do. I wish them the best of luck against Maryville tonight @ Alcoa High School.

 

QUOTE(GovMan @ Jan 29 2007 - 10:35 PM) 826351048[/snapback]

First round of Blount County Freshmen Boy's Tourney played tonight at Alcoa.

 

Game #1 - Maryville over Heritage in a romp. Maryville jumped out 19 - 0 and never looked back. Freshmen Rebels are loaded ... great point guard; strong, slashing type wings who can also pull up and shoot; 3 -4 kids in the 6'4" and over range. THEY'RE HUGE!

 

Game #2 - William Blount over Alcoa in a thriller. Third time the two have played ... all three have gone into at least one overtime. Blount has won 2 of the the 3, including the one that mattered tonight. While Micah Ballard has cemented the fact that he's the best freshmen in Blount County (27 tonight .... 27 last time they met) ... the difference in the Gov's right now is that some other players are stepping up to help. Dylan Keith and T-bone Stinnett have both scored in double figures the past two meetings; Ty McBrayer doing an excellent job of running the show at point and distributing the basketball; Zach Seivers plays solid, steady wing spot, handles it well, and always seems to hit at least one clutch three every game; Tyler McGraw might be most improved on team at post ... rebounds well, starting to contribute in the scoring column, great defensive stopper. Jeremy Snyder gives them some good minutes, very aggressive, threat to hit the 3-ball.

 

Tyler Robinson for Alcoa is a Stud with a capital "S". Dominates the paint one possession, then steps out and drains a 3 on the next. He hit one from 3 or 4 steps behind the arc tonight at the end of regulation to force overtime.

 

It'll be Alcoa vs Heritage in the consolation at 6:00 Wednesday night, then Maryville vs WB in the championship at 7:30. Games at Alcoa High.

 

Maryville and WB split in the regular season. It would be a huge upset if WB could pull this one out. Maryville is much bigger, much quicker, and has much more depth. But, WB has probably played their best basketball of the season in the past three games (losses to Lenoir City and Alcoa in overtime, then tonight's victory). They seem to be peaking at the right time ... .hopefully, they can at least make it interesting!!!

 

[kobayashi]

Good Luck.

[GovMan]

Not even close ... the freshmen Rebels ran away with it. WB had looked really tought their last two or three games, but in this one ... they stunk it up pretty good. Credit a very good Maryville team for a lot of that. They get after you with their tenacious half-court trap and they've got great personell to run it.

 

Offensively, they have so many weapons including a behemoth post player ... I just call him "Big Richard." He's still getting there skill wise and fundamentally, but he's one of the biggest freshmen I've ever seen. I'm gonna guess at least 6'7 or 6'8" and probably 240lbs or so and he is not chubby at all.

 

In the two previous meetings, Maryville had jumped out to huge leads and WB had somehow managed to fight their way back (winning one and coming within 4 or 5 in the other). Last night, their was no comeback. The Rebs put the pedal down and never let up and the Govs couldn't have thrown a beachball in the ocean--even if they had, they would have walked before they threw it. At one stretch we went 5 - 6 possessions without ever getting a shot off ... lots and lots of turnovers.

 

My concern for this group of Maryville freshmen, over the past couple of years, had been how coachable they were. In the past, several of them--not all--had been more interested in doing their own thing then in listening to a coach. It looks like they are "getting it" better now. All the talent in the world, if they will dedicate and buy into Coach Eldridge's system, they'll represent MHS well over the next few years.

 

A comment ... not to start a ruckus ... but it was interesting to me that Maryville's coaches chose to keep 2-3 starters on the floor down to under 2 minutes to go in the game with a clearly insurmountable lead, even after WB's coach had "surrendered" and put in his second and third teamers. It didn't make any difference in the beating, it was already huge, but I'm sure some of those young men who had worked hard all year (and their parents) would have appreciated a little more p.t. during the final quarter. Not whining ... I didn't even hear anyone else from WB notice or mention it ... but I did and some of the Maryville parents did.

 

His team though and he coached them to a great year and to a county championship. Congrats Freshmen Rebels ... you're an outstanding team and an outstanding group of young men.

[coachinhoops]

Kudos to the Maryville freshmen. They beat LC twice and truely deserve the accolades that they get. Their half court trap gave the LC guards all kinds of trouble.

[Flash Gordon]

Hey Govman or coachinhoops,

 

I know Maryville's varsity boys should have a very strong nucleus coming back next year with Damron, Douglas, Lambert, Reynolds, Click, etc.

 

Do you guys see any of this year's Maryville freshmen being contributors on Maryville's varsity next year?

[Tennesseebasketballfan]

Maryville Stuck it to them. William Blount just couldn't hit a shot.