Rutledge-Claiborne Game

[DaveAAU]

The Rutledge-Claiborne game last night was one of the more exciting games I've seen in the district this year.

 

The game initially was led by Claiborne but the Pioneers kept making runs to keep the lead close. In the 2nd half they were able to go ahead briefly but the Bulldogs regained the lead throughout most of the 4th quarter. Rutledge again with on a run behind an excellent effort by McBee hitting some clutch 3's and capturing several steals on inbounds passes, and with a few free throw exchanges sent the game into overtime.

 

The OT period was mostly a free throw shooting contest behind intense full court ball pressure, with Rutledge making theirs and Claiborne missing several key shots, including a couple at the end that could have won the game for them. With only a few seconds left, CHS was on the line, down 1, with two double bonus FT's, and missed both of them.

 

As always at Rutledge, the crowd was a huge factor in motivating their team to come back and pull out the win. I also admire the refs for not over-reacting to the crowd or the pressure they were feeling to make calls from both benches. Even with all the emotion, no one got T'd up last night.

 

As Rutledge moves into the new Grainger Co. HS next year, I have to say I'll miss some of these exciting games in that old gym.

 

Great game by both teams!

[FAN41901]

The Rutledge-Claiborne game last night was one of the more exciting games I've seen in the district this year.

 

The game initially was led by Claiborne but the Pioneers kept making runs to keep the lead close. In the 2nd half they were able to go ahead briefly but the Bulldogs regained the lead throughout most of the 4th quarter. Rutledge again with on a run behind an excellent effort by McBee hitting some clutch 3's and capturing several steals on inbounds passes, and with a few free throw exchanges sent the game into overtime.

 

The OT period was mostly a free throw shooting contest behind intense full court ball pressure, with Rutledge making theirs and Claiborne missing several key shots, including a couple at the end that could have won the game for them. With only a few seconds left, CHS was on the line, down 1, with two double bonus FT's, and missed both of them.

 

As always at Rutledge, the crowd was a huge factor in motivating their team to come back and pull out the win. I also admire the refs for not over-reacting to the crowd or the pressure they were feeling to make calls from both benches. Even with all the emotion, no one got T'd up last night.

 

As Rutledge moves into the new Grainger Co. HS next year, I have to say I'll miss some of these exciting games in that old gym.

 

Great game by both teams!

If you had to pick the Dist. tournament finals now who would it be.

[DaveAAU]

If you had to pick the Dist. tournament finals now who would it be.

 

Cumberland Gap is solidly there. I think they remember the loss they had last year in the tourney and are determined to get past District play this year. Coach Wolfenbarger won't settle for anything less than 100% effort from his team the rest of the way.

 

It's a bit of a toss-up among Gatlingburg-Pittman, Union Co., and Rutledge for runner-up:

G-P - well coached team with a lot of poise. Would have the edge in a close game.

Union Co. - fighting for respect and handed Cumb. Gap their first district loss Friday.

Rutledge - the "cinderella" team and everyone's sentimental favorite to close out the Pioneers' last season on a high note.

 

Claiborne and Pigeon Forge are at the bottom of the district this year. I'm not sure what is wrong with PF but Claiborne lost several seniors last year and are a year or two away from being at full strength. They have a decent group of juniors but the talent is more prevalent among the 2010 sophomores, so they should be better next year and peak two years from now.

[FAN41901]

Cumberland Gap is solidly there. I think they remember the loss they had last year in the tourney and are determined to get past District play this year. Coach Wolfenbarger won't settle for anything less than 100% effort from his team the rest of the way.

 

It's a bit of a toss-up among Gatlingburg-Pittman, Union Co., and Rutledge for runner-up:

G-P - well coached team with a lot of poise. Would have the edge in a close game.

Union Co. - fighting for respect and handed Cumb. Gap their first district loss Friday.

Rutledge - the "cinderella" team and everyone's sentimental favorite to close out the Pioneers' last season on a high note.

 

Claiborne and Pigeon Forge are at the bottom of the district this year. I'm not sure what is wrong with PF but Claiborne lost several seniors last year and are a year or two away from being at full strength. They have a decent group of juniors but the talent is more prevalent among the 2010 sophomores, so they should be better next year and peak two years from now.

 

Cumberland gap finished 2nd last year in their dist. tourny and hosted which team from dist. 1 I thank johnson county. What do you know on dist.1 this year.

[slimsdaddy]

Cumberland gap finished 2nd last year in their dist. tourny and hosted which team from dist. 1 I thank johnson county. What do you know on dist.1 this year.

 

 

as of now

unicoi county is 10-0

johnson county is 8-1

chuckey doak is 7-3

 

this is the top three teams in the conference. unicoi has beat johnson county once and doak twice. johnson county has also beat doak once. unicoi and johnson county play on friday (2/1/08). big game for the conference. don't know the records for the rest of the conference but 4th-8th are all close. 4th place has somewhere around 5 or 6 losses. /motorbike.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":motorbike:" border="0" alt="motorbike.gif" />