Tri-County Seven - Week of 27 January, 2008

[krichunaka]

1) Unicoi County

2) Elizabethton

3) Cloudland

4) Hampton

5) Unaka

6) Happy Valley

7) Johnson County

 

 

 

The Lady Bulldogs of Hampton definitely stole the show this week, and the heart-warming emergence of their sensational freshman, Chelsea Weddle, was the highlight. Time and again Weddle won the hustle plays against the Lady Rangers, got herself into scoring position, and finished under the basket. Her play was the biggest difference in The Game of the Week. Also of significance, the Lady Bulldogs put themselves in conference-title contention with Monday's win over North Greene.

 

The Lady Blue Devils are in their familiar, late-season, business mode. Nothing fancy. Just feed the post, Box Out and Rebound, play sound Defense. The biggest concern? Turnovers. Cloudland is the only Seven team to beat Unicoi County, and IF the the Lady Blue Devils continue to improve with ball security, they can run the table to sub-state. If not, the Lady Cyclones will probably beat them in Elizabethton Tuesday.

 

Elizabethton is second, based on winning seven-of-eight.

 

Cloudland played poorly against the Lady Greene Devils, but to his credit, Matt Birchfield played a lot of players in several different lineups and schemes. That, and Greeneville is Good.

 

After Unicoi County, positions two through five are very close. But should the Lady Cyclones win Tuesday and Friday, and that's asking a lot, they will gain separation from the others, and put a lot of pressure on the Lady Blue Devils to win their home game with South Greene next week.

 

Cloudland will be challenged in Baileyton; Happy Valley can regain credibility with a home win over Johnson County, and with road wins at Chuckey Doak and Daniel Boone; and of course, Unaka and Hampton go at it again this Friday. A lot at stake this week. Enjoy!

[coachh17]

I can live with Krich's rankings this week! Elizabethton has a critical week and Hannah Fritz may not play. The A and AA leagues are both tight and the next two weeks will decide it. It should be fun.

[screenandroll]

Krich's ranking seem to be right on target (again). Cloudland has started their climb back towards the top so Highlander can come out of hinding and let us know what is going on. Unaka takes a dip back down after their defeat by Hampton. The Bulldogs seem to be peaking at the right time. The Warriors are fading back and the Longhorns are at least making their games interesting. Unicoi might have a hard time holding on to the top spot. If Fritz is out for the Cyclones they will have a hard time beating the Devils or Rebels.

[krichunaka]

Hannah is Elizabethton's most multi-faceted player, the one who matches up well with Ali Gardner, probably Unicoi County's most improved player. This creates problems for Elizabethton, especially defensively.

 

Unaka's game with Holston, Virginia is postponed; probably to be canceled.

 

Tomorrow (Tuesday) begins the home-stretch of the regular season: Cloudland plays at North Greene, Friday. Hampton goes there Tuesday, and follows that up Friday with the re-match at Unaka; and of course, the two Big Games for Elizabethton - - Unicoi County, Tuesday, and at South Greene, Friday. And then, Cloudland goes to Unaka next Tuesday, and to Hampton, Friday, the 8th.

[screenandroll]

Anyone with any thoughts on tonights big matchup? Cyclones and the Devils. Is Fritz playing tonight? The Cyclones should make it more interesting than they did at Unicoi. But if Fritz doesn't play might make it a little hard for the Cyclones to pull this one out. Bet the Cyclones try a little more pressure on the guards this time than they did other there. Barnett seems to be handle the ball more and more for the Devils. If she controls the game then the Devils should pull out the win. Looking for inputs Krich, Coachh, fan or Unicoi person. By the way, has the Highlander disappeared? Haven't heard from him in a while. Krich get busy, find out what has happened.

[coachh17]

I do not know Fritz's status for tonight. Defense will win this game. Elizabethton must contain Barnett and Mainer and hope nobody else beats them. Unicoi Co. must contain Pietrowski and hope the Cyclone three point shooters are cold. I hope Elizabethton comes with more pressure and generates some steals and easy baskets off turnovers. I look for a game in the forties. Whichever team has someone other than the players I mentioned step up and have a big game will win. Go Cyclones!!!!

[CycloneFan]

It is my understanding that Hannah Fritz will play tonight, wearing a protective facemask to protect her broken nose (that was "set" last friday). EHS usually plays well at home. I agree with coachh17's assesment of the game, but I bet EHS plays more zone tonight. They played mostly man at Unicoi, and we all know what the result was there.

[krichunaka]

Unicoi County has three huge paint players - Kara Lynch, Jennifer Edwards, and of course, Alisha Mainer. Unaka's Kayla Winters with her length and athleticism, did an excellent job of matching up with Mainer; but again, the three six-footers of Unicoi County were too much to overcome, so Kenneth Chambers had to play Brittany Scott primarily in the paint to match up, and as a result, neither Scott nor Winters were up to average, offensively, and thus, the two-point, 35-37 loss in Erwin.

 

Elizabethton's Mariah Pietrowski is certainly capable of going toe-to-toe with any post player around, but for the first time in four seasons, the Lady Blue Devils have a numbers advantage in the paint. And it should not be overlooked, the effect Ali Gardner can have on a game like this. She's very long, and aggressive, especially on the offensive glass. And we all know what Payge can do on an average night.

 

Elizabethton can win this game, but as stated, Hannah Fritz, even injured, will have to counter Gardner, and Mariah will need lots of help from Jasmine Jefferson, who has been one of the Seven's steadiest players to date.

 

From there, it literally becomes a shooting match, and the Lady Cyclones actually have the overall advantage. Barnett is very good, Lauren Trivette and Candace Meadows can also light it up. But on a good shooting night, Jasmine Treadway, Kelli Culler, Kyla Jones, Kristen Powell, and Fritz can combine to hit for double-digit threes. If that's the case tonight, Elizabethton wins. If it becomes a paint match-up, the Lady Blue Devils should prevail.

[CycloneFan]

Lady Cyclones over the Blue Devils in a thriller at EHS 49-48. Unicoi led most of the way, with EHS's press helping to erase Unicoi's 8-9 point lead and set the stage for a wild finish. Both teams missed FTs late, and Unicoi had 2-3 shots at the end to win. Mariah got into early foul trouble but was there at the end, making the winning FTs, and big shots down the stretch and finishing with 14. Kelli Culler shot lights out, hitting a big 3 late, and also finished with 14. Mainer played well for the devils and had close to 20. A typical heavyweight fight between these two rivals.

These teams will likely play at least one and probably two more times before its all said and done.

Good job Orange and Black.

[coachh17]

I do not know Fritz's status for tonight. Defense will win this game. Elizabethton must contain Barnett and Mainer and hope nobody else beats them. Unicoi Co. must contain Pietrowski and hope the Cyclone three point shooters are cold. I hope Elizabethton comes with more pressure and generates some steals and easy baskets off turnovers. I look for a game in the forties. Whichever team has someone other than the players I mentioned step up and have a big game will win. Go Cyclones!!!!

 

I'll quote myself and see how I did. Fritz played and played well despite the mask. I think she hit one three for her only points, but set solid screens, had several nice assists, pulled down a few rebounds, and played good defense. Elizabethton shut down Barnett and contained Mainer, though she had a good game. Edwards was almost the difference maker inside for Unicoi; I think she had about ten points. Fouls contained Pietrowski in the first half, as she only played two minutes saddled with two quick fouls. She came up big in the second half and Unicoi had a hard time stopping her. Unfortunately for the Devils, the Cyclone guards hit six threes. Unicoi held a 39-30 lead with about six minutes to go, when the Cyclones went to a full court press. About a minute and a half later it was 39-38, as the Cyclone pressure created eight quick points off steals and turnovers. It was nip and tuck to the wire, with both teams missing big free throws. The game was in the forties, and Kelli Culler was the big step up player for the Cyclones. She hit four big threes and finished with 14 points. Let's call her the Devil Slayer! Her big game is even more impressive considering she was sick most of the afternoon. Freshman Chelsie Bowling also hit a big three for the Cyclones and point guard Kyla Jones had eight points and had an outstanding floor game. Great win for the Cyclones, who can earn at least a share of the title with a win at South Greene Friday. Go Cyclones!!!

[krichunaka]

Elizabethton led after one - 10-8.

Unicoi County - 12-7 in the second, to lead at half-time 20-17.

Unicoi County - 13-10 in the third to extend the lead to six after three, 33-27.

Elizabethton 22 - Unicoi County 15 fourth - -

Final: Elizabethton 49 - - Unicoi County 48

 

Kelli Culler with three, fourth-quarter Threes! fourteen total points. Also, Elizabethton's very good freshman, Chelsea Bowling, hit a three at 5:17 in the fourth that pulled the Lady Cyclones to within one, 39-38, then Kyla Jones scored two to put Elizabethton on top, 40-39. Lauren Trivette hit a two-plus-one to put Unicoi County back up 42-40. Jasmine Treadway made it 42 all at 3:45.

 

Mariah Pietrowski got a putback at 2:44; Jennifer Edwards hit a shot, missed the plus-one, and it's tied again at 44. At 1:58 Mainer scored two to make it 46-45, before Culler's final three at 1:33 - - Elizabethton 47, Unicoi County 46. Ali Gardner hit a short jumper to end Unicoi County's scoring with 46 seconds remaining. Mariah answered with two free-throws to close the deal.

 

Mariah got her first foul at 5:25 in the first; her second, four seconds later. And that was it for her until the second half. She scored six in the third, and matched that in the fourth.

 

Unicioi County did a poor job of inbounding the ball and got trapped three times in the corner against pressure, but recovered well enough to still have several chances to win late. Unicoi County lobbed the side-court inbounds pass to Mainer, who shot short, but (I think) Gardner rebounded and missed the put-back, before another Lady Blue Devil lost the ball out of bounds as the horn sounded.

[scoremore]

has anybody seen any scores from the rest of the tri