Tri-County Seven

[krichunaka]

1) Unicoi County

2) Elizabethton

3) Cloudland

4) Happy Valley

5) Johnson County

6) Hampton

7) Unaka

 

The Lady Blue Devils went one-and-one in Orlando, however, it's doubtful Coach Glenn Fisher

is feeling too bad after a few days in the Florida sun. We've seen some great games between

Unicoi County and Cloudland, and it will probably be no different Tuesday night in Roan Mountain.

 

The Lady Cyclones are 10-and-3 after making it to the Championship Game at Volunteer

and losing to the now five-and-six Morristown Lady Hurricanes. The first full week of next year

will bring things into clearer focus: At home against Erwin Tuesday the sixth; followed by a

trip to their friendliest rival, South Greene three nights later.

 

It's not often we see the Lady Highlanders go 0-and-two for the week. They lost at Mitchell,

North Carolina by eleven Tuesday, twenty-four hours after losing by nine, at home to Chuckey

Doak. Cloudland needs a big momentum changer this Tuesday against Erwin.

 

Happy Valley thrashed the Lady Rangers, at Unaka, Tuesday with solid defense and balanced

scoring offense. They won on the road against Sullivan North by forty-one the night previous.

The Lady Warriors take a lot of momentum to play the struggling Lady Bulldogs, Tuesday.

 

Johnson County went two-and-two this week. The Lady Longhorns defeated Hampton by four,

then Daniel Boone by three, before losing to Morristown East by seventeen, then to Volunteer

by eight.

 

Hampton was blasted by twenty-nine at Elizabethton, then lost by four in Mountain City the next

night. Like the Lady Highlanders, the Lady Bulldogs could use a little, pre-Christmas momentum.

Defeating Happy Valley this Tuesday could make things a little more Merry and Bright.

 

Unaka is at the very bottom for the very first time since this Tri-County Seven thang began. The

Lady Rangers will practice a couple times this week, before playing three games at Harriman to

put an end to this very unpleasant 2008 part of the season.

 

It's worth noting the impressive performances in Mitchell, North Carolina, by a couple very-

promising Lady Ranger sophomores: Chesnie Cox led Unaka with thirteen points, and would have

had fifteen, but for a very-questionable traveling call on her fantastic, studder-step drive, and

left-handed finish at the basket. Tayler Nidiffer scored four second-quarter points and played

solid defensively to help hold off the Spruce Pine Blowout. Perhaps a little light at the end of the

tunnel?

 

Merry Christmas!

[screenandroll]

Krich,

Pretty much agree with your rankings but since this is a weekly ranking (per say) I might have to go with Happy Valley at 3 (2-0) and Cloudland at 4 (0-2) for this week. Johnson County continues to surprise the group with a couple of big wins. Still believe the bottom 3 are in a group by themselves and the top 4 have seperated themselves from that group. If you were the coach of each team, what would be your most pleasent surprize at this point and what area would you put most of your concentration on? Coachh and Highlander, etc., give us your thoughts on this same question. Krich sees most of the teams play so he might be able to assess each team. You are more knowledgeable about your own team so give us your thoughts.

 

1. Unicoi

2. Elizabethton

3. Happy Valley

4. Cloudland

5. Johnson County

6. Hampton

7. Unaka

 

Merry Christmas, also....

[coachh17]

Things are getting a little tougher, with some muddled head to head results:

 

1. Unicoi Co.- ( Now have a loss, get Elizabethton on January 6th )

2. Elizabethton- ( 11-3 so far, game with Unicoi Co. should decide #1 )

3. Cloudland- ( Struggling, still beat Happy Valley soundly )

4. Happy Valley- ( must beat someone above them to move up )

5. Unaka- ( Beat Johnson County )

6. Johnson County- ( Beat Hampton )

7. Hampton- ( Will regroup and will not be here long )

[screenandroll]

Things are getting a little tougher, with some muddled head to head results:

 

1. Unicoi Co.- ( Now have a loss, get Elizabethton on January 6th )

2. Elizabethton- ( 11-3 so far, game with Unicoi Co. should decide #1 )

3. Cloudland- ( Struggling, still beat Happy Valley soundly )

4. Happy Valley- ( must beat someone above them to move up )

5. Unaka- ( Beat Johnson County )

6. Johnson County- ( Beat Hampton )

7. Hampton- ( Will regroup and will not be here long )

 

 

Coachh,

Do agree with your overall rankings (if this were an overall rankings) but since the "boss" said this was more of a weekly ranking then will stick with my previous post. Did not get any comments on what you had been surprized by what the Cyclones had done so far and what you think is the most important area they must get better in to have a chance to do well in the post season. Do let us know...

[coachh17]

I have never been much of a rule follower, so my rankings tend to always be an overall assessment with a little head to head mixed in. I just enjoy driving Krich crazy! I cannot say that I am really surprised at anything Elizabethton has done. All three losses had a common theme. Pietrowski got in foul trouble, the opponent scored in the sixties or fifties, and the Cyclone zone gave up too many uncontested three balls. However, the Cyclones were in all three games down to the final minute. Most of their wins have been pretty convincing. They are a good team now and have plenty of room to improve. Powell's assist numbers are probably the best "surprise". She is averaging an eye popping 8+ assists per game. Bowling is shooting a high percentage and Fritz and Kiser are providing pretty consistent scoring, though I would like to see their shooting percentages come up a little. Jefferson has been slowed by injury and illness, but should be back to form in January. I really like this team offensively and they have seven kids that can hit double figures on any given night; Anderson is the seventh. She is hurt and hopefully will be back in January. If I were coaching them, I would be focusing on defense. I would try to mix in some presses, traps, and match-up zones with the man to man. I would try to mix up defenses and confuse opponents, as well as try to get more ball pressure and contest three point shots. Someone said it earlier, but I would like to see the Lady Cyclones a bit more tenacious and aggressive on the defensive end. If they put it all together, another sub-state or even state appearance is not out of the question for this team. Go Cyclones!!!!!!

[krichunaka]

Upon reflection a good argument could be made for putting Happy Valley in the third

spot; and in fact, this past Tuesday, the Lady Warriors were at least as good as any of

the other Six, so perhaps 17 has had more of an effect on me than I realized. I was

told that, that particular placement might be a little low.

 

With Anderson and Jefferson at full strength, Elizabethton is a formidable opponent

for the Area's best. Again, the team(s) with the dominant post game are always a

threat in tournament/playoff action.

 

Individually, to date, Kristen Powell has been the biggest, little surprises of the season.

Rilie King is having a great season for UnicoiCounty; same for Ivory Shelton.

 

The Lady Rangers are struggling, that's for certain. Since the great 31-3 team, they

managed to stay in games with great defensive effort. And they also had individual

players step up and lead. Megan Johnson was that player in 2005-06; and she's probably

THE MOST underappreciated Lady Ranger. Ever. If not Megan, then it's Brittany Scott.

With the consecutive-season, injuries to Sallee Taylor, the Lady Rangers were desperate

for a lead-player. With Brittany, they had a fantastic, outside-in/inside-out player. But her

biggest contribution was Defense.

 

And though Unaka's problems won't be solved over-night, there are still several very

winnable games on schedule. And, those games will have to be won at the Defensive

end, on the Boards, and at the Free-throw line. The scheme to "outscore" opponents is

not in place right now. Especially with the Taylor Byars injury. North Greene, Cloudland,

and Hampton all have the experience and ability to put up fifty-plus, not the kind of game

that suits the current Unaka personnel.

 

It's still early. Plenty time for a very high, regular-season, in-conference finish; but it's

difficult to see Unaka win many games in the forties-fifties-sixties.

 

So, Unicoi County is the most-pleasant surprise, overall.

 

For now.

[dog4life]

Hampton 47

Happy Valley 36

 

Lady Bulldogs led the whole game and played well. Looks like they got the mistakes corrected because HV came in playing well. I had heard that they Lady Bulldogs didn't get the balls out much at practice this past week. Well done ladies and congratulations. It is hard to believe that is the first home game.

[Lord Vader]

I had heard that they Lady Bulldogs didn't get the balls out much at practice this past week.

 

I used to love those practices. They were so fun...

 

1. Elizabethton

2. Cloudland

3. Unicoi Co.

4. Johnson Co.

5. Hampton

6. Happy Valley

7. Unaka

[coachh17]

Nice wins by the Lady Landers and Lady Dogs! I look forward to ranking the teams next week factoring in these two games. Unicoi Co. is good and has performed better than expected to this point, but they are very young and may still yet have some ups and downs. I have not been sold on Happy Valley all year and am not surprised to see them lose to Hampton. I will be back to ranking teams on their overall work to date and future potential next week. We have too many head to head contradictions now to rely solely on that criteria. Cloudland beat Unicoi Co., Elizabethton beat Cloudland, Hampton, and Johnson County. Johnson County beat Hampton. Unaka beat Johnson County, etc........ Note that Elizabethton is the only team in the seven that has not lost to one of the other six.

[dog4life]

I used to love those practices. They were so fun...

 

1. Elizabethton

2. Cloudland

3. Unicoi Co.

4. Johnson Co.

5. Hampton

6. Happy Valley

7. Unaka

 

 

Would you care to elaborate on those type of practices Vader.

[krichunaka]

Good point, coachh17, at stating the obvious: Elizabethton is indeed the

only UN-beaten in the Seven; which, of course plays into your "overall"

rankings. And while I agree, and have for some time, that the Lady

Cyclones have the major ingredient (Mariah) to win every game this side

of Murfreesboro, and that Unicoi County will have their good and bad

moments, there's still the issue of Chuckey Doak and Sullivan Central.

 

So, since it helps make your case, we'll hence refer to those

"matchup problems" as water under the bridge moments. Anything to

please ole 17. Oh, and a very, VERY Merry Christmas to you, sir. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

 

The Lady Highlanders had difficulty stopping the Unicoi County inside-out

game, until Matt Birchfield employed the half-court trap in the second

quarter. The Lady Blue Devils had little difficulty working through the trap,

but their offense became a little disoriented.

 

Meanwhile, Brooke Hughes sandwiched three, second-quarter Treys between

one each in the first and third. Unicoi County had several open looks, but threw

a few clankers and airballs. To their credit, the Lady Blue Devils out-played

Cloudland in the second half, and made a couple mini-runs; however, the

Hughes-led assault left a little too much to overcome. That, and Cloudland went

nine-for-ten on fourth-quarter free-throws.

 

Jordi Miller added a big, second-quarter three, plus two of those ten free throws.

Brooke Johnson sat awhile with four fouls, but drove and scored a huge fourth

quarter basket when it appeared the Lady Blue Devils would make a real game

of it. B. J. finished with eleven points. Shellie McKinney worked tirelessly

throughout the game against the determined Unicoi County post game, and scored

fourteen points. Sydnie Buchanan was her usual, steady self and hit two two-point

baskets. Brittany Reece scored two, and promising freshman, Hughes scored five.

 

Rilie King is making a strong case for Freshman of the Year. She scored fourteen

points for the Lady Blue Devils. And Ivory Shelton continues to improve with each

game.

 

And, Ali Gardner never disappoints. Offense, defense, rebounding, you name it; she's

having a tremendous senior season.

 

She's the MOP at the halfway point.

[coachh17]

Just greasing the skids for the inevitable. Calling a girl a MOP, is not keeping with the Holiday spirit! Merry Christmas to all, even the Lady Devils.