District 11A

[James417]

District 11A

 

1. Cornersville - The Lady Bulldogs are so far ahead of everyone else in their district that no one should be surprised if they don't run the table by double-digits on everyone else. They are the powerhouse of this very weak district. Unfortunately for them, their district schedule will not do much to prepare them for the Region 6A Tournament, where they will run into the teams from 12A, most of whom looked very good this summer. Nelms, who should have her name at least in the discussion for a Miss Basketball nomination, leads a very talented cast of supporting players. Hopkins, Fagan, and Wheeler, will also aid in what will be another 20+ win season for Landers and company.

 

2. Santa Fe - The Lady Cats will rely heavily on senior point guard Bobbi Dodson, much as they did last year. Unfortuantely for Dodson, she does not have the talent around her like she did in the 07 - 08 season that saw Santa Fe reach sub-state. On the other hand, Dodson and Santa Fe are lucky to be playing in a district where not having a whole lot of talent doesn't matter very much. She alone should get them second, and it doesn't hurt that Santa Fe will have some size inside that should present match-up problems for all of the teams below them.

 

3. Richland - The Lady Raiders will struggle significantly following the departure of Jasmine Duke, who did everything (and then some) for Richland last year. They have a whole suplus of capable players, but there is no one go-to player on their team. When things start to get tough, they cannot rely on someone like Duke to bail them out. They will have to be fundamentally sound on the offensive end, because if their returning guards are not better at handling the ball then they were a year ago, Richland could be on the wrong end of some major blowouts to the two teams above them. They should easily take care of the teams behind them, with the exception of Columbia Academy, who potentially could present a problem.

 

4. Columbia Academy - The Lady Bulldogs only graduated two seniors from last year, and at times, showed some promise for a decent future. The district shake-ups really benefited this group because it got rid of some teams from their district that they had no chance of beating and replaced them with teams that some middle school teams could beat. Columbia Academy should be in this fourth spot, assuming their is no major meltdown. They could even finish in the third spot if their guards can become sound with the ball and provide some offense to support Hayes in the post.

 

5. Hampshire - The Lady Hawks move from District 12A, where they never stood a shot of going to the Region 6A Tournament, to District 11A, where they might have a very "slim" chance. Hampshire lost Lemire, who was their best scorer, but return Booker, whose athleticism could beneift Hampshire. However, her tendency to play out-of-control has to be harnessed. She, along with Boyd and Baker, could just be enough to keep Hampshire out of the bottom two spots, and potentially, compete with Columbia Academy (but only if they have not improved much from last year).

 

6. Culleoka - The Lady Warriors lost two of their better players to graduation last year in Fitzgerald and Andrews. Culleoka is pretty much identical to Hampshire in that they have very little talent or athleticism on a team that is already slim in terms of numbers of players on their roster. Culleoka will need to find someone who is capable of producing double-digits on the offensive end, because as of right now they don't appear to have a go-to player (which Hampshire might actually have in Booker or Boyd). They will also need to put alot of emphasis on their defense, because they cannot win a high-scoring game--the lower scoring the game is for Culleoka, the better chance they will have of pulling out a victory.

 

7. Mt. Pleasant - The Lady Tigers finally ended their record setting losing streak last year when they finally won a game against a winless Frank Hughes out of Clifton. So, it is no coincidence that Mt. Pleasant will open this season against Frank Hughes, which could potentially be their only win of the year. On the brightside for Mt. Pleasant, they had no seniors last year, so at least they return everyone, and "should" be at least a tiny bit improved. Hughes has potential at the point guard spot, but she needs a coach that will implement a system that she can run and will give her some open looks at the basket. In fact, if the coach at Mt. Pleasant could just find a way to harness this group's athetic ability and implement some fundamental skills, they could actually pull out three or four wins this year (I wouldn't bet my bag of popcorn on it though).

 

Looks Like Ptguard12 and I are on the same page. I could not agree more with your analysis. Good Stuff!

[thenomad]

After ptguard12's thoughts, everyone pretty much dropped the conversation. It's hard to compare your opinions to one of such high standards. I think ptguard12 is pretty close to right on and can't wait for basketball to get cranked up here in a couple of weeks!!

[rhs#1fan]

Ptguard12 as always well stated! I feel Richland could be overlooked. The Lady Raiders did lose a lot in Duke and Reynolds (transferred to MCHS). However they still have the shooters and look for one of the Lovell twins to take over the Glidden roll!! Don't sleep on the Lady Raiders!!

[thenomad]

C'mon people!! The boys' 11A thread is up to 5 pages! Where is the enthusiasm? Who's going to win? Who's going to pull some upsets? Will someone surprise the rest of the league? Does anyone have any breaking news about new players, players leaving?

 

I've heard that the Holley girl from Richland is being suspended for two incidents in soccer. Is there any truth to this?

 

Basketball season is only 3 weeks away!!!

[hawk21]

Hampshire lady hawks will suprise people this year. They have a new coach by the name of jason fite and they will do well with him. They could very well play themselves into the top four of the district. It would be an unwise decision to sleep on this team and they are a lot better than people think.

[wingman10]

Hampshire lady hawks will suprise people this year. They have a new coach by the name of jason fite and they will do well with him. They could very well play themselves into the top four of the district. It would be an unwise decision to sleep on this team and they are a lot better than people think.

Good luck...Coach Jason is a good one. Give him time to build the program. He will get as much out of his talent as anyone.

[thenomad]

I don't disagree that the new coach could change the program around; however, talent is still an issue. This is a team that has only beaten Mt. Pleasant and Culleoka (twice 2 years ago) in this district. I do believe in not looking past teams; however, provide some keys to why they are better. Did someone transfer in, come back to play after quitting, not just the coach will turn around a program in one year!

[James417]

Can't wait til season starts! Not much to discuss until then. Looking forward to the Cornersville match-ups with Cascade, Wayne Co & Collinwood at the Forrest HS Playday this Saturday. I did notice on the Forrest playday Post that Cornersville's (Jr.) Haley Fagan won't be there. She is a major college prospect in softball (Alabama, UT, Miss State & UGA) and will be on a recruiting visit to Univ of Georgia this weekend. Looks like a chance for someone else to get some playing time and for Coach Landers to start building some depth early.

[MidTNCoach]

I feel like the top 3-4 teams will be competitive with each other, and I don't think you can ever have a PRESEASON CLEAR CUT #1. The top teams will win and lose, thats why its a game....

[BulldogGrowl]

I agree that CA, Richland, and Santa Fe should make it interesting for 2-4, but I think that Cornersville deserves to be the preseason pick in the district. I believe they return a significant portion of their team from last season that finished so well.

 

Richland, even with key losses, returns several with experience, as do CA and SF.

 

Also, I fail to see how a coach can help with the situation at Hampshire, it is like that old saying getting blood from a turnip...you cant create talent where there is none.

[thenomad]

This district for the past few years has not had anything outside of the top 4. I don't see it being much different. If CA is able to pull some upsets then I will start believing. However, this is a team that has not won 4 or 5 district games in a long time!! It is a weaker district with Mt. Pleasant and Hampshire. Everyone around Hampshire is calling for onslaught of victories, same for CA. Unfortunately I have not heard the same out of Culleoka or Mt. Pleasant. Any news from these two teams? Will Culleoka even have a team? Can Mt. Pleasant's coach get it right the second time around?

[confusion234]

to everyone who's dogging on the new coach at hampshire:

if you don't know him, you don't really know how he is as a coach. he's different on the floor than when you just talk to him. he's a great person, as well as a great coach. everyone says there's no hope at all for hampshire, but i beg to differ. yes, we may not have anywhere near the best athletes, but at least we have heart. and coach fite helps with that, a lot. i personally believe he could be one of the best coaches we've had. and if anyone knows, we've had a few. i'm not saying we're going to win a single game, but you'll know who you played.

thanks coach fite!