Tri-County Seven

[dog4life]

Watched the Lady Bulldogs beat HV 60-34. I cant believe how much they have improved over the past 3-4 games, and they were without 2 starters tonight, and have been shorthanded the past 3 games. Better not overlook them. Might get surprised.

[squirrel34]

yeah cloudland has a very good team and well coached team so i cant say much since they beat us monday but i would like to repsond if i can about them letting us back in it or elizabethton handing it to us.... we dont have a bad team you know could it not be that we were good enough to take it from betsy or rose up and put ourselves back in it at cloudland...i know landers missed freethrows but we had to make shots also and if we hit the shots we miss early i mean open looks then it might be different outcome thats why we play them right..just my opion though we are 8-2 so we aint as bad as you all say

Edited December 14, 2011 by squirrel34

[creaturefromthebleacher]

Well I have been under the bleachers long enough now it's time to talk some basketball with you folks. First things first, And this is just my opinion. Basketball is very watered down in the East Tennessee area for the most part this year. However I think there are about 4 or 5 teams that are pretty legit to talk about in this area that I think are really setting the bar right now for this area,But I will stay on the topic and keep it simple.

 

1.Cloudland- The lady Highlanders has proven over the course of the past month or so they can contend with anyone in this area A-AAA. I think in order for Cloudland to be a successfull team the Wilson girl is going to have to be consistent in the post like she was against Unicoi County on Monday night in order for Cloudland to beat good quality competition. If anyone was has watched Cloudland play this year 85 percent of their scoring comes from the Rhodes and Clarke girl,Thats why I believe that the Wilson girl playing the way she played Monday is very key for the Highlanders to keep her consistent throughout the year,Which will make them a better team come tournament time.

 

2.Unicoi- I thought Cloudland attacked them early and Unicoi got really frustrated and uncomfortable not being in that position all year. However I think the Edwards girl is a true leader for the lady Devils and did a good job of getting Unicoi back in the game later and not going into panic mode. In my opinion I think Unicoi and Elizabethton match up better than Unicoi and Cloudland,However I do believe Elizabethton is a little deeper off the bench more than Unicoi but the first 5 for both teams match up pretty solid.

 

3.Elizabethton- Haven't gotten the chance to see them play since the departure of Dugger,But I still think both Elizabethton and Unicoi will make it to play in sub-state games just for the simple fact both teams defend very well and have good leaders Depew and Edwards with a very strong supporting cast in Thompson,King,Bennet and Gardner. As well with Elizabethton having Robertson,Demoss Mccurry Madgett and the freshman guard.

 

4.Hampton- Very much improved team since the first of the season.Seems like there is a different kid stepping up each night for the Bulldogs,If post play can be more consistent on the offensive and defensive end to go along with steady guard play I could see coach Tolley and the dogs making some noise come tournament time. I still believe they are the # 2 team in the WVC behind Cloudland but look for them to battle the lady Highlanders both home and away.

 

5.Unaka- I think inconsistency is hurting this lady Ranger team for the most part.They give up alot of points to opposing teams and teams that defend well against them give them alot of problems. Unless Unaka shoots the ball well I honestly would have to put the finishing 4th in the WVC. They are very small so I see them having trouble rebounding and scoring against teams like Hampton and Cloudland.

 

6.Happy Valley- Not really much hope for the Warriors. They have a very good starting 5 but everytime I have watched them they are just so out of sink offensively and defensively that I just dont see them being able to compete with good quality teams like Elizabethton,Unicoi and even Sullivan East in that conference.

 

7.Johnson County- They play very hard on the defensive end but with the lack of ability to score with other teams makes it tough for coach Whitts girls. Johnson County must continue to stay strong defensively but must get some kind of production offensively over the break.

[3rfan]

I've seen all three of this weeks top teams play and they are very close in ability. It should be very interesting to see how later games turn out! As you say 17 it may be post season results that tell the story. Always like to see the head to head games. I know Unicoi and Elizabethton, and Unicoi and Cloudland play again. What about Cloudland and Elizabethton?

[THE KING]

Squirrel, your team has my respect. I think that game made our ladies better. Creature, you are correct about wilson. I would also like to see more scoring from hughes and johnson.

[etownsparky]

yeah cloudland has a very good team and well coached team so i cant say much since they beat us monday but i would like to repsond if i can about them letting us back in it or elizabethton handing it to us.... we dont have a bad team you know could it not be that we were good enough to take it from betsy or rose up and put ourselves back in it at cloudland...i know landers missed freethrows but we had to make shots also and if we hit the shots we miss early i mean open looks then it might be different outcome thats why we play them right..just my opion though we are 8-2 so we aint as bad as you all say

I'm not sure where you have gotten the idea that posters on this thread have implied the Lady Devils are "bad." UC is currently leading the TRC and are expected to win it by most. Regardless, I think the evidence supports the contention that Cloudland, Unicoi and Elizabethton are close. Obviously UC has talent and it took guts and ability to come back against both Cloudland and Besty. However, I think you would have to agree that regardless of how the first 30.5 minutes of a game plays out, a team with a 5 point lead at that point should probably win the game. I still contend EHS should have won that game. Missing 3 straight FTs is certainly uncharacteristic of a team of their caliber. If the table was turned, I would have to conclude the same thing.

Edited December 15, 2011 by etownsparky

[coachh17]

Elizabethton picked up a nice win over Pigeon Forge at home tonight. They did it without starter Reazyn DeMoss, who was out of town. Pigeon Forge had a 9-1 record coming in. Lauren McCurry was on fire most of the night and I am guessing had around 25 points on three balls and driving runners and jumpers. Whitney Roberts and Savannah Madgett had solid games inside and both probably had around 12 points each. Morgan DePew had a good floor game and also likely had double digit points. It was a solid team effort. This team is going to begin to roll. I will be very surprised if they lose more than three games the rest of the regular season and will be a force come tournament time. What should scare opponents is that they will just keep getting better offensively and have the potential to be great defensively with a bit more effort.

[THE KING]

They are very good coach. It would not surprise me if they won the region and went back to the state tournament. I would've never thought that after graduating so many.

[THE KING]

Cloudland has a tough one at Watauga and then the Christmas tournament at DB. They have a good chance of having 15 wins before the first of the year.

[etownsparky]

Elizabethton picked up a nice win over Pigeon Forge at home tonight. They did it without starter Reazyn DeMoss, who was out of town. Pigeon Forge had a 9-1 record coming in. Lauren McCurry was on fire most of the night and I am guessing had around 25 points on three balls and driving runners and jumpers. Whitney Roberts and Savannah Madgett had solid games inside and both probably had around 12 points each. Morgan DePew had a good floor game and also likely had double digit points. It was a solid team effort. This team is going to begin to roll. I will be very surprised if they lose more than three games the rest of the regular season and will be a force come tournament time. What should scare opponents is that they will just keep getting better offensively and have the potential to be great defensively with a bit more effort.

This is the first Betsy game I've seen since the Cloudland game and I'd just have to say, "Wow!" To handily defeat a very good PF team the way they did last night was impressive, especially without DeMoss. It appears that several players are getting more comfortable offensively and the team played pretty solid defense. I would like to see the players be more aware of help side and seize the opportunity to take an occasional charge (the Betsy defenders passed on a few of these last night). Additionally, they need to continue to mature and avoid repeated silly mistakes that result in unnecessary turnovers. Depth continues to be a slight issue, particularly at the 1/2 positions. There are a couple of sophomores that have seen minutes up to now and frankly haven't capitalized on the opportunity to earn more playing time. The Lady Clones need these girls to step up their game a little in order for the team to be successful late in the season. Overall, great job last night ladies.

[limestonecove]

what are you talking about Sparky. Dugger isnt the coach anymore, and everybody knows Wilson only plays about seven players, and Ehs has those seven nailed down. If depew gets in foul trouble the freshman will play the point. I heard some talk about the senior who didnt want to play for Dugger coming back on the team, Norris, any truth to that?

[THE KING]

I hope coachh17 considers moving Unaka up to the 4 spot in the next seven thread. They blew out Sullivan East by 18 and beat Rockwood by 20. I don't think they can beat Cloudland but I don't think Cloudland will beat them by more than 15 at their place. I hope these ladies will take the Lady Dogs and Lady Rangers very seriously when it comes time to play them. Being expected to win and actually winning is two different things. The last team at Cloudland to get a lot of hype wound up taking a back seat to Leon Tolley's Lady Dogs. My advice gals is play loose.