Tri-County Seven

[coachh17]

There are some big games this week. I believe that Unicoi County's and Cloudland's records are correct on coachT. Everyone elses is incomplete, primarily from holiday tournaments, so I try to adjust to the best of my knowledge. Here are the rankings before the last full week in January. District tournaments will be here soon!

 

1. Cloudland A (19-3)- As King says, this is the year of the Lady Lander. Solid win over Hampton. Still have road games at South Greene, North Greene, Hampton, and Unicoi County, but they will be favored in at least three of them. I rate the Unicoi County game a toss up.

 

2. Elizabethton AA (14-8)- Have won three straight, though not real pretty. Seven of this teams' eight losses have been by a combined total of 14 points. The loss of Bowers coupled with a possible suspension to DeMoss for her part in Saturday night fight will present two big challenges in preparing to host Unicoi County Tuesday. Cyclones will have to play their best game of the year to win this game and hold this slot.

 

3. Unicoi County AA (18-5)- This team is peaking and have won six straight by big margins. The Lady Devils are chomping at the bit to avenge an earlier season loss to Elizabethton and will get their chance Tuesday night in E-Town. They also get a late season shot at Cloudland, so they control their own destiny in climbing to the top of our poll.

 

4. Hampton A (14-7)- Coach Tolley has a nice single A team. Six of the seven Lady Dog losses have been to Cloudland, Elizabethton, Unicoi County, and Alcoa. That kind of schedule will help them when they begin their post-season run toward a possible trip to the Boro.

 

5. Unaka A (10-12)- Lost a tough one Friday by two to North Greene. Play at Hampton Tuesday. I think they will be more competitive next year.

 

6. Happy Valley AA (9-11)- This team has some very good guard play with Perry and Blankenship. They are not real big and not great defensively, but are quite capable of pulling upsets in the district tournament.

 

7. Johnson County AA (5-13)- Lost to Elizabethton by 18, but that is much closer than any game in a number of years with the Lady Cyclones. Host Happy Valley and Hampton this week and could be dangerous at home. Future is looking much brighter in Longhorn Land.

[gcfball]

There are some big games this week. I believe that Unicoi County's and Cloudland's records are correct on coachT. Everyone elses is incomplete, primarily from holiday tournaments, so I try to adjust to the best of my knowledge. Here are the rankings before the last full week in January. District tournaments will be here soon!

 

1. Cloudland A (19-3)- As King says, this is the year of the Lady Lander. Solid win over Hampton. Still have road games at South Greene, North Greene, Hampton, and Unicoi County, but they will be favored in at least three of them. I rate the Unicoi County game a toss up.

 

2. Elizabethton AA (14-8)- Have won three straight, though not real pretty. Seven of this teams' eight losses have been by a combined total of 14 points. The loss of Bowers coupled with a possible suspension to DeMoss for her part in Saturday night fight will present two big challenges in preparing to host Unicoi County Tuesday. Cyclones will have to play their best game of the year to win this game and hold this slot.

 

3. Unicoi County AA (18-5)- This team is peaking and have won six straight by big margins. The Lady Devils are chomping at the bit to avenge an earlier season loss to Elizabethton and will get their chance Tuesday night in E-Town. They also get a late season shot at Cloudland, so they control their own destiny in climbing to the top of our poll.

 

4. Hampton A (14-7)- Coach Tolley has a nice single A team. Six of the seven Lady Dog losses have been to Cloudland, Elizabethton, Unicoi County, and Alcoa. That kind of schedule will help them when they begin their post-season run toward a possible trip to the Boro.

 

5. Unaka A (10-12)- Lost a tough one Friday by two to North Greene. Play at Hampton Tuesday. I think they will be more competitive next year.

 

6. Happy Valley AA (9-11)- This team has some very good guard play with Perry and Blankenship. They are not real big and not great defensively, but are quite capable of pulling upsets in the district tournament.

 

7. Johnson County AA (5-13)- Lost to Elizabethton by 18, but that is much closer than any game in a number of years with the Lady Cyclones. Host Happy Valley and Hampton this week and could be dangerous at home. Future is looking much brighter in Longhorn Land.

 

Could you explain your logic for having Elizabethon above Unicoi? That is other than the fact that you are a die-hard Cyclone fan. Elizabethon has recently lost to a very mediocre, at best, Sullivan East team while Unicoi is playing very good right now.

[bballfan05]

Could you explain your logic for having Elizabethon above Unicoi? That is other than the fact that you are a die-hard Cyclone fan. Elizabethon has recently lost to a very mediocre, at best, Sullivan East team while Unicoi is playing very good right now.

he's going by eliz 'recent' win over Unicoi back in December but they are a different "team" now. Theyve split and Unicoi is playing alot better than EHS right now so throw that reasoning out. Unicoi will claim that spot after Tuesday with or without Demoss. And the 7 of 8 by 14pts he's right but a few losses were to teams that they should've beat easily. Hampton is playing pretty well right now as well, working in Bowers pretty nicely as she had 16 pt gm vs a good Chuckey Doak team that was a quality win vs a AA school. Theywere down just one point to Cloudland at the half Fri but could'nt buy a bucket in the second half and lost by 13 and not the 30 most were predicting. No discussion for Cloudland owning #1 spot as they are clearly tops right now but still have Unicoi and Hampton again. HV Unaka and JC all dangerous teams. But polls are for nothing but discussions. In the end it'll all be settled on the court. Good Luck to all the Tri County teams!

[coachh17]

Could you explain your logic for having Elizabethon above Unicoi? That is other than the fact that you are a die-hard Cyclone fan. Elizabethon has recently lost to a very mediocre, at best, Sullivan East team while Unicoi is playing very good right now.

 

 

Over the years I have done the rankings two ways. When I ranked them based on where I really thought they were people went crazy over the head to head results that were sometimes different than my rankings. When I ranked them based on head to head matchups people went crazy because teams get better or worse as the season goes along. You cannot win either way, but this poll is just for fun and to promote the seven teams in our three county group. I know Unicoi is playing better now and that Elizabethton is a weaker team losing Bowers and now DeMoss. I expect Unicoi County will win this game, but they have not played it yet. If they win, I will slide them right in the two slot. Then everybody will start screaming that Hampton should be #3. Elizabethton has beaten them twice, but Hampton gets one more shot.

[limestonecove]

Given the coaching mess at Eliz, they are more likely to lose more players than get a recruit. Coachh is even having a hard time defending his old boss these days.

Now with Demoss likely out this week for her brawl with the HV brawler, he will have a built in excuse IF Unicoi should win tuesday.

[coachh17]

I will not use any excuses. This has been a rocky road for the Lady Cyclones all season and living up to the success level of the ten previous teams and the expectations of the Cyclone faithful has not been easy. Two things really stand out to me when I watch this team. One, they struggle defensively and give up too many open outside shots and uncontested drives to the basket. Two, they are too perimeter oriented and live and die on threes and mid-range jumpers off the dribble. Both things can be improved, but time is running short on this season.

[THE KING]

Coach, its just a poll to have fun with. I think people went more crazy when krich was doing it. All I care about is getting that gold ball. Those lady landers are playing every game like its their last.

[etownsparky]

Given the coaching mess at Eliz, they are more likely to lose more players than get a recruit. Coachh is even having a hard time defending his old boss these days.

Now with Demoss likely out this week for her brawl with the HV brawler, he will have a built in excuse IF Unicoi should win tuesday.

I don't think any "built in excuse" is necessary for Betsy. The fact that Betsy beat Unicoi at all this year should be cause for concern for the Unicoi faithful (especially their coach). This was going to be a rebuilding year at EHS regardless of the ridiculously unfortunate decisions made by the administration that caused the recent turmoil. Conversely, this is the most experienced and talented team Unicoi has had in the past 3 years at least. On paper they should have dominated, but they haven't. In reality, Unicoi should be 0-2 against Betsy this year (EHS wins the game at Unicoi if they make even 1 of their last 3 FTs). And oh yeah, the game on Tuesday still has to be played. With DeMoss likely out, what excuse will Unicoi have if Betsy were to somehow beat them?

[etownsparky]

Who wants to bet that Eliz has a good transfer before next year. I bet they do.

Same ole subject - just a different username.

[limestonecove]

Sparky, no excuses here if Eliz wins. Unicoi has been playing catch-up to Eliz for about the last 8 or 9 years. On paper they should have caught up this year, but on the court, where it counts, that remains to be seen. Unicoi has a chance to take another step in that direction tomorrow night. Should be a good game.

[gcfball]

Over the years I have done the rankings two ways. When I ranked them based on where I really thought they were people went crazy over the head to head results that were sometimes different than my rankings. When I ranked them based on head to head matchups people went crazy because teams get better or worse as the season goes along. You cannot win either way, but this poll is just for fun and to promote the seven teams in our three county group. I know Unicoi is playing better now and that Elizabethton is a weaker team losing Bowers and now DeMoss. I expect Unicoi County will win this game, but they have not played it yet. If they win, I will slide them right in the two slot. Then everybody will start screaming that Hampton should be #3. Elizabethton has beaten them twice, but Hampton gets one more shot.

 

Your explanations sound great, but actually in favor of Unicoi being 2 and Elizabethon 3.

-They have split in 2 games this year.

-Unicoi has 4 more wins and 3 less losses.

-Unicoi losses were twice to Cloudland, once to Betsy, once to 3A Morristown West and to Hampton by 2. In fact, their biggest loss was by 7.

-Elizabethon has lost one of their better players for the year.

Elizabethon lost recently to a weak Sullivan East team.

 

With all that being said, it just seems like TODAY, Unicoi is the better team.

Edited January 23, 2012 by gcfball

[coachh17]

Your explanations sound great, but actually in favor of Unicoi being 2 and Elizabethon 3.

-They have split in 2 games this year.

-Unicoi has 4 more wins and 3 less losses.

-Unicoi losses were twice to Cloudland, once to Betsy, once to 3A Morristown West and to Hampton by 2. In fact, their biggest loss was by 7.

-Elizabethon has lost one of their better players for the year.

Elizabethon lost recently to a weak Sullivan East team.

 

With all that being said, it just seems like TODAY, Unicoi is the better team.

Tomorrow we will see. Winner gets the #2 spot. Unicoi County has to like their chances. I will be interested to see how hard Elizabethton plays from the tip. They only played the second half the last time these two teams played.