Tri-County Seven

[coachh17]

coachh17

 

Champion

Group: Members Posts: 2,343 Joined: 28-February 03

 

Warn Status < 0 ( 0 ) 10 >

Posted 6 days ago

 

Several teams have a game or two left in the regular season, but the tournaments begin this week. I will predict how far I think our teams can and will go.

 

Cloudland A (24-3)- The Lady Landers are District 1 champs and have had a great year. They have a dominant post player in 6'1" junior Brooke Rhodes. Post running mate 5'11" Courtney Wilson is a great player in her own right and the two together will be tough for most teams to stop. Point guard Courtney Clarke is a good floor leader and three point shooter. Wings Summer Hughes, Sydney Miller, and Bethany Chambers are athletic defenders that can score if you forget about them trying to stop the other three. They have a couple of other players that contribute off the bench, one is a McKinney I believe. I look for this team to win the District, Region, and Sub-State. I think they will win at least a game in Murfreesboro and could win a Gold Ball, but I think they will come up just short in the semi-final or final.

 

Hampton A (16-10)- Have struggled a bit down the stretch. Finish up at Chuckey-Doak on Monday. Guard play has been solid all year, but the lack of size inside has been a challenge for the Lady Dogs. Dorothy and Paige Dugger make this team go and the Lady Dogs will go as far as they take them. Could finish anywhere from 1st to 4th in the District, but I say they will finish 2nd. It will not surprise me if they reach the substate, but I think they could lose to Cosby in the Regional semi-final.

 

Unaka A (12-14)- A bit of a wildcard, capable of upsetting anyone on a given night. I believe they will make the Regional tournament and will lose in the quarters or possibly the semi-finals. Guards Alicia Colbaugh and Autumn Bradshaw are quick and could create match-up trouble for slower teams. Winters, Ensor, and Lawson all have good moments for this scrappy little team.

 

Unicoi County AA (21-6)- Host Cloudland in a very interesting game Monday. The Lady Devils edged out Elizabethton for the District 1 title, courtesy of Sullivan East's win over Elizabethton. Point guard Emily Edwards runs the show and is key to the success of this team. King, Thompson, Bennett, and Gardner are all capable players that can come up big on a given night. The bench is a little thin, but I think the Lady Devils will finish one or two in the District. They could fall in the Regional semi-final, but I see them making the final. I believe they will lose in a road sub-state game.

 

Elizabethton AA (19-9)- This has been a wild ride for Betsy fans following the ups and downs of this team this year. I think they will finish one or two in the District. Then it gets dicey. They could be upset at home in the Regional quarters, but I see them making the semi-finals. Grainger should end their season at that point if they are the #2 seed, but if they win the District and get the #1 seed they could reach the Regional final. I will say that they lose in the Regional semi-finals, but a sub-state appearance will not surprise me.

 

Johnson County AA (9-16)- No matter what happens, this team has had a successful season and has advanced their rebuilding process by leaps and bounds. The Brooke Brown led Lady Longhorns face Happy Valley in an elimination game Thursday. Reece and Swift have also been instrumental in this resurgence. They upset Happy Valley a few games back and could do it again, but I think Happy Valley will end their season with a close hard-fought win.

 

Happy Valley AA (9-17)- The record is not great, but they have played really well in stretches and are dangerous if they get hot. I look for them to advance to the Region and lose in the quarters, but Blankenship and Perry could lead a big upset if everything falls right.

 

This post has been edited by coachh17: 6 days ago

 

"Just Win Baby"

 

 

I started the post with last week's predictions. So far, everything is going to form....just barely. Sullivan East, Johnson County, and Unaka all nearly pulled off big upsets, but came up just short. Here is where we are now, with the 3 Single A teams first, and I am still sticking with every prediction I made last week:

 

1. Cloudland A (26-4)- Will play Hampton for the District 1 title tomorrow....weather permitting. The Lady Landers may wake up tomorrow under a foot of snow. I think Cloudland will win, but Unaka showed us how vulnerable they are right now.

 

2. Hampton A (18-11)- Get another chance at Cloudland tomorrow. I think they can pull it off, but I think they will come up just short. Sub-state is still within reach.

 

3. Unaka A (15-16)- Took Cloudland to overtime in the semi-finals and are playing well. I am betting they have a letdown and lose to North Greene in a heartbreaker tomorrow. That would match them up with Cosby in the Reional quarters, but District 1 could easily win all four first round games.

 

 

1. Unicoi County AA (23-6)- Huge championship game Monday with Elizabethton. The winner will likely avoid facing Grainger County in the Regional semi-finals. Elizabethton has won two of three so far, but the Lady Devils are playing at home and are playing well. My beloved Lady Cyclones are not playing much defense, so I will go with the Emily Edwards led Lady Devils....62-56.

 

2. Elizabethton AA (20-9)- Tomorrow night's game is very important for the Lady Cyclones. If they win, which they can do, they have a great shot at the sub-state. If they lose, I fear they will fall in the Regional semi's. It should be a great game. Go Cyclones!!!!!!!

 

3. Happy Valley AA (10-18)- The comeback win over Johnson County has them in the Region. They should have a great game with Sullivan East tomorrow. It should be very close. I will say East wins....62-60. I look for Happy Valley to end their season with a loss in the Regional quarters.

 

4. Johnson County AA (9-19)- The Lady Longhorns had a Reional berth in their hands, but let Happy Valley wriggle away in the 4th quarter. It was still a great rebuilding effort and the Lady Horns now look like a basketball team with a bright future. Good season!

Edited February 19, 2012 by coachh17

[THE KING]

Coach, I agree. The Lady Highlanders are being forced out of their comfort zone. Its time for our guards to step up and score points for this team. We need consistent outside shooting. I'm talking about the 10 footers and 15 footers. Unaka tried to take away the post game and the girls went 0 for 18 from 3 pt. range. That will get you beat against better teams. Rhodes carried them on her back. She is a tremendous basketball player. Go get that title and beat them lady dogs!

[THE KING]

I can't believe no one wants to talk basketball. I'm as busy as the next person working 50 hrs. a week and have twin 3 year old daughters and I've still got time to throw in a couple posts a day. C'mon, where is the support? Support your teams!

[Buki4life80]

I can't believe no one wants to talk basketball. I'm as busy as the next person working 50 hrs. a week and have twin 3 year old daughters and I've still got time to throw in a couple posts a day. C'mon, where is the support? Support your teams!

Hard to reply. If you don't say exactly what coach or sparky wants you get banned.

[THE KING]

Hard to reply. If you don't say exactly what coach or sparky wants you get banned.

If thats the case, I would've been banned years ago! Cloudland is the best and thats the bottom line.

[coachh17]

Hard to reply. If you don't say exactly what coach or sparky wants you get banned.

I have no power to ban...lol! Say whatever you want. I think I have actually been pretty tough on the Lady Cyclones this year.

[squirrel34]

I have no power to ban...lol! Say whatever you want. I think I have actually been pretty tough on the Lady Cyclones this year.

good luck to my lady devils tonight it should turn out to be another good game in the long history of these rivals i believe my lady devils will win but it wont be easy..

[THE KING]

Complete domination by the lady lander!

[Buki4life80]

Complete domination by the lady lander!

Same by Unicoi County

[etownsparky]

Hard to reply. If you don't say exactly what coach or sparky wants you get banned.

This is a total fabrication. Anyone is free to talk basketball all they want. I'm only aware of a single user on this forum that has been "banned" as you call it. In more than one case this person (who has used multiple usernames) was shutdown by Coacht over the past several years because he/she was much more interested in criticizing coaches, bashing players, and spewing innuendo (mainly about EHS) than talking basketball...

Edited February 21, 2012 by etownsparky

[etownsparky]

Same by Unicoi County

Agreed. Unicoi took the Lady Clones to the woodshed tonight. Particularly, EHS had no answer for Edwards. The Lady Devils defended as good as I've ever seen them since I've been watching. I have said it all year, this Lady Cyclones team is way too soft on defense! Generally, they just follow, don't play the passing lanes, and absolutely DO NOT get enough ball pressure. The passer is free to feed the ball at will. They didn't attempt to press until the second half and that too was ineffective mainly because they got NO ball pressure at all. On offense the Lady Clones have become almost one-dimensional. If the dribble drive is not there, they breakdown. The spot up shooters don't get the ball when they are open and there is absolutely no emphasis on trying to get the ball into the post (high or low). This team is a Jekyll/Hyde. On a given night, they can play with anyone when they are running good, but on a different night almost anyone can beat them. If they don't play much better on Friday night, they could see an early end to their season. Regardless, I don't see them making a deep post-season run. Sorry folks, the true sometimes hurts...Go Cyclones!

[limestonecove]

Tonight the Lady Devil team played their game and showed what they are capable of doing. Holding Eliz to 35 points is feat. Eliz did not play well but I credit the Unicoi defense for a big part of that. Eliz has had a nice season given what they have gone through, but Im not sure if they can beat Grainger on a neutral court in the regional semis if they get past Greenville friday. The Blue Devils have to play a much improved South Greene team which will be a dogfight. Folks it pains me to say this, but its possible District 2 could have all four teams in the regional semifinals. I sure hope not......

 

The real season starts this friday, although its nice to be able to say Congrats to the 2011-12 District 1 and three rivers conference Champs, the Unicoi County Lady Blue Devils!!!!