AA Semi Finals

[layupNpressure]

Did SM or Waverly hold the ball for most of the game or did that just have that poor of an offensive showing?

[BlueAngels]

Did SM or Waverly hold the ball for most of the game or did that just have that poor of an offensive showing?

I would say a little of both. Nerves were certainly a factor in the first half for both teams. Stone did score 27 in the 2nd half, which is respectable. There were only 60 shots taken the entire game by both teams. Waverly's match-up 2-3 was difficult to penetrate and they are very tough. I thought, across the the entire team, that Waverly had size, strength, speed, and great ball movement skills....certainly a strong state tournament-level team. In general, spectators don't enjoy defensive games, but for the most part, that is what Stone hangs its hat on. In over half of their games, in one of the state's toughest schedules (according to Coach T), SMHS held its opponent to 36 points or less. Stone takes pride in the fact that they have no real "superstars," they are a team of role players. They are in the State's Final Four and didnt get a single player on the All-District 1st Team...how many Final Four teams can say that?

 

With all that said, I watched all the games yesterday and I have read a lot of comments and thought I might make a few about the other games:

 

Livingston vs Loudon - having played both of these teams a total of 6 times this year, I thought this was one of the tournament's most intriguing early matchups. Both teams have great quickness, excellent outside shooting, and good inside games. It was almost a shame that one of these was going to be eliminated in the first round. Nerves seemed to plague Loudon early much like they did Stone, only putting up 10 in the first half and it is hard to recover from a deficit to Livingston. Both teams looked a little out of character, with uncharacteristic turnovers and missed shots, but it IS the State Tournament and strange things happen here sometimes. Loudon had a great year and they should be extremely proud of their accomplishments. And i think Livingston is capable of even better play than they showed yesterday. The CPA - Livingston game promises to be a great one....can't wait to see it.

 

CPA vs Manassas - All I have to say is "wow!" CPA looked like a veteran team. Great fundamentals, well-coached, no "nerve" issues to speak of, and well-prepared. Manassas has a really good team, so this game was a surprise (probably to everyone EXCEPT CPA!). CPA had a great student section, too. Again, I really look forward to the Livingston-CPA matchup. It promises to be a great scoring event.

 

Obion vs McMinn Central - these 2 teams are no strangers to the State Tournament and it showed yesterday. They bypassed the obligatory 1st 10 minutes of "nerves" you see in most first-round games and started battling right out of the gate. This was another great game, in which it was a shame to see someone have to be eliminated early. Either team could have advanced, but Obion's team balance in the 4th quarter seemed to be the difference with some outstanding guard performance and a the inside game performance from their big post. A good team that gets hot in the 4th is hard to beat.

 

I am looking forward to watching the semis on Friday. There are some great story lines for the state's sports writers...hopefully they are up for the task!

 

Livingston vs CPA - Livingston has played one of the toughest schedules in the State and this may be the deciding factor. I honestly cannot wait for this game. Based on the first round, I don't think CPA will shrink from the task, so strap on your seat belts! If the real Livingston team shows up for this game, it will be a special one.

 

Stone vs Obion - According to Coach T, Stone had the toughest schedule in Class AA. 11 of their 12 losses were against some of the state's best teams..4 (3 were very close) to Loudon (State qualifier), 2 to Girls Preparatory School (D2 State Champion); 2 to Clarkrange; Oakland, and 2 to Livingston (State Final Four). Their wins havent always been pretty, but they go in the "W" column. This team has nothing to apologize for and hopefully will prove to be a shining example of what teamwork really means. They have beat teams with better individual players by sticking together. They understand that no one is impressed. No one is giving them a chance against Obion. No one gave them a chance to be in the State Tournament and certainly no one expected a Final Four appearance. They were District Runner-up, they were Region Runner-up, but they have won the games when it was "do or die." At the TSSAA tournament draw, one of the coaches was apologizing for his team's win-loss record when they had to announce it to the group of coaches in the room...the TSSAA official that had the podium said something very profound..."Coach, everyone is 0-0 now."

 

Obion is Obion. They are a team that has been here before. They have great team balance, inside and out. They are battle-tested and just came off a big win against a really good McMinn Central team. They are quick and strong and deserve all the accolades they have gotten. If we play the game on paper, everyone knows the outcome. Luckily, paper isn't the venue for this one.

 

Best of luck to all teams! No one gets to this point without deserving to be here.

Edited March 8, 2012 by BlueAngels

[papatiger]

Did SM or Waverly hold the ball for most of the game or did that just have that poor of an offensive showing?

 

It was a defensive struggle with both team trying to find a way to generate points. IN the end, SM defense prevailed as they were able to hit their free throws and Waverly couldn't. Don't discount SM as a contender. I knew this wasn't a great draw as I had looked at their schedule before and saw they played a tough one. Good luck to all teams the rest of the way. CPA in my opinion is the best team there.

[King21]

Do you people really think that Livingston has made it to the 'Boro playing that way all year long? They played one of the worst games they had all year long and beat one of the states top 8 by 10+. Sleep on their defense, and think they can't score. See you tomorrow.

[buc1973]

Do you people really think that Livingston has made it to the 'Boro playing that way all year long? They played one of the worst games they had all year long and beat one of the states top 8 by 10+. Sleep on their defense, and think they can't score. See you tomorrow.

I don't think anyone can ever count Livingston out of the mix. They're battle tested, year in and year out, and an incredibly strong program.

[swanson71]

I picked Waverly to beat Stone, but regaurdless had Obion winning in the Semis in a blow out. I'll go LA over CPA in which will be a very good game, then Obion over LA in the championship. Good luck to LA, prove me wrong and bring home the gold

[King21]

I don't think anyone can ever count Livingston out of the mix. They're battle tested, year in and year out, and an incredibly strong program.

 

I would agree. I can't think of how you can be dumb enough to post something like a 20 point game either way in the Final Four. If either team loses like that, they belong where they will go. The house.

[coachrus]

I would say a little of both. Nerves were certainly a factor in the first half for both teams. Stone did score 27 in the 2nd half, which is respectable. There were only 60 shots taken the entire game by both teams. Waverly's match-up 2-3 was difficult to penetrate and they are very tough. I thought, across the the entire team, that Waverly had size, strength, speed, and great ball movement skills....certainly a strong state tournament-level team. In general, spectators don't enjoy defensive games, but for the most part, that is what Stone hangs its hat on. In over half of their games, in one of the state's toughest schedules (according to Coach T), SMHS held its opponent to 36 points or less. Stone takes pride in the fact that they have no real "superstars," they are a team of role players. They are in the State's Final Four and didnt get a single player on the All-District 1st Team...how many Final Four teams can say that?

 

With all that said, I watched all the games yesterday and I have read a lot of comments and thought I might make a few about the other games:

 

Livingston vs Loudon - having played both of these teams a total of 6 times this year, I thought this was one of the tournament's most intriguing early matchups. Both teams have great quickness, excellent outside shooting, and good inside games. It was almost a shame that one of these was going to be eliminated in the first round. Nerves seemed to plague Loudon early much like they did Stone, only putting up 10 in the first half and it is hard to recover from a deficit to Livingston. Both teams looked a little out of character, with uncharacteristic turnovers and missed shots, but it IS the State Tournament and strange things happen here sometimes. Loudon had a great year and they should be extremely proud of their accomplishments. And i think Livingston is capable of even better play than they showed yesterday. The CPA - Livingston game promises to be a great one....can't wait to see it.

 

CPA vs Manassas - All I have to say is "Wow!". In their first State appearance, CPA looked like a veteran team. Great fundamentals, well-coached, no "nerve" issues to speak of, and well-prepared. Manassas has a really good team, so this game was a surprise (probably to everyone EXCEPT CPA!). CPA had a great student section, too. Again, I really look forward to the Livingston-CPA matchup. It promises to be a great scoring event.

 

Obion vs McMinn Central - these 2 teams are no strangers to the State Tournament and it showed yesterday. They bypassed the obligatory 1st 10 minutes of "nerves" you see in most first-round games and started battling right out of the gate. This was another great game, in which it was a shame to see someone have to be eliminated early. Either team could have advanced, but Obion's team balance in the 4th quarter seemed to be the difference with some outstanding guard performance and a the inside game performance from their big post. A good team that gets hot in the 4th is hard to beat.

 

I am looking forward to watching the semis on Friday. There are some great story lines for the state's sports writers...hopefully they are up for the task!

 

Livingston vs CPA - Livingston has played one of the toughest schedules in the State and this may be the deciding factor. I honestly cannot wait for this game. Based on the first round, I don't think CPA will shrink from the task, so strap on your seat belts! If the real Livingston team shows up for this game, it will be a special.

 

Stone vs Obion - According to Coach T, Stone had the toughest schedule in Class AA. 11 of their 12 losses were against some of the state's best teams..4 (3 were very close) to Loudon (State qualifier), 2 to Girls Preparatory School (D2 State Champion); 2 to Clarkrange; Oakland, and 2 to Livingston (State Final Four). Their wins havent always been pretty, but they go in the "W" column. This team has nothing to apologize for and hopefully will prove to be a shining example of what teamwork really means. They have beat teams with better individual players by sticking together. They understand that no one is impressed. No one is giving them a chance against Obion. No one gave them a chance to be in the State Tournament and certainly no one expected a Final Four appearance. They were District Runner-up, they were Region Runner-up, but they have won the games when it was "do or die." At the TSSAA tournament draw, one of the coaches was apologizing for his team's win-loss record when they had to announce it to the group of coaches in the room...the TSSAA official that had the podium said something very profound..."Coach, everyone is 0-0 now."

 

Obion is Obion. They are a team that has been here before. They have great team balance, inside and out. They are battle-tested and just came off a big win against a really good McMinn Central team. They are quick and strong and deserve all the accolades they have gotten. If we play the game on paper, everyone knows the outcome. Luckily, paper isn't the venue for this one.

 

Best of luck to all teams! No one gets to this point without deserving to be here.

This may be one of the best posts ever on Coach T. Great insight!

 

One small correction. CPA played Gibson County in the opening round in 2010. Played them pretty close until the fourth quarter.

[Redog]

This may be one of the best posts ever on Coach T. Great insight!

 

One small correction. CPA played Gibson County in the opening round in 2010. Played them pretty close until the fourth quarter.

Another small correction - this is CPA's 3rd trip to the state. Coach Scott Oatsvall's, Britany Lee lead team, was the 1st to go.

[BlueAngels]

Do you people really think that Livingston has made it to the 'Boro playing that way all year long? They played one of the worst games they had all year long and beat one of the states top 8 by 10+. Sleep on their defense, and think they can't score. See you tomorrow.

I certainly didn't say anything negative about Livingston. They are as good as anyone in the state. If they hit outside shots, they are nearly unbeatable. Even if they didn't play as well as they normally do, they still played well enough to beat a really good Loudon team. I know what they look like when they are on.

[BlueAngels]

Another small correction - this is CPA's 3rd trip to the state. Coach Scott Oatsvall's, Britany Lee lead team, was the 1st to go.

Thanks. I'll correct it. I thought I heard the announcer say something about it being CPAs first. Makes sense, as they looked like they had been there before.

[CoachD33]

Thanks. I'll correct it. I thought I heard the announcer say something about it being CPAs first. Makes sense, as they looked like they had been there before.

 

Mistakenly listed as CPA's 1st appearance in the game program.