AA State Tournament Predictions: Who ya got?

[lawnman]

How many starters does Elizabethton have back from last years team? I saw them play in State last year and was very impressed.

There all back but two and there still a young team.

[coachh17]

How many starters does Elizabethton have back from last years team? I saw them play in State last year and was very impressed.

They return 3 starters.  5'4" senior point guard Sarah Bradley and the 5'9" sophomore Marosites twins Kelci and Kayla.  The two new starters are junior 6'1" post Megan Pietrowski and junior 5'10"post Sarah Robinson.  This team is tall, strong, long, and athletic.  They also go 9 or 10 deep and have been fun to watch all year.  They have a great test against Grainger tomorrow night.

Edited February 26, 2014 by coachh17

[pioneer42]

They return 3 starters.  5'4" senior point guard Sarah Bradley and the 5'9" sophomore Marosites twins Kelci and Kayla.  The two new starters are junior 6'1" post Megan Pietrowski and junior 5'10"post Sarah Robinson.  This team is tall, strong, long, and athletic.  They also go 9 or 10 deep and have been fun to watch all year.  They have a great test against Grainger tomorrow night.

They are my pick to win it all. I watched them play in the tourney last year and was very impressed. CAK will be tough as well with the big center coming back. It will be very interesting to see who makes it in and how they draw out. Looks like 2 of the three in Dyersburg, Covington or Westview will make it in on the west side. None of these three are pushovers. Looks like Cannon County, LA and Creekwood are playing well as well. 

[etownsparky]

How many starters does Elizabethton have back from last years team? I saw them play in State last year and was very impressed.

There's not a simple answer to this question. None of the players that were starters the first half of last season are back this year. The starting two guard quit the team right after the Christmas break and the point guard went down with an ACL injury. By tournament time, one of the starting posts was sharing time also. So, there are three players back this year that were starters for part of last year. All other returning players got minimum playing time last year. This year ten players have gotten a reasonable amount of playing time.

[lawnman]

This team is very resilient and they play as a team and they never seem to panic no matter what the situation.Last years team had a little more senior leadership but that hasn't been a problom so far this year.This team is fun to watch and they are very athletic.

[dctiger]

Id like to see Cannon, LA, Grainger, and Elizabethton all make it to the tournament this year. All four have been some of my favorite to watch the past couple of seasons.

[Glory]

Not sure you can call McMinn Central's loss an upset. Without Young, they're not a lot more than an average team in a weak district. It's going to be interesting to see if they continue to receive the talent they've received in the past, if their record reverts to what it was it was prior to Young's tenure.

Since Sequoyah finished 3rd in the district and McMinn Central was first, I call it an upset. First year removed from having assistant coach Young, Central's program has already reverted back to the 60% winning range they had prior to Young's arrival. With the coaching staff Central has now they have to have far superior talent to win, even in a weak district and region. Solicitations may have to extend beyond bordering counties.

[Cody]

I don't believe I would go so far to say they've reverted back because of one season. They lost 3 VERY experienced players from last years team that were core to their state championship team. Elizabeth Masengil 2 time Miss Basketball, Kelsey Young, and Sidni Williams. Kelsey Myers goes down again. A few key players quit for various reasons. Multiple freshman starting and playing mass minutes. You can't expect Central to be absolutely dominant every year. Yes, they're packed with talent, but it's mostly young talent with little big time experience. Give them a break. Will they be less productive without Coach Young? Maybe. But give them more than a year first for you to decide. They went 18-15 the year after the silver ball in 2004 and after losing a ton of senior talent. Yes, the next year gave tons of freshman talent but it took them a year or so to get it together. By the way, Sequoyah is really good team. Don't get me wrong, Cannon will wipe the floor with them in Madisonville this Saturday, but they are still good and that win vs Central was a long time coming. They have a good team with good seniors who finally got over on us. We'll be back. Just wait. 

[dctiger]

Looks like Elizabethton has a test against CAK Saturday. Is Hooper actually playing? Will it make a difference if she is? Sounds like Etown is starting to click on all cylinders.

[NotThatItMatters]

Looks like Elizabethton has a test against CAK Saturday. Is Hooper actually playing? Will it make a difference if she is? Sounds like Etown is starting to click on all cylinders.

No. She is not playing. The headmaster at CAK nixed the idea last week. Great decision by a real leader.

[dctiger]

I may end up being completely wrong but it sounds like it's Elizabethon's game to lose now...

[BigBama42]

If Elizabethton brings half the intensity that they had tonight, I can see them doing wonderful things in the near future!