AAAA title chase wide open?

[TribalEmpire]

It's late enough in the season to start talking about the glass house I reckon...

Fritzy from the KTN/JC Press seems to indicate the 4A title race is wide open:

https://www.timesnews.net/sports/high-school/net-notes-class-4a-boys-title-chase-disjointed-across-state/article_dd40feb0-eb13-511e-b834-5c5eb6eef9eb.html

As far as the Tribe go?  Will we defend the title?  My gut says no and that we probably won't even get back to the glass house this year.  I think we lose in the sectional.  But if it's as wide open as Fritzy indicates, who knows what will happen and who will even get to Murfreesboro to go for the gold ball.  Going to be fun keeping up with it though.

I know in the upper east sectional, we probably have Oak Ridge and William Blount  as possible contenders.  I think we will win Region 1 and host... not sure who else will come out of the region though.  None of the other four in district 1 are all that impressive.

What's everyone else thinking?

[Expatriate]

It does seem to be wide open, and that's really exciting. As for the Indians, they'll cruise through the district and regional tournaments -- there's not a team in the region that matches up against them. It'll take one of those "their worst game and the opponent's best game" kind of things to keep them out of the sectional.

IMO the difference between last year's state championship team and this year's team is where the scoring comes from. Last year they could get points from every spot on the floor, but this year it's really guard-heavy. Not that the back court they have won't be enough, but an athletic team that can defend the perimeter might keep them in check enough to beat them.

[WaCoJaCo]

Last year I was just hoping DB could make it to state and win one game in the tournament, and not get blown out by somebody. Just so people could remember we were there. Obviously, they went way beyond my expectations. Just a good group of players that were well coached and played well together. And they peaked at just the right time. I don't think there's any question they played their best ball of the year right there in the tournament. I don't think there are any teams that are just unbeatable this year. Probably 6 or 8 teams that could peak at the right time and win it. If I had to pick a team out of this side of the state it would be Oak Ridge.

[SweetScience]

3 hours ago, WaCoJaCo said:

Last year I was just hoping DB could make it to state and win one game in the tournament, and not get blown out by somebody. Just so people could remember we were there. Obviously, they went way beyond my expectations. Just a good group of players that were well coached and played well together. And they peaked at just the right time. I don't think there's any question they played their best ball of the year right there in the tournament. I don't think there are any teams that are just unbeatable this year. Probably 6 or 8 teams that could peak at the right time and win it. If I had to pick a team out of this side of the state it would be Oak Ridge.

I was really impressed by what DB did last year. Not to take anything away from what they did accomplish, but it seemed to be quite a down year from what the West usually produces at the state tournament, so I think DB did benefit from that as well. All credit to them, though, they got the job done and beat whoever was put in front of ‘em. At the end of the day, that’s all you can do.

[SweetScience]

But as far as it being wide open, I agree with Tribal. At least on the eastern part of the state it seems that way. Wouldn’t shock me if anywhere from Oak Ridge, Maryville, Farragut, Bearden, Karns, or a few other teams were to make it to state this year. DB definitely seems the favorite in upper East TN now with SH being really down this season, although I think Sevier Co might surprise a few.

[WaCoJaCo]

4 hours ago, SweetScience said:

I was really impressed by what DB did last year. Not to take anything away from what they did accomplish, but it seemed to be quite a down year from what the West usually produces at the state tournament, so I think DB did benefit from that as well. All credit to them, though, they got the job done and beat whoever was put in front of ‘em. At the end of the day, that’s all you can do.

I kinda' see things evening out in the east , west and middle.  There was a period there where the West was dominate but that has changed. Bearden, Maryville, DB in the past several years. Bartlett from the West last year was suppose to be the team to beat going in but it ended up an all-east championship game. And as people are saying it looks wide open this year. 

[SweetScience]

5 hours ago, WaCoJaCo said:

I kinda' see things evening out in the east , west and middle.  There was a period there where the West was dominate but that has changed. Bearden, Maryville, DB in the past several years. Bartlett from the West last year was suppose to be the team to beat going in but it ended up an all-east championship game. And as people are saying it looks wide open this year. 

You may be right. Since Penny Hardaway moved up to the college ranks, that has kept there from being a super All Star squad from being built out West. If he wasn’t at Memphis East Tee Higgins’ Sr year at Oak Ridge, OR probably would’ve won state too. They beat that OR team by 2, and that was without a fully healthy EJ Bush, who was arguably the best player on that OR team. So I tend to agree the gap has gotten closer between the different sections of the state.

Edited February 3, 2023 by SweetScience

[TribalEmpire]

17 hours ago, SweetScience said:

But as far as it being wide open, I agree with Tribal. At least on the eastern part of the state it seems that way. Wouldn’t shock me if anywhere from Oak Ridge, Maryville, Farragut, Bearden, Karns, or a few other teams were to make it to state this year. DB definitely seems the favorite in upper East TN now with SH being really down this season, although I think Sevier Co might surprise a few.

Is Karns 4A?  I was thinking they were 3A.

We played Karns at their place early in the year and they smoked us.  We played that game without two starters but that wasn't the difference in us winning or losing that one.  They were just better that night.

[SweetScience]

2 hours ago, TribalEmpire said:

Is Karns 4A?  I was thinking they were 3A.

We played Karns at their place early in the year and they smoked us.  We played that game without two starters but that wasn't the difference in us winning or losing that one.  They were just better that night.

Hmm, that’s a good question.

[WaCoJaCo]

3 hours ago, TribalEmpire said:

Is Karns 4A?  I was thinking they were 3A.

We played Karns at their place early in the year and they smoked us.  We played that game without two starters but that wasn't the difference in us winning or losing that one.  They were just better that night.

Karns is 4A

[SweetScience]

1 minute ago, WaCoJaCo said:

Karns is 4A

I thought so, but wasn’t 100% sure. They’re a really good team. We’ve beaten them both times, but they gave us he!! both times. We’ve actually beaten them 26 times in a row. Hard to believe.

[SweetScience]

Score of interest from East Tennessee this evening: Hardin Valley drills Bearden by 30.