Who’s The Best 1A Team Ever?

[Rainwater]

On 3/13/2023 at 3:33 PM, Yellowstone said:

No doubt....They were by far the nastiest 1A team ever.  

Just to follow up here....Perry County was best 1A team ever assembled.

[rlh]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:58 PM, CoachF said:

Bolton had some Dudes back in the 80’s! #SylvesterGray 

Bolton was a dynamo in the late 70s and early 80s. 

[UCSportsFan]

On 2/11/2024 at 2:21 PM, tradertwo said:

I remember the teams, but Gray's the only name I can recall... they could ball!

If Celina (now Clay County) would have had a 3 point line they would’ve beaten Bolton. Not sure what their record was but they had some unbelievable athletes lead by McDonalds All American Joey Coe. Someone from Clay fill in their stats. 

[ipb7]

Hampton and Alcoa, both won state titles before classifications, 1960/1967 respectively. I think Alcoa would be considered 1 A back then anyway

[crow6424]

Hastings from Perry Co wasn’t just a tall man. He was really strong, could shoot the midrange, and didn’t miss a few throw. Trust me, we tried fouling him. Also, the had a kid who shot the lights out from three. They had a 6’5 guard and a 6’6 kid that came off the bench. We “Upperman” was the underdog all year that year. We were ranked 5-6 in our district and probably 10th in our region. Everyone told us we wouldn’t win again a ranked Pickett county, a ranked Friendship Christian, a ranked Gordonsville, a highly ranked DCA team. We beat them all. We won our first game in the state tournament. People told us we wouldn’t beat Perry County. We were like whatever. Wrong!!!! Playing against a NBA talent is something you won’t understand until you do it. Hastings was unstoppable no matter what. Dude had it all and his teammates weren’t scrubs. Me and my dad still talk about how good they were 27 years later. It sucks that we had to run into them because we were state championship worthy but it was a lesson in basketball I will never forget.

[cbg]

On 3/13/2023 at 12:41 PM, attila said:

Without any doubt the 96-97 Perry County team. 37-0 and not a close game in Murfreesboro. Played and incredibly tough schedule and beat several teams in higher class that also reached the state. In my opinion they are one of the 5-10 best teams in any classification in TSSAA history. 

Some of those older Linden teams won the state championship when you only had one classification in Tennessee

[CaptainGuru]

Westside Wildcats and Bolton Wildcats in 1985 and 1986 were the best teams ever in Class A. Westside Wildcats beat Bolton Wildcats one year to win the championship and Bolton Wildcats beat Westside Wildcats to win the championship another year. Bolton Wildcats and Westside Wildcats were both the best teams both of those years. Perry Vikings could not beat those teams in 1985 and 1986. It did not happen. I guarantee it. Does anyone want to bet me? Westside Wildcats and Bolton Wildcats were the best teams every in Class A. I am Captain Guru and I approve this message.

[CaptainGuru]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:58 PM, CoachF said:

Bolton had some Dudes back in the 80’s! #SylvesterGray 

Bolton Wildcats and Westside Wildcats were the best teams back in the 1980's. In 1985 and 1986 Bolton Wildcats and Westside Wildcats were the best teams ever. The 1996-1997 Perry Vikings team was good to. The big fellow went to Indiana. Perry Vikings should have won two in a row. I am Captain Guru and I approve this message.

Edited February 26 by CaptainGuru

[jw4bopc]

On 4/3/2023 at 4:43 PM, attila said:

I will give you a little more on ‘97 Perry County, these players were great, not all played college basketball because they played other sports in college. They Averaged 30 pt wins in the state tourney. Averaged 86 ppg in the state tournament. In every game they lead by over 40 before subbing in the 4th. Beat Union City the AA state champ during the season and numerous AAA schools. They played no one out of their district in class A. They were a matchup nightmare for anyone: 

Haston 6’10 All-America at Indiana for Bobby knight. 1st Round NBA draft pick Charlotte Hornets

Hamm 6’8 tremendous skill great scorer recruited at high level

Jones 6’6 without question the best all around player. Could shoot, handle, rebound and defend any player/position on the floor. If not mistaken played overseas

Warren 6’5 big and strong could score and pass

Rhodes 6’4 Deep three range an outstanding shooter

Brown 6’1 Fastest and one of the quickest kids I have ever seen. Handled outstanding and could score from anywhere. 

These were not the only guys, I’m sure there are several missing but for their size they were fast, quick  and played very fast. Plus they were an outstanding defensive team as well. I saw the 08 Union City team and the  ‘15 Mitchell team. I would say if they both played ‘97 Perry County 10 times I would bet PC every time by 10-15 pts. 

Another starter on that team was Phillip Carroll, 5'11 guard, very athletic and great defender, was also a heck of a baseball player as well.

I came off the bench as a back-up point guard.  Myself, Shannon Hamm, and Blake Warren were the 2-3 that came in on rotation many different nights.  I can remember going in for Brown a couple of games when he picked up a 2nd foul in the first half being scared to death because the teams we played had bigger guards.  But it definitely helped me down the road since I was a sophomore that year.  I was only a role-player on that team meant to handle the ball and run the offense when I was in but it sure makes it easier when you had these guys that could do everything each night.  

And losing in '96 the way we did in the last seconds really motivated us that next year.  

[jw4bopc]

18 hours ago, crow6424 said:

Hastings from Perry Co wasn’t just a tall man. He was really strong, could shoot the midrange, and didn’t miss a few throw. Trust me, we tried fouling him. Also, the had a kid who shot the lights out from three. They had a 6’5 guard and a 6’6 kid that came off the bench. We “Upperman” was the underdog all year that year. We were ranked 5-6 in our district and probably 10th in our region. Everyone told us we wouldn’t win again a ranked Pickett county, a ranked Friendship Christian, a ranked Gordonsville, a highly ranked DCA team. We beat them all. We won our first game in the state tournament. People told us we wouldn’t beat Perry County. We were like whatever. Wrong!!!! Playing against a NBA talent is something you won’t understand until you do it. Hastings was unstoppable no matter what. Dude had it all and his teammates weren’t scrubs. Me and my dad still talk about how good they were 27 years later. It sucks that we had to run into them because we were state championship worthy but it was a lesson in basketball I will never forget.

I remember playing you guys that year.  Great team and everyone from what I remember played with a high IQ for basketball.  I believe you guys made it back my senior year (98-99) to the glass house.  I remember some of their names, Ricky Brown, Heath Dyer, and a couple of other seniors that year that played on that 96-97 team.  You guys were really talented and have always been really good even years after.  

[Chiefbigfoot]

Most athletic and fun to watch 1A basketball player I’ve seen in the tournament to this day was David Woodard in 92’. 87’ 88’ and 89’ ER teams could run with the best of them as well.

[QuickStrike]

On 2/25/2024 at 5:53 PM, crow6424 said:

Hastings from Perry Co wasn’t just a tall man. He was really strong, could shoot the midrange, and didn’t miss a few throw. Trust me, we tried fouling him. Also, the had a kid who shot the lights out from three. They had a 6’5 guard and a 6’6 kid that came off the bench. We “Upperman” was the underdog all year that year. We were ranked 5-6 in our district and probably 10th in our region. Everyone told us we wouldn’t win again a ranked Pickett county, a ranked Friendship Christian, a ranked Gordonsville, a highly ranked DCA team. We beat them all. We won our first game in the state tournament. People told us we wouldn’t beat Perry County. We were like whatever. Wrong!!!! Playing against a NBA talent is something you won’t understand until you do it. Hastings was unstoppable no matter what. Dude had it all and his teammates weren’t scrubs. Me and my dad still talk about how good they were 27 years later. It sucks that we had to run into them because we were state championship worthy but it was a lesson in basketball I will never forget.

U ended my junior year in substate also.