What happened in AA???

[pioneer42]

24 minutes ago, maddams said:

Westview will be good next year, but I think people are underestimating how important Alexander has been to this team for the last couple years.  She was Westview's best player this year.  Losing her will have a major impact

Alexander was a great player for sure. She will be missed a bunch but I do think they like Gibson County will regroup by state next year and both be a handful. 

[maddams]

14 minutes ago, pioneer42 said:

Alexander was a great player for sure. She will be missed a bunch but I do think they like Gibson County will regroup by state next year and both be a handful. 

I agree.  Both teams can book rooms in Murfreesboro next March.  No one in their region or sectional will challenge them.  Peabody will play hard but they graduate too much to beat Westview or Gibson County.  If you can get to the Glass House, you've got a chance.  

[gogold]

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Loretto will be a hand full next year.  They have a Miss Basketball player in Ally Weathers, Ally Augustine will be a beast at one of our guard positions, our 2 six footers in Weathers and Chance will cause problems in the paint, plus our shooting guard Sanders will be back.  I've told people before this season our real run at the gold ball will be in 24/25 season.  We build some depth, and we will be a bear.  We expected this year's team to be very good.  We played the 3rd toughest schedule as per coach T and he did not count the state champs from Alabama and Mississippi.  Coach Rutledge will have this team primed for a run next year, so better not sleep on those Mustangs.  They seemed to get overlooked this year by most.

 

 

[1983]

1 hour ago, maddams said:

Westview will be good next year, but I think people are underestimating how important Alexander has been to this team for the last couple years.  She was Westview's best player this year.  Losing her will have a major impact

Yes I think they will miss her a lot also.  She gave them that extra outside presence that is not easy to replace.  

[tradertwo]

12 hours ago, wtnbballfan said:

I agree AA is too competitive to call this far away. This state tournament was phenomenal Even though most people didn't like the draws. 

I hope GC is back next year! Not familiar enough with their underclassmen to know if someone can fill Turners spot defensively but I think Riding can pull up offensively big time. 

Westview and Huntingdon should both be in as well. Just an easier route for WV

"Too competitive to call this far away" is a huge understatement. To address that and the comment about most not liking the draw, it looks like the draw was better than most would have seeded the teams. Pittman has an easy road was stated a bunch but didn't make it to Saturday, Gibson is legit, but got a bad draw and have to have a perfect game X-3 to win it, Loretto not good enough to hang with the top 4, ect..

  Play the tournament 10 times and I'd bet that you'd get at least 4 different winners, and lots and lots of different combinations in the championship game. In reality, a pre-tournament poll of unbiased voters would probably have had the champion as the 3 or 4 seed and Loretto as the 6 or 7. Predicting one particular winner is interesting and makes for great conversation, but really it's a roll of the dice when the field is that even.

[roundhouse]

On 3/11/2024 at 9:48 AM, pioneer42 said:

Hindsite is always 20/20. Great man to man coaches believe in their defense but sometimes you may have to mix it up. Thought McMinn couldn't guard Beaty and it cost them. Just think York did a good job of creating Beaty space and 1 on 1 which she will win all day. Just like Micah Hart. You don't want to guard her 1 on 1. Johnny is a good coach. McMinn will be back. Always are. Still got solid players coming back. 

There isn't any doubt that Morgan was outcoached in this game, but Central fans have seen that happen several times in Murfreesboro. Morgan just refuses to stray away from man to man and it has cost the team too many times when it counted. He is a good man and coach and has done very well during his time at Central, but this year was definitely the year we thought he'd have us in the championship game and bringing back the gold ball. This team has been building for a decade and the first round loss stunned the fans and players more than any other loss I can remember. I think he will retire soon.    

[westtn12]

Gatlinburg Pittman articles I’ve been seeing and reading are … well… something.  Cocky, entitled, and whiny. Blaming everyone else for losing. Not a good look. 

[blitzinbuc]

8 hours ago, roundhouse said:

There isn't any doubt that Morgan was outcoached in this game, but Central fans have seen that happen several times in Murfreesboro. Morgan just refuses to stray away from man to man and it has cost the team too many times when it counted. He is a good man and coach and has done very well during his time at Central, but this year was definitely the year we thought he'd have us in the championship game and bringing back the gold ball. This team has been building for a decade and the first round loss stunned the fans and players more than any other loss I can remember. I think he will retire soon.    

I somewhat agree with what you're saying but I also understand that coaches have different mindsets for a reason. It isn't that Coach Morgan can't coach various zones, it's that he believes if each girl is doing their job defensively then man-to-man will work. I don't necessarily agree with that philosophy but he's far more knowledgeable than I am.
Much has been made that he should have won more gold balls with the teams he's taken to state but playing in 7 state championship games is a solid resume by itself. He may have had the best talent or should have won more than 1 gold ball but it's not always the most talented team that wins. He has won some big games and pulled some upsets during his tenure but he seems to be judged by many merely on what he's done in the state tournament.
I haven't heard anything about him retiring but it wouldn't surprise me that he might after 46 years of coaching. He may have dropped a hint in an article in the newspaper when he mentioned next years group, "Good group, great group, and they’re going to continue to work. Whether I’m there or not, they’re going to continue to work. It’s just been a joy, it really has.”

[pioneer42]

1 hour ago, blitzinbuc said:

I somewhat agree with what you're saying but I also understand that coaches have different mindsets for a reason. It isn't that Coach Morgan can't coach various zones, it's that he believes if each girl is doing their job defensively then man-to-man will work. I don't necessarily agree with that philosophy but he's far more knowledgeable than I am.
Much has been made that he should have won more gold balls with the teams he's taken to state but playing in 7 state championship games is a solid resume by itself. He may have had the best talent or should have won more than 1 gold ball but it's not always the most talented team that wins. He has won some big games and pulled some upsets during his tenure but he seems to be judged by many merely on what he's done in the state tournament.
I haven't heard anything about him retiring but it wouldn't surprise me that he might after 46 years of coaching. He may have dropped a hint in an article in the newspaper when he mentioned next years group, "Good group, great group, and they’re going to continue to work. Whether I’m there or not, they’re going to continue to work. It’s just been a joy, it really has.”

Johnny is a great coach and I know him and he is a good guy. Some times things just don't work out. We had an awesome team in 1989 and got beat on a last second shot. One of the most talented ever. Our 2016 team was 37-0 going into the Finals and lost to South Green in the last minute. Glass House has been a house of horrors for everybody at some point. Gold Balls don't grow on trees. Lots of teams never make the state. Last year McMinn knocked us out and we had a 5 point lead with about 4 to play and it haunted me for a few days but I told coach we had a great year and we did. Johnny is a really good coach and I would bet he will be back. Best way to get over losses like that is to start planning and getting ready to get after it again. That was a loaded State Tournament. We feel very blessed to have won it.