Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.
‘Tis the season for more basketball, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la
Figured it was time to give a Christmas edition of In Overtime with a preview of the high school basketball teams’ tournaments tomorrow, my current top four who I think will be heading to the regional tournament in AA… and N*SYNC?
Blue Devils’ Bearden bound
(this is just a 1-on-1 with readers to have fun while taking a look at Unicoi County athletics)
Connor Simpson dropped 20-plus in a win against Unaka to give the Blue Devils a key win heading to Bearden
The Unicoi County High School Blue Devil basketball team will embark to Knoxville tomorrow with a stint in the Super 16 Tournament host at Bearden High School. UCHS begins tournament action at 5:30 p.m. against South Doyle in the opening round. SD brings a 3-8 record to the tournament. One of the Cherokees’ wins actually came from Cherokee High School (53-51) on Fri, Dec, 6 during a home game at South Doyle. Cherokee is the only similar opponents the Blue Devils and Cherokees share this season (The Blue Devils defeated Cherokee High School in the opening round of the Hardee’s Classic, 50-38). The most recent game for South Doyle fell on Dec. 16 – where the Cherokee’s fell to an 11-2 Knox Karns ball team, 84-67.
Tournament time continues on Friday, Dec. 26. A loss will place the Blue Devils in the 4 p.m. consolation bracket play. A win sends the team to a 7 p.m. tip-off in the winners’ bracket. The teams will meet either Knox Bearden or Unaka – pending the result of their opening round contest.
Knoxville Bearden enters the tournament with a 7-4 record with losse coming to Hillcrest, S.C., in a recent tourney, a close 77-73 decision to Hardin Valley, Jeff County and an opening season loss to Oak Ridge during the Hall of Fame games week.
As for Unaka – UCHS fans know a little bit about the Rangers. Unaka enters the contest after pushing UCHS to a close game late (including a snooze-fest of a free-throw battle) which the Blue Devils went on to win, 65-53. The Blue Devils swept the regular season non-conference contest against the WVC school. Unaka brings a 6-9 record to the tournament. A highlighted win for Unaka is a 55-35 win on Tuesday, Dec. 10 against conference rival – University High.
The Championship game for the tournament will fall on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 8:30 p.m. The third place game will be at 7 p.m. while other consolation games will precede on the same date.
Lady Devils travel to Fulton
Morgan Lee Brown dropped a pair of three pointers Monday as the Lady Devils coasted to a big win over Unaka. The Lady Devils hit 12 three-pointers. Hannah Rice led with 17 points, Emily Lynch had 15 points and Haley Webb tacked on 14.
The ladies of the Blue Nation will also be set up in Knoxville for the remainder of the week by participating in the Fulton Christmas Classic to be held at Knox Fulton High School beginning tomorrow.
UCHS begins tournament action with a 3 p.m. tip-off against Campbell County – a team currently at 6-3 on the year.
CC currently has a bit of momentum on their side, rattling off five straight district wins over Knox Central, Knox Gibbs, Knox Karns, Oak Ridge and Clinton. Their three losses came against Stone Memorial, Lenoir City and Anderson County.
Tournament time for the Lady Devils continue of Friday. A loss sends the ladies to a 3 p.m. tip-off while a win sends the girls to a 6 p.m. start time. The teams will await the decision of the opening round contest against Seymour and Alcoa to see who’ll they play that day.
Alcoa (5-5) enters the tournament coming off a loss to Maryville on Friday, Dec. 20, 48-34. Recent wins came against Kingston and McMinn County. As for Seymour (6-6) the Lady Eagles enter the tournament after coming off a 59-53 loss to Heritage on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
The Fulton Christmas Classic will conclude on Saturday, Dec. 28. The championship game will be played at 7:30 p.m. with the third place game coming at 6 p.m. Remaining consolation games will be played prior to these games earlier in the day.
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While local tournaments like the Arby’s Classic for the boys and Trailblazer Classic for the girls dominate headlines locally, the UCHS teams can definitely use the stretch down in Knoxville to open up the 2014 season on a high-note. You always want to win these tournaments, of course, but the main common emphasis for the stretch, for both teams, is to get the look at talent down in the middle and western part of the state. Both UCHS teams have potential to make postseason runs, The tournament time, win or lose, will come in vital importance for both teams, especially when the regular season in the new year opens back up on Sat. Jan. 4 at home against Cloudland.
Had a couple people ask about opinions come tournament time: Here’s what I expect the teams to fall during the districts. All tentative for injuries and other circumstances.
MBB – Have the Blue Devils with the first seed going into the regional tournament. Elizabethton – Sullivan South towards that top as well but with the coaching staff, starters/role players stepping up and Keith Arrowood’s return… I’d be a fool to pick any other way with what I’ve seen so far this season. Top 4 going to regionals: UCHS, EHS, South, Johnson County. Dyer is a tremendous head coach with Sullivan East and Grayson Ball can carry Sullivan North…but coach Atwood knows how to have his team ready to play come tournament time.
WBB – I’m giving the Lady Devils a TENTATIVE two seed going into the regional. Decision comes from the losses from Sullivan East and Elizabethton. That being said – a developing rotation with Hannah Rice coming into her own at point, Chelsey Harness getting back into old and the rebound machine Destinie Hayes. The team has too many talented shooters with Haley Webb, Whitley True, Emily Lynch and Morgan Lee Brown to count them out in contests. Harness, Rice and Hayes inside will open things open. And I realistically see the Lady Devils pulling off a road victory against East and home game against Elizabethton (They’ve been the only TRC team it seems that’s had EHS’ number past two years at home). But there’s too much parity in the league. Placed on the spot – RIGHT NOW – top four into regional would be: EHS, UCHS, South, HV – tough decision picking between them and East … giving HV current advantage with home court during districts).
Any complaints can be sent to the email of Santa Claus. He’s on my naughty list for not coming up with a tank or Jennifer Lawrence today. These are just the opinions of yours truly.
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Nominations for the Top 10 of 2013 are going until Friday, Dec. 27. Readers can pick their top moment of 2013 and see if it makes the list of the top moments of Unicoi County athletics throughout last year. The list will appear in the ‘Off the Field’ column. Nominations can be sent via email to ccarden@erwinrecord.net or Tweeted to @CurtisCarden_ER or even comment on The Erwin Record Sports Facebook page.
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For updates throughout the week on Unicoi County athletics, be sure to follow The Erwin Record Sports Facebook page. You can also follow me on Twitter at: @CurtisCarden_ER. Questions, comments or epic presents of epicness can be sent via email to ccarden@erwinrecord.net
And of course, I hope readers had a great Christmas and are ready to get back to hoops action across the state. And because I’m comfortable enough to be random – here’s a bit of N*SYNC to ring out the Christmas time.
Tags: A Random Tag, basketball, Bearden, Blue Devils, Erwin Record, fulton, high school, Lady Devils, N*SYNC, tournament, Unicoi County
In Overtime 
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