Originally posted by Alleghany84:
To get to 11-0, you have got to be pretty dang good. Are these guys the real deal? Or the beneficiary of a soft pre conference schedule? Or both? They were obviously competitive in the SMC last year. Did they return everyone or have some young kids move up or what?
I had expected Hayesville/Robbinsville to be the class of that conference this year, but maybe I was wrong.
I thought they would be good, but didn't realize they'd be as good as they've been. I think I picked them third.
They went 17-10 or so and were in the 3-way tie for the conference title before losing in the second round last year. They lost some good players, but returned probably their most important players--a great point guard who averages over 20 ppg and makes their offense go, and a big 6-4 center who can play, which everybody knows is valuable at the 1A level. They also returned another guard who averaged double figures last year, and picked up a wing who transferred in from Greeneville (TN) after being sixth man on a team that went to the AA state semis in TN last year.
As for whether their success is the product of a soft schedule, they beat East Rutherford, a 2A power year in and year out, although the Cavs are a little down this year. They also won at Asheville AC Reynolds--a 3A team with a winning record--and they won an out of state Christmas tournament. So their schedule has been pretty tough for a 1A. They did have to come from behind to beat a bad 2A Franklin team, but everybody has their off nights.
Overall, in hindsight, good guardplay wins games in high school basketball, and they certainly have that, so picking them third in the league preseason might have been wrong-headed. But Hayesville and Robbinsville are good, too, so who knows. I just know it's a tough league this year.
