Potentially Fun Idea Down the Road

[Dave2kMA]

The Smoky Mountain and the Northwest have long since established themselves as the two best conferences for 1A basketball in the state, so why not do something like the ACC/Big 10 Challenge and have the two conferences put on a similar event early in the season?

The idea would be to do a 2-day event at a neutral site (Asheville would work well for everyone, I think) with 4 teams from each league (boys & girls) and have the winning league take home a banner/trophy and donate some of the proceeds to a local charity.

This years event could have been something like this:

Girls:

Hiwassee Dam vs. WS Prep
Hayesville vs. Atkins
Cherokee vs. Bishop
Robbinsville vs. Mount Airy

Boys:

Hayesville vs. WS Prep
Cherokee vs. Mount Airy
Robbinsville vs. East Surry
Hiwassee Dam vs. Bishop

 

[BravesGWY]

Be a great MLK day tourney .. But no way those teams travel that far or choose where it's at lol .. Great idea I'd sure buy tickets

 

[buckum11]

Do it in Asheville 1 year, then Winston-Salem the next and vise versa.

 

[mouthpiece33]

Best conferences in state??? How?

 

[recycled2]

Re: Potentially Fun Idea Down the Road
mouthpiece33 posted on 3/19/2015...

Best conferences in state??? How?

Simple,since 2000 the men have claimed 7 of the 10 state championships won by teams that are still 1A.
On the women's side they are can claim 11 of 12 state championships won by teams that are still 1A. The two conferences have also combined to win 23 of 39 in all state 1A title games.

Many years the closest game the state champion faced was when playing someone from their own conference or the other conference.



This post was edited on 3/19 1:33 PM by recycled2

 

[bareman]

they tried something like this just a few years back and it BOMBED!!! it's a great idea but it didn't draw...now football at LR would be a homerun

 

[ObserveAndReport]

I think it was 2010. Had a showcase event for west small school teams on MLK Day in Hickory. Not exactly a conference challenge but a similar concept.

 

[ncball04]

I don't think it would be a big attraction. The SMC is not close to the same level as the Northwest and everyone outside the SMC knows that.

Since 2000, the NW has claimed 6 men's state championships (MA, WSP, BM), the SMC has only one (Hayesville). When was the last time the SMC had a men's team in the regionals? The NW would dominate this on the men's side.

On the girls side, since 2000, the NW has claimed has claimed 11 state championships (ES, BM, and WSP), the SMC has none. I understand the SMC has put some girls teams in the regionals, but the NW has taken care of them every year. I don't see the SMC being able to put 4 teams who could match up with WSP, Atkins, MA, and BM - the depth of the conference is too much for the SMC, especially on a neutral court.

But, this is also why the Northwest is the best basketball conference in the 1A state.

 

[ObserveAndReport]

Originally posted by ncball04:

I don't think it would be a big attraction. The SMC is not close to the same level as the Northwest and everyone outside the SMC knows that.

Since 2000, the NW has claimed 6 men's state championships (MA, WSP, BM), the SMC has only one (Hayesville). When was the last time the SMC had a men's team in the regionals? The NW would dominate this on the men's side.

On the girls side, since 2000, the NW has claimed has claimed 11 state championships (ES, BM, and WSP), the SMC has none. I understand the SMC has put some girls teams in the regionals, but the NW has taken care of them every year. I don't see the SMC being able to put 4 teams who could match up with WSP, Atkins, MA, and BM - the depth of the conference is too much for the SMC, especially on a neutral court.

But, this is also why the Northwest is the best basketball conference in the 1A state.

Both of your arguments are a little misleading because they hinge on the NWC having one extremely dominant program in men's and women's. Take them out and the total is 2-1 and 2-0.

 

[BK13T-$]

We could call it boundary VS non boundary.

 

[recycled2]

Originally posted by BK13T-$:

We could call it boundary VS non boundary.

Cheap shot. Most of the schools are traditional schools.

 

[BK13T-$]

Most is 51% or more. So yes you are right.

 

[ObserveAndReport]

Not really...7 schools in NWC. Three are Forsyth County (so open enrollment...plus 2 of the 3 are magnets). One is a parochial school. So that's four out of seven "non-traditional" if you want to be technical about it.

 

[Catawbavalleybasketball]

Agree that Smoky is best in girls basketball...but not boys. Southern Piedmont is better in boys as shown in 1A All-Star game. They will be even stronger in future since they are doing what Prep has done. Lincoln became powerhouse overnight. Talk is they have a 7' player who is D1 coming next year. Only two traditional boundary schools in conference-Bessemer City & Cherryville.

 

[ObserveAndReport]

Originally posted by Catawbavalleybasketball:
Agree that Smoky is best in girls basketball...but not boys. Southern Piedmont is better in boys as shown in 1A All-Star game. They will be even stronger in future since they are doing what Prep has done. Lincoln became powerhouse overnight. Talk is they have a 7' player who is D1 coming next year. Only two traditional boundary schools in conference-Bessemer City & Cherryville.



Southern Piedmont is a very good league in boys, but I'm not sure that all-star game shows which league is better. It was a 7-point game, the SPC had players from sectional champ Avery playing with them, and the SMC was without a game-changer because he was busy being named MVP of a bigger all-star game in Asheville. In my opinion, the SPC is a deeper league, but the teams at the top of the two leagues are pretty comparable most years.

Overall, though, it's hard to argue against the NWC being the best league in men's 1A ball. Even in the years right before Bishop and Prep came onto the scene, Mt. Airy won a title and North Stokes made it to the state finals. Since 2000, the NW has sent multiple teams to the 1A regionals five times. No other league has done it more than once. And several of those years were before Prep and Bishop (although some of the teams that made it those years--Elkin, Starmount, and South Stokes--are no longer in the NWC).

This post was edited on 4/3 9:30 AM by ObserveAndReport

 

[Catawbavalleybasketball]

Observer, yes, he did play in the other All-Star game but was it to a full house? The "smaller" inaugural games played before a packed house. Give it a couple years and then you probably will not say the "bigger" game. The banquet had over a 140 people at it according to the newspaper story. The best player in 1A this past year was Grant Arencibia who beat the boy's team you are referring to in your comments. He was the best player I have seen in a long time in the West 1A's. He is in the same category as the AP State Player of the Year Terry Whisnant, who was a starter when Florida State won the ACC. My point was that the SMC wont be able to play with any of the five non-boundary teams in the Southern Piedmont since they have "learned the ropes."

 

[ObserveAndReport]

I think the West-Midwest game is a great thing, I'm glad it did well. But the fact is that the players who got picked for both games chose the Blue-White game, boys and girls, and I don't see that changing if they keep having them on the same night. The West-Midwest game just won't be a bigger deal than the Blue-White game for kids from the mountains because the chance to play against summer ball teammates from the area and to prove you can play against the kids from the larger schools in your own area is just more enticing . The West-Midwest game needs to be on a different night if they want to start getting the SMC's best players playing in it. As for the comments about there being a great player on the SMC team in the West-Midwest game...that kid can definitely play. He should have been picked for the Blue White game. And if he had been, it's a good bet he would have chosen to play in it over the West-Midwest game, too.

And besides that, just because the SMC had a great player on their team in the West/Midwest game, are you saying they couldn't have used another one? The kid who didn't play was the MVP of an all-star game with the best players, 1A through 4A, from a 15-county or so area. My point was that you didn't get a full representation of the talent level from the SMC at the SMC/SPC event because of the other game the same night, and I think that's true regardless of which of the two kids who tore it up in the separate all-star games is better...they're both good and you can't judge the strength of the SMC without seeing them together representing the league.
This post was edited on 4/5 2:39 PM by ObserveAndReport

 

[Catawbavalleybasketball]

Observe, your comments are fine with me except I would like point out that several players who were chosen by the Blue-White chose to play in the West vs Midwest. The West vs Midwest committee purposely scheduled the game on a Saturday night since the Blue-White had always been played on a Friday night. So the West vs Midwest was diligently trying to be supportive of the Blue-White but they changed their game to Saturday after the West vs Midwest had solidified that date of Saturday. I have not heard any reason for the Blue-White being changed to Saturday, but I was told this is the first time they have played on Saturday. I got a chance to talk to the parents of one of the players who was chosen for the Blue-White but chose to play in the West vs Midwest. They very pleased with the decision made. There was an excellent representation of the 1A basketball players in the West vs Midwest. The only boy who didn't play was the kid you mentioned. He is a great high school player and I am sure the West vs Midwest would have liked for him to play.

It is great that there are two games.

Thank you for your comments which express points of view in a very appropriate manner.



This post was edited on 4/9 11:37 PM by Catawbavalleybasketball