SMC 2018-19
- Thread starter THEDREAMISREAL2
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I agree, he was a great local player with a lot of skill but after watching all 3 levels I still believe he would have got more playing time on Div 2 and those guys can really play ball, Even the small ones can out play anyone in the SMC. It shocked me how good the Div 2 & Div 3 are compared to our conference. I wish him well and glad to hear he is close to home.
Interesting that kids go to prep schools. In most 1A high schools a kid might appear a stud. However when you go to a school like Christ school or any other prep you are basically a sub with much less talent than most of kids recruited by the same school. Most would do well to stay at their home school and enjoy their high school experience.
Badtiger
Badtiger
Sometimes. But the girls that went from Robbinsville and Swain to Carolina Day were key players there and turned into D1 players, so I guess it is different for each kid.
Speaking of D1 players from the smc, Josh Cottrell was 2nd guy off the bench and played 18 minutes for WCU in their opener.
Speaking of D1 players from the smc, Josh Cottrell was 2nd guy off the bench and played 18 minutes for WCU in their opener.
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Beasley from R’ville was a key player at Day and had a good college career at Furman. I think it is great but I am in the same boat as many posters on here. I’m all about proving yourself and if you are good enough then I think you’ll get your shot. I mean Amber Long stayed at R’ville and ended up making the team at Wake Forest. She wasn’t recruited but was found out while playing ball down there. Every situation is different but I hate to see our local teams get devastated by the lure of getting noticed. I just believe in keeping a team together and that’s just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt.
Well I don't think Carolina Day will be taking any more players now...
I agree in that I hate to see them go, I was more responding to the assertion that they can't hang when they do.
I agree in that I hate to see them go, I was more responding to the assertion that they can't hang when they do.
Cool to see Haylie Shope being a 2 sport starter at Young Harris, one of the best all around female athletes I've seen in the SMC.
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Boys will have a lot of young but promising teams. Girls Murphy and Cherokee should be as good as anyone in the state.
He signed with WCU to play for his dad, but after an injury and his dad leaving he wound up at LR.
http://m.kusports.com/news/1987/dec/03/ku_cullowhee_meet_catamounts/?templates=mobile
http://m.kusports.com/news/1987/dec/03/ku_cullowhee_meet_catamounts/?templates=mobile
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In boys, Cherokee obviously lost a lot to graduation--probably 50 points a game combined between Straughn, Mintz, and Day. But you have to remember that when a school is beating people by 20-30 points every night, the guys they have waiting their turn wouldn't be waiting their turn at other schools. The Braves return an excellent point guard and an experienced big man who can go inside-out, they get Cade Mintz back after he missed last year from injury, and had I think the 2nd place JV last year. Given they've got some good pieces, and considering how completely dominant they were in the conference last year, I think they're still the favorite at this point.
Swain will have an enormous front court--will probably start 6-6 and 6-8 down low, and also have two starting guards back so I imagine they will give teams problems.
Hayesville's roster is probably 60% freshmen and sophomores, but they are a very talented young group. The sophomores got plenty of experience last year and 6-6 freshman McTaggart is going to be special. I also think this could be breakout year for Cook, a versatile 6-4 senior who has been a solid player in Cottrell's shadow the last two years.
Andrews did come in last place last year, but they were no pushover, as evidenced by them upsetting the 2 seed in the SMC tournament. They should be much improved this year, as 3 starters--including one of the best PG's in the league--and their 6th man were freshmen, plus they added a 6-4 kid who started at Nantahala as a freshman last year to their already-good sophomore class. With that year of maturity and experience, a lot of the close games they lost as a young team last year may go the other way this year. I think they move from bottom of the pack to middle of the pack this year, then will be very good the two years after that.
Rosman will have one of the best players in the league in Hooper Thomas. Not sure about the supporting cast. Looking at last year's roster, may be one of the smaller teams.
Murphy lost a lot and will have to replace their top 3 scorers. They should be very athletic, but whether athleticism means good basketball remains to be seen.
Robbinsville lost a lot from a team that was probably 6th best when Rosman was healthy. Their JV won the league and that should give them some hope, but you also have to factor in that there was an unusually high number of 9th and 10th graders playing varsity at the other schools in the league.
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Andrews is still a year away from being at the top, imo. Next year it should be Andrews and Hayesville fighting it out.
Murphy probably a non factor this year or next. Most of the times Murphy has had really good basketball teams are when the core of the team was made up of kids who specialize in basketball. Too many of Murphy's best players are football first right now, which is ok with me because winning a state title in basketball is harder with the Winston Salem Preps and Lincoln Charters of the world around, than winning a title in football imo.
I'm just glad Laney is at least getting some of the better athletes out again, it means they can at least be somewhat competitive once they get their basketball legs under them. Nobody was coming out Payne's last few years in charge.
I'm not sure how Rosman will be this year? I think conference as a whole will be competitive.
I do, too. Should be a lot of parity. I think even the champ will have a few league losses and there will be a whole pack in the middle around .500 in the league.
I think Murphy can win without kids necessarily having to specialize in basketball. Murphy's last regional qualifier in 2011 had a lot of the same core--Devante Sudderth, Tookie Reese, Seth Curtis--as the 2010 football state runners up, and the some of the stars of Murphy's 2008 football team that went 13-1 and made the 1AA quarterfinals like Luke Charles and Georgie Kerber were also key players on the basketball team that went 25-2 in 08-09. Granted, those Murphy teams also had some guys like Lovingood and Allen who did specialize in hoops, but they got a lot of contributions from kids who played football. I think they key is to find a balance where kids are football players and basketball players, instead of football players who are on the basketball team in the winter, if that makes sense.
I do agree about the ceiling being different in hoops than football for SMC teams, but I think that was the case long before WSP or Lincoln Charter came on the scene, since there's only been one SMC state champ in boys basketball ever. And I think Murphy has the athletes and athletic program to be a dominant football team on the state level and a top basketball team at the conference level.
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I agree with those two statements, but what I'm saying about core guys is that the top players on all of Murphy's best teams the last 16-17 years have been basketball only or kids that might have played varsity football for a year or so but were clearly basketball players first and foremost. Drew McKeon, Kagney Colbert, Dwayne Neal, Zack Lovingood, Justin Sneed, Ryan Cook, Aaron Stanley, Brandon Reid, Devantae Sudderth, Cody Allen, Trey Oliver, Gray Reid, etc. Yeah, there are a few of exceptions of football and basketball guys like Daniel Kent, Matt Gutierrez, Georgie Kerber, Tookie Reese and Seth Curtis but the majority were not.
Look at this year's Murphy team and who is probably going to be the top player for them, Abram Abling a 10th grader and a basketball only kid, albeit one with great genes. His uncle JC Brown was one of Murphy's best football players in the last 20 years and his sister Kareen Abling was one of Hiwassee Dam's best ever female basketball players. (Honestly I'm hoping they can talk him into playing football next year). The problem is you look at the current Andrews and Hayesville teams and they each have multiple young players on their teams that promising or even more so, not just one kid carrying the torch.
I think someone like Justice Dorsey (another one with great genes) could've been one of those guys and a great foundation piece alongside Abling, had basketball been his sole focus. I still think he can be a good player but he wasn't just a good player in middle school, he was an exceptional player. But it seems in high school some of his peers have caught up and moved ahead, whether that's because he's a multisport guy and some of the others aren't, I don't know. Although we probably need to give Dorsey the benefit of the doubt when it comes to last season, as he went into the basketball season recovering from gallbladder removal surgery. I don't think he ever got in a groove as a result, as he was playing catch up all season when it comes to full fitness and sharpness. His freshman season was certainly promising and much better statistically than his sophomore season and one would've expected improvement on that. Perhaps we see the kind of performance expected of him last year, this year, now that he's healthy.
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Freedom beat Murphy girls by 25 yesterday. It was a 3 point game at halftime and Freedom just pulled away in the second half, especially in the 4th Q. I wasnt there but Im guessing depth had a lot to do with that.
Freedom is good 3A program though, one that would probably beat any 1A team and Murphy is adjusting to life without their two bigs.
Murphy girls will be just fine when it's all said and done, not as good as last year but I dont think they will have to be to win a title. As I dont believe any 1A girls team this year will be as good as Mount Airy and Murphy were last year.
With that said Cherokee is probably a slight favorite in the SMC and 1A overall this season.
Freedom is good 3A program though, one that would probably beat any 1A team and Murphy is adjusting to life without their two bigs.
Murphy girls will be just fine when it's all said and done, not as good as last year but I dont think they will have to be to win a title. As I dont believe any 1A girls team this year will be as good as Mount Airy and Murphy were last year.
With that said Cherokee is probably a slight favorite in the SMC and 1A overall this season.
I saw where Rosman only beat BR by 4 at home. I know its beginning of the season but Nantahala beat them by 30 the night before. Also I noticed Hooper Thomas didnt play. Thought it may have been because football was just over??? But saw Quarterback Luke Stewart in the box score.
Nantahala lives by the three and dies by the three, and I think they got red hot against BR. Hooper Thomas is on Rosman's roster and will make them a much better team when he plays, kind of like the difference between when his brother did and did not play last year.
Think it will be the braves and Andrews maybe Hayesville in the boys
All Cherokee and Murphy in the girls.
Boys have no shot going deep in playoffs and the girls both should or could have shot at a state run ..
All Cherokee and Murphy in the girls.
Boys have no shot going deep in playoffs and the girls both should or could have shot at a state run ..
Andrews roster a little smaller than expected...missing 1 or 2 big kids that were expected to be on there. But I think they will still be much improved, especially with Ellis back running the show. And looks like Shepard is playing this year which will help...he didn't play last year and people who watched Andrews play football know he is a very good athlete. I still say they jump to 3rd or 4th place this year but wouldn't call them a favorite.
I know Swain was inconsistent last year, but they're huge and experienced and think they will be in the mix at the top.
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Highlands lost to Franklin by 25 last night. Hayesville is really young and I don't believe their best upperclassman, Cook, played against Highlands. They should be much better as the season progresses.
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I wasn't there but heard refs played a huge part. I "heard" that the refs called 27 fouls against Rosman in the 4th q versus 17 for Highlands. Now, the discrepancy isn't thaaat bad but 44 fouls in a quarter? I'm not sure how accurate that is but I know that 4 of Rosman's starters fouled out before the game was over.....
Ok, according to Maxpreps, Rosman had 27 fouls total for the game. I was incorrect.
I guess they are going to call it close this year. Just be consistent the whole game, every game
Think they won by 11 . Looked up and down was up big early
As much as I like consistency, I also would like not to consistently watch free throw contests. I also think SMC refs calling it so close hurts mountain teams come playoff time.
I don’t either but where do you draw the line. Which fouls do you decide to call or ignore. I grew up in a different era where if a foul was defined in the rule book they called it. Maybe it’s the way the game is coached now a day where you teach a team to be over agressive then complain about the calls. With 3 officials on the court instead of two more things are seen or should be.
MaxPreps showing Highlands beat Swain in girls, but Swain won the boys game by 17. Swain and Franklin both have a lot of size, which LSMC teams struggle with a lot of times. Franklin will have a good year but Hendersonville with their 6-9 center will be tough to top in that league.
