I think Swain is the team to beat if they can control their emotions on the court.
SMC 2018-19
- Thread starter THEDREAMISREAL2
- Start date
They have the athletes, speed & size. The games I watched they lost their cool in tight games and foul trouble killed them. I sure would have Bradley down low with his size but would still let him pop out for some 3’s. I don’t know about the dad but it doesn’t seem like the coach has control or these mental mistakes wouldn’t happen
I still believe Cherokee is the team on paper to win it all. Andrews Swain and Hayesville could have a lot to say about that. I watched a little bit of Swain Highlands replay on Swains broadcast and from watching they looked a heck of a lot more disciplined than last year. For anyone sleeping on Highlands they are wrong. They are good basketball team that can shoot it and have plenty of size. Swain just countered them with Bradley and Millsaps and that was pretty much the end of it for Highlands. I also heard from I guy I work out of Bryson that McMahan had some serious health problems during last year and missed some time with the team which could been why some of the inconsistencies took over.
Let's be honest, this is shaping up to be another extremely weak year for SMC boys hoops. Nobody in the conference will make it out of the 2nd round imo and very few will even make it that far. Next year may be different with young Andrews and Hayesville squads having another year of experience under their belts.
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Agree. We ( SMC ) will never be a serious contender in Basketball come playoffs. We might have a team ever 10 years come along that makes it to 3rd round but that’s it. And yes we are really down this year.
Kinda weird the boys ate so weak but I think the smc will have maybe 3-4 teams in girls go deep
Eh, its not that bad. It's just that the conference has been down for a while now, so it seems worse than it really is. History says the SMC will have a group come through once every several years that's good enough to get to regionals. Yeah, regional titles or state titles are another story.
I still say Murphy's '09 team was good enough to win it all if they hadn't blown a sizeable lead in the 4th Q at Hendersonville in sectional finals. Payne waited too long to bring Lovingood back in after he got in foul trouble. Murphy had a more talented team in '10 but they got upset early, wouldn't have beat Monroe anyway. The least talented of those three teams made it to regionals in '11. A couple of those mid to late 90's Murphy teams had big time talent, the '95 Murphy team that lost to Jordan Matthews on a buzzer beater in the regional finals was good enough to win state. Murphy had another talented group in the early '00s with McKeon, Colbert, Kent, Gutierrez, etc.
Hayesville made it to the state title game in '97 and won a state title in '04 with Bracken and Chilton. The '06 Rosman team that lost in the regional finals was good. Andrews had a really talented team in '01 with Creasman and Baxter. Even Nantahala made it to regionals in '10.
The last 4 or 5 years have been kinda rough for the league though, no denying that. Part of that is down to the increasing influence of charters in 1A hoops. Maybe what we've seen the last several years is the new normal for SMC boys hoops, I hope not.
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Cherokee also made the state finals in the 90s and lost in a shootout to Lincoln Charter in regionals in 2016. Hayesville's 2012 team went undefeated to regionals before losing by 2 to a good Highland Tech team. In 06--the year Rosman was regional runner up--HD also was in the regional field. I believe 06 was the only year an SMC team has ever beaten WS Prep, as Rosman knocked off future Miami starting center Reggie Johnson and the Phoenix in the sectional final. And as good as Rosman's 06 team was, I think their 05 team that lost to Thomasville in regional semis was better and could have been a state title team with a few different breaks. Hit a bad matchup having to play Thomasville's press when their Conference POY PG had the flu.
The last two years have been down for the SMC and this year probably will be, too, but there is a good wave of talent coming up.
The last two years have been down for the SMC and this year probably will be, too, but there is a good wave of talent coming up.
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Yeah I forgot about that, I mentally block out the last few years of SMC boys hoops because Murphy was so down lol, I might have went to two games that year.
Last season Murphy was at least competitive again for the most part though, that's a big improvement from the last couple years of Payne's tenure.
The Brown kid at Murphy Middle is a baller, best looking player Murphy's had in a while but not much help around him at all. If I was his parent I'd be very tempted to send him to Hayesville High next year.
Andrews beat Swain by 10 last night in a matchup of two of the teams a lot of people picked to be near the top. Ellis had a huge night for the Wildcats--scored 32 of their 63.
Young Wildcats looked impressive last night. Ellis was on fire. I was very pleased with the way the Wildcats played and I could see the maturity from last year. Swain had Bradley down low instead of the 3 point line. He is very smooth and made great kick out passes. Swain played good team ball and had matured mentally from last year. Good game to watch and still room for improvement in this early season. One game at a time
He's good, but his age helps. He's as old as you can be and play. He's older than my kid at the high school.
I didn't know that, changes my perception quite a bit. We'll see how he does next year against kids his age and adjust expectations accordingly.
The Jacket roller coaster continues, tonight the Jackets traveled to Rosman and won by more than 40. Who knows what the next game will bring.
I can't say I'm extremely shocked by it but it's still pretty sad considering Nanathala has like 25 kids in high school. 'Dogs were always going to be near the bottom of the SMC boys this year, but this is no doubt a lower level than I anticipated.
I'm more concerned with Murphy girls losing by 16 to Smoky Mountain the night before. Granted the girls hadn't play a competitive game in nearly a month, but it's still a disappointing showing. We'll see how they fare against Union County tomorrow night, but it's looking like another loss based on early showings from both, hope I'm wrong. I still think the girls will be fine in conference play but not sure what, if anything, it means for their chances on a state level come playoff time.
I'm more concerned with Murphy girls losing by 16 to Smoky Mountain the night before. Granted the girls hadn't play a competitive game in nearly a month, but it's still a disappointing showing. We'll see how they fare against Union County tomorrow night, but it's looking like another loss based on early showings from both, hope I'm wrong. I still think the girls will be fine in conference play but not sure what, if anything, it means for their chances on a state level come playoff time.
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Murphy girls beat a good Union Co. team by 20, so maybe the SM game was just shaking the rust off after waiting for football to end. Murphy-Union boys game was also tight--think they will improve rapidly once their football players get a few practices in.
I agree, glad to be proven wrong by the girls and the boys played a lot better than I expected. It will be interesting to see how both do at battle of the states tournament next week.
Nantahala also has a few starting guards and wings who are pretty good, just no size or depth. Robbinsville and Hayesville both led by 10 or so after 3 quarters against them, then blew it open in the 4th--which you'd expect to do with more size and depth. But when it's three days after the football state finals and a lot of your players don't have basketball legs yet to wear Nantahala down, a team full of guards is always dangerous to let hang around.
Andrews game canceled due to possible bad weather. I was looking forward to seeing the young Wildcats go up against SM at SM. I watched SM at Swain last night and SM is a very good team with a deep bench. Lamb for SM is a great scorer and they all hustle and are very disciplined running their offense. Swain stayed with them all night even going ahead late. It could have been a different ballgame if Bradley hadn’t got called for some very bad calls. Andrews needed this game to evaluate where they are at and to have a good team on their strength of schedule
Are they going to reschedule? Important game for Andrews not just to gauge themselves, but playing a good 2A also should help their MaxPrep rank.
Anybody decent going to be at the tournament at Andrews next week?
Anybody decent going to be at the tournament at Andrews next week?
Yes, Mathew Maennle said it would be rescheduled. We really need it. I’ve not seen a list of who is playing in the Christmas Tournament but I hope it is stiff competition
I wish Murphy could get the home games with Union and Smoky back on the schedule, would be nice for the girls to help bolster their SOS.
It's early but that loss to Smoky really hurt Murphy girls Maxpreps ranking, they're all the way down at like #25, obviously they'll move up a lot as they get deeper into the season but when it comes playoff time those two missed games on their resume could end up costing them an extra home game in the playoffs.
It's early but that loss to Smoky really hurt Murphy girls Maxpreps ranking, they're all the way down at like #25, obviously they'll move up a lot as they get deeper into the season but when it comes playoff time those two missed games on their resume could end up costing them an extra home game in the playoffs.
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Murphy Girls beat 4A Walhalla, SC by about 50 this AM. They may get another game with Union in this tourney, there is also a very good 3A Lumpkin County team left in the field. Battle of the States looking like it will help their SOS a good bit.
Murphy Girls beat 4A Walhalla, SC by about 50 this AM. They may get another game with Union in this tourney, there is also a very good 3A Lumpkin County team left in the field. Battle of the States looking like it will help their SOS a good bit.
Andrews boys loose their 1st game to a very scrappy bunch from HD. Don’t anyone overlook Hiwassee Dam. They played a excellent game and play wide open the entire game
Yesterday's tournament results just kind of confirmed what everybody has been saying on here about it being a down year for SMC boys. Looks like BSMC boys went 0-7 yesterday with some bad losses. Biggest ones that stick out are North Stokes beating Swain by 30 in the Devils' own tournament, and Robbinsville losing to Nantahala by double digits.
Murphy boys pick up a win over Armuchee GA, not a great team by any means but coupled with playing a decent Walhalla SC team close for a half yesterday and giving Union County GA a tough game last week, I like how the team is coming along with how little time they've had together.
Like I said earlier in this thread my expectations aren't much this year with the basketball talent (or lack of) on hand at the school right now. But even when Murphy doesn't have natural basketball talent they should still at least be competitive with most teams if for no other reason than the athleticism in the hallways. Last year and this year Coach Laney is showing that isn't an unreasonable expectation with a reasonable amount of practices and games under their belts. That's all I can ask for and it's a major step up from the last couple of years of the Payne tenure when the athletes weren't even bothering to come out.
If Hayesville beats Towns County GA today we'll get a Murphy - Hayesville out of conference matchup tomorrow. I'm not sure if that's happened before, if it has I can't recall it.
Like I said earlier in this thread my expectations aren't much this year with the basketball talent (or lack of) on hand at the school right now. But even when Murphy doesn't have natural basketball talent they should still at least be competitive with most teams if for no other reason than the athleticism in the hallways. Last year and this year Coach Laney is showing that isn't an unreasonable expectation with a reasonable amount of practices and games under their belts. That's all I can ask for and it's a major step up from the last couple of years of the Payne tenure when the athletes weren't even bothering to come out.
If Hayesville beats Towns County GA today we'll get a Murphy - Hayesville out of conference matchup tomorrow. I'm not sure if that's happened before, if it has I can't recall it.
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Hayesville just beat Towns by about 15, so looks like the 5th place game tomorrow will be a conference preview. Jackets are hard to figure out, very up and down.
They can play when they are meshing as a team, but been a struggle with freshman and sophomores making up most of the roster!! Dwain Cook one of two seniors on the team had a big game today!
That's pretty typical of a young team. Hayesville will be the favorites tomorrow but Murphy is probably good enough to win if the Jackets don't play well.
I wasn’t real impressed by lumpkin to be ranked as high as they are. Hayesville was ahead by 2 at half and then imploded in 3rd scoring 1 point to their 16! Couldn’t get shots to fall for anything. They do play aggressive defensive though. Murphy should win
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