Jamboree signals start to prep hoops season
by COBEY HITCHCOCK, Sports Writer
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Cobey Hitchcock/The Mountain Press G-P senior Leah Bryan draws a foul on this play, driving to the basket against the Seymour Lady Eagles. G-P won the one-quarter scrimmage 18-12.
PIGEON FORGE — With football season in the rearview mirror, basketball fans were fired up Monday night to see their hoops stars kick-off the season in style at the Sevier County Basketball Jamboree.
With the four county public high schools’ eight teams facing off for 12-minute periods, a slam dunk and 3-point contest, fans got their money’s worth.
Starting with the first 12-minute contest of the night, here are the results of the evening’s games:
PF Lady Tigers 17, SC Bearettes 13
Coach Paul Reagan’s Lady Tigers started the contest off right and cruised to an easy 17-13 win over Sevier County.
Danielle Rauhuff opened the action with a 3-pointer from the right elbow to get PF out to a 3-0 lead and they never looked back.
Following a Madison Pickel bucket for SCHS, the Lady Tigers’ Ashlynn Trotter banged in five straight points, and Cassidy Martin added two more to pump the lead to 11-2.
From there Pigeon Forge’s starters mostly sat, while the Bearettes’ Jaisa Moritz (four points), Pickel and Emily Cross helped Sevier County spark a 9-4 run in the waning minutes to get their team back to within four points when the final buzzer sounded.
The Bearettes will open season play tonight in a Hall of Fame game against South Greene at home. Pigeon Forge girls host the Knoxville Ambassadors tonight, while the boys face The King’s Academy.
SC Bears 14, PF Tigers 14
The boys matchup between Sevier County and Pigeon Forge was a back-and-forth battle that saw the Tigers score the final three points before the buzzer to end the exhibition matchup in a 14-14 tie.
Pigeon Forge sharpshooter Ben Cave started the game off with a 3-ball, which was promptly answered on the other end with a Bentley Manning’s long distance bucket. The teams continued to trade baskets up to a 9-9 tie, and then Sevier County jumped into the driver’s seat with a 5-2 run. A Zac Gonzalez 3-pointer helped SCHS out to the 14-11 lead, and it looked like the Bears would ride the wave of momentum to the win. But the scrappy Pigeon Forge team had other ideas.
Tigers’ transfer Ryan Crowe hit a big bucket with just under a minute left to cut the lead to one point at 14-13, and Justin Carter came up with a huge steal to give his team a shot at the win. The SCHS defense fouled Carter, however, and the senior managed 1-of-2 from the line to knot the score with eight seconds left. A Dakota Cogdill prayer from the top of the key went off the rim for SCHS, and with real games scheduled for tomorrow, the teams ended the game in a tie.
G-P Lady Highlanders 18, Seymour Lady Eagles 12
It was a case of opposite reactions.
The Gatlinburg-Pittman Lady Highlanders have been in search of some offense this preseason, and it finally showed up for the Blue and Gold in the form of 18 points in 12 minutes of play against the Seymour Lady Eagles.
For Seymour, it was 12 frustrating minutes playing out of typical Lady Eagle character.
“I saw nothing good, and it was a very disappointing effort,” said Seymour coach Andy Rines. “I know it’s just a jamboree, but I expected us to be more focussed and to play harder than that. We didn’t, and G-P played much smarter and harder than we did.”
With G-P offensive force Caroline Conner still missing due to injury, G-P coach Mike Rader was happy to see some of the shooters on his team finally loosen up the net a bit.
The Lady Highlanders had three players drain treys, including Alisha Johnson, Macy Shults and Lacee Tinker. Tinker led the Blue and Gold with five points, Mekenna Lewis added four, freshman standout Karsen Sims had two and senior workhorse Leah Bryan added a charity shot.
“We’re able to shoot some threes this year, and that makes a difference,” said Rader.
Shae Brown led Seymour with six points, Jordan Ballard added four and Ashley McCarter sank a field goal in the losing effort.
The Lady Eagles host William Blount 6:30 p.m. tonight for a Hall of Fame contest, while the Lady Highlanders don’t open regular season play until Monday, Nov. 30, when they host Hancock.
Both teams were pleased with there performance in a battle that wasn’t decided until 3.8 seconds remaining in the contest.
Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders and Seymour Eagles battled to a 13-13 tie as time dwindled to the final buzzer. The scrappy Eagles squad led most of the way, but the Highlanders heated up late in the win.
In the closing seconds, G-P junior Jose Agosto managed to work his way through the bodies flooding the post and hit a layup to take a 15-13 lead with just 3.8 seconds on the clock.
G-P’s Jon McCroskey, who won the three-point shooting contest on a buzzer-beater just a few minutes earlier, stole the ensuing inbound pass and hit another Blue-and-Gold layup, again as the buzzer sounded.
Despite coming up short, first-year Seymour coach Brian Jessie liked what he saw from his determined squad.
“We competed,” said Jessie. “And that’s all you can ask from the boys. The jamboree is good to get those jitters out, and that’s the number one thing you want to do, and I think we did that.”
The Eagles’ downfall in the scrimmage was at the free-throw line, where they missed seven of their 15 attempts, most of the misses coming in the second half of the quarter.
In their second consecutive scrimmage action, the Highlanders opened slow. But for the second time in a row, the team came on late.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” said G-P coach Raul Placeres. “But there was a good environment tonight, and the kids haven’t been used to playing in front of a lot of people.
“It was a good crowd, and it was great that the community supported all the kids from all the teams this way. I know it means a lot to the players.
“We were tight at the beginning, but that’s what was good about this jamboree. It was good to have 12 minutes of a learning experience. I’m happy, and I’m looking forward to a very good season.”
G-P senior McKinley Maples and junior Morrease Barber — who won the slam-dunk contest prior to the scrimmage against Seymour — led G-P with four points apiece. Marquise Wall added three, and McCroskey had the deuce at the buzzer.
Seymour’s Skylar Brown led the Eagles with six points, Alex Lambert had four and Logan Jenkins and Tyler Tilson had three each, while Jordan Lee sank a charity shot.
G-P opens the season 6:30 p.m. tonight when the Highlanders host the Knoxville Ambassadors for a Hall of Fame contest.
Seymour hosts William Blount 8 p.m. tonight, also for a Hall of Fame game.
Sevier County Bearettes’ Jaisa Moritz wins girls’ 3-point shootout
SCHS senior guard Jaisa Moritz, who has just returned to action recently coming off a knee injury, went into the zone in the championship round of the 3-point shooting contest, hitting seven from downtown in 30 seconds.
“I was excited, because I really wanted to win,” said Moritz. “I haven’t been shooting really well, because I’m just coming off a knee injury. God blessed me to win, and that was really good.”
Moritz began the final round of the shootout with four straight makes from beyond the arc, and she needed all seven of her shots to hold off her own Bearette teammate Madison Pickel and her six made shots. Seymour’s Shae Brown also put on the pressure with five made treys in the final round.
Moritz said the key to her final-round score was to not think about it.
“I was just shooting,” said Moritz. “And that was it.”
Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders’ Jon McCroskey wins boys’ 3-point contest
Gatlinburg-Pittman’s Jon McCroskey and Sevier County’s Bentley Manning put on an entertaining 3-point shooting battle, but a buzzer-beater by McCroskey earned the Highlanders junior the title with a 6-5 championship-round win.
But it was all in good pleasure, and even McCroskey admitted that the buzzer may have actually beat him on the final shot that counted anyway.
“I was just focussed and trying to hit my shots, but it was fun, and I was just out there having fun,” said McCroskey. “I didn’t think I got that last shot off in time, but it dropped and they counted it, so I guess that’s all the matters ... right?”
Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders’ Morrease “Mo” Barber wins county slammer title
Gatlinburg-Pittman’s 6-foot-5 junior Morrease “Mo” Barber slammed his way to a county dunking championship title Monday night with a little help from his friends.
Barber converted his first of three slams in the opening round by taking a high bounce pass from G-P coach Raul Placeres and throwing it down the cylinder with his right hand, drawing praise from the Blue-and-Gold contingent.
Barber knew his first slam was good enough to get him into the finals, so he may have gotten a little too creative on his final two first-round slam attempts, which he failed to convert.
But the only other player in the competition to convert a successful slam was Seymour’s Jordan Lee, who threw one down with his right hand on his second first-round attempt.
G-P’s McKinley Maples came close to converting a creative dunk on his final attempt, but he couldn’t get one that counted and failed to advance. Maples made an appearance in the finals by playing a role in Barber’s title win. Maples banked the ball off the backboard for Barber to snag with his right hand and slam home on his first and only championship attempt.
Lee just missed converting his two-hand slam attempt, which secured the victory for Barber.
“It was a good feeling,” said Barber. “McKinley gave me a good pass to work with.”
Although Barber enjoyed winning the competition, he showed he’s a good teammate because he was really rooting for Maples to make it to the finals.
“I would have been more excited about the dunk contest if McKinley could have got his in.”
published: November 16 2009 01:57 PMupdated:: November 16 2009 02:58 PM
The Lady Eagles are ready to start where they left off last year. After a very successful 2008-2009 season with a 22-9 record, coming out of the district and winning the Region, barely falling short in the Sub-State the Seymour Lady Eagles are ready to take it to the next level. Practice started October 26th and the Lady Eagles have had three scrimmages since that date. Expectations are high considering most of last year’s starters are returning. The three seniors should provide the leadership it takes to accomplish the goals Coach Andy Rines has in mind. Rines, who played basketball at Jefferson County high School and coached at West, Heritage and Maryville college before coming to Seymour High School in 2008, reflects on the upcoming season and practice so far. “Practice has gone well overall. Our defense has been very good. It’s ahead of our offense at this point. We haven’t been shooting well.” Shooting and offense usually starts low and gets better as the season goes along, because timing has to be established. Defense can be picked up quicker. Seymour will play basically a “man to man defense with some full court pressure depending on who they are playing” said Rines. “Our offense will consist of motion and multiple sets.” The Lady Eagles will be lead by senior star player Casie Cowan. The 5’4” point guard was All County, All District and All Region for the 2008-2009 season. She recently signed with Cumberland College on a basketball scholarship. Rines said “Casie is one of the best point guards in our area. She without question will have a great senior year.” Another senior, Haley Clark, hasn’t played as much as other starters but should have a big year. “She has size and a lot of athletic ability at the post position.” Senior Leslie Davis according to Coach Rines “will be a big contributor coming off the bench as the six player. She is a big shooter who was slowed last year with a leg injury.” Junior Shae Brown a returning starter from last year at wing will play a major part in repeating another successful season. Last year she was All County, All District and All Region. With so much experience Coach Rines didn’t think the freshmen players would play a major varsity role this season; however he feels they will lay a very important cornerstone for the future. As all the other sports this year at Seymour, basketball will be in the new IMAC conference. This means tougher competition as they move up in classification from 3A to 4A. “For the most part, teams will be bigger than us and some will have more speed. The IMAC has a lot of great athletes and great teams. Morristown West is the best team I’ve ever seen. They are the pre-season favorite to win the state” said Rines. So far the Lady Eagles have had three tough scrimmages with Heritage, Dobbins-Bennett and South Green. Rines commented, “Playing the best competition in pre-season only makes you stronger.” The season begins this week with a jamboree at Pigeon Forge and the first game against William-Blount. The Seymour Herald will provide coverage throughout the season.
Article Courtesy of the Seymour Herald.
