AA South Basketball Races

Halfway Home

By Darron Thomas
For one team the second half of the season is the only thing standing in the way of a state championship. For the remaining 27 teams it will be another season of what if and what could have been. What teams will make January a sprint to post season seedings and positioning in that quest for the ring? Will Brookhaven be hoisting the trophy for the fifth consecutive season or will it change hands? Will the north quietly enter the state tournament in Brookhaven come February and leave with a bang? We’re already at the halfway mark and some questions are easily answered but many will remain cloudy until late January.

My take on the first half of the 2008/09 basketball season is, of course, concentrated on the south and with good reason. It’s no secret that the south has been dominant with regards to AA boy’s basketball over the past 12 years and if you’re a gambler you would likely bet that the trend will continue this season as well. Had Central Private not moved up to AAA for the 2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons the Rebels, with all probability, would have won four straight AA Championships which would have negated the titles that Simpson and Marshall won during those two seasons. No disrespect towards those two fine schools but the fact remains that Central Private was flat out dominate during that span. With all this said the north could very well make a splash this season but just which squad will crash the party and make the final four at state isn’t yet clear. You know that it has to be a motivation tool for a few teams in the northern districts after the all south final four at Grenada last season. Marshall is solid every year and came up just short of defeating Brookhaven in the first round last season and Leake came a whisker of sending Bowling Green home. Whether the south has the four best teams again this season is up in the air.

As January 2nd approaches and district play begins there will be some separation between solid teams and the ones who struggle. In district 4AA Brookhaven once again will be prohibitive favorites to win another district title but the race for the second spot could be closer than usual. The Columbia Cougars having the misfortune of being in the same district as Brookhaven for so many years would have won several district titles had they been in any other district. This season they may have company in the race for that #2 spot. Simpson has opened the season with a respectable 12-5 mark and Prentiss sits at 8-1 which could lead to some great district battles. All this is hyperbole if Brookhaven trips up somewhere along the way, perhaps at Columbia on January 13th.

In district 3AA Trinity is heads above the rest and will surely be hard to beat as they progress into January and district play along with some non-district competition. The Saints in all likelihood have the fastest backcourt in AA basketball which tends to cause match up problems for lots of teams. River Oaks could be the only resistance to Trinity winning another district title and a #1 seed heading into south state at Copiah. The Mustangs have started out an impressive 8-1 but must prove they can compete with the Saints to have any hopes of making a strong post season showing. Chamberlain-Hunt seems to be a strong #3 seed in that district. Any team with a legitimate 7 footer has to be right? Riverfield, PVA, and ACCS will battle for the fourth spot.

District 5AA, in my opinion, will be a two, possibly three team race to the finish line. Bowling Green has shown to be a hard team to beat at home with wins over Parklane and Brookhaven but has struggled just a bit on the road. With Coach Jason Horne’s Centreville squad beginning to get into a flow and an improved Silliman team playing well this district could be up in the air. Oak Forest is under new direction and has improved while Central Private under Coach Rudy Smith always competes. Go ahead and circle January 9th when Bowling Green travels to Centreville and one week later on the 16th as BG travels to Silliman. There’s your race in a nutshell.

I got Brookhaven in 4AA, Trinity in 3AA, and Bowling Green by a hair in 5AA.

It’s going to be fun for me this season due in part because I don’t have a son playing anymore and the intense pressure is gone. My wife thinks I’m insane but I WILL see all 17 teams play in the month of January!

See ya…………..

Brookhaven at Bowling Green

Bowling Green Sweeps Brookhaven
By Darron Thomas

Bowling Green accomplished what many teams have not been able to do on Friday night in Franklinton......a sweep of both Brookhaven teams. The perennial AA basketball power Brookhaven Cougars entered Friday night's match up as the #1 ranked boys team in AA with it's only two losses coming at the hands of AAA powerhouses MRA and Jackson Academy. The last time Brookhaven and Bowling Green met was at last year's semi-final game in Grenada with the Cougars upsetting Bowling Green 44-36 then going on to beat Trinity for their fourth state title in five years. On Friday night in Franklinton the quite rumor was that it could be ugly as Brookhaven seemed to have just reloaded during the off season and Bowling Green still trying to mesh some new faces together after losing six seniors from last year's 33-3 squad. Bowling Green jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and finished off the 1st quarter with a 13-7 advantage. The 2nd quarter tightened up as Brookhaven outscored the Bucs 16-15 to cut the Bowling Green lead to 28-23 at the halfway point. The 3rd quarter was controlled by Brookhaven as the Cougars held BG to only three points and grabbed their first lead of the night going into the final period with a 34-31 cushion. Bowling Green withstood poor outside shooting long enough to get some help from senior guard Andrew Wood who hit two timely 3-pointers in the final quarter which aided the Bucs to a 21-11 fourth quarter run and a 52-45 win. Since starting the season 0-3 Bowling Green has won 8 of 9 which included a 10 point win over Parklane. Junior guard Jaron Edwards led BG with 18 points and Andrew Wood had 14.

Senior Blaine Roberts led Brookhaven with 16 points.

In the girls contest sophomores Brittany Cooper, Beth Reedy, Morgan Hembre, and Laken Adams stepped up to contribute 26 points collectively as the Lady Bucs held off Brookhaven 45-42. Cooper led BG with 14 points, junior Callie Brock had 11, and senior Cadie Robertson 8 points as BG improved to 8-5.

Brookhaven was led by Anna Lofton with 14 points.

Bowling Green will host Alpha on Saturday and Brookhaven will meet Silliman at the Brookhaven Christmas Tournament.

Nice Buck

Troy Luquette from Abbeville, Louisiana bagged this buck in West Texas a few weeks ago.

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria, British Columbia

Redneck Winter Sports

"Redneck Downhill Competition"

Winter in Louisiana

Who Needs New Hampshire?

Fundamentals?

No Fundamentals? No Rings!
By Darron Thomas
During the middle of last year’s basketball season I made a drive to watch a few teams play that I hadn’t seen much of. Before the junior varsity games got started the two schools played their 7th grade teams. While it was a competitive game one thing that became clear was the difference in the level of fundamentals that one team possessed over the other and that group won. What was more glaring during the course of the game was the decisiveness and discipline of the group. Each youngster knew where they were to be each time down the court and each one knew where the ball was designed to go and if the option wasn’t there they knew what the second option was. They had no fear on offense and shot three pointers with effectiveness when the opportunity arose. No forced shots or lack of patience on offense and a mental toughness that one usually only sees with varsity players. I had to keep reminding myself that I was watching 7th graders. My final observation was that this 7th grade team was executing the same offense and defense that their varsity team does and that this group had been drilled and worked with for countless hours. This 7th grade group will win championships and rings to go with them in three or four years. They will win because of someone’s commitment to them and the commitment those kids will put into achieving their goal. There is no magic bullet or easy solution when it comes to building a championship team. It can’t begin when kids reach their sophomore season. If kids aren’t drilled and taught basic fundamentals prior to their entry into junior high it’s often too late by the time they reach the high school level. The exceptions are the pure, gifted ones which are far and few in between. All it takes is the examination of the most successful schools year in and year out to discover the effectiveness of early development of young athletes. There are scores of young talented kids in the 4th-6th grade levels that will have to play catch-up to those kids that have been taught years earlier. Why most schools don’t have developmental programs is a mystery but those that do certainly have things figured out. So, no fundamentals? No rings!

Brookhaven and Trinity Favorites in AA South

By Darron Thomas

As the 2008/09 season gets into full swing two teams are the prohibitive favorites to win the AA South State Title in Gallman come February and frontrunners to earn a state championship afterwards in Brookhaven. The Brookhaven Cougars won their fourth consecutive state championship last season edging out the Trinity Saints in Grenada. While the probability of these two squads actually matching up again in the state title game are slim due to the chance both could be in the same bracket it wouldn't be a huge surprise if either plays for the title once again.

Brookhaven lost four seniors from last season's squad including starters Corey Dickerson, Daniel Lofton and Sawyer Wallace but Coach Dale Watts has another crop of players learning the Brookhaven system and will undoubtedly be in high gear as January approaches. Seniors Blaine Roberts, Ty Smith and Josh Winborne will be surrounded by a few new faces and underclassmen and more depth than last season's squad.

The Trinity Saints also lost four seniors from last season's AA South Championship and AA State Runners up team. With the loss of Matthew Freeman, Kyle Ketchings, Parker Brumfield and Langdon Morrison, head coach David King has the task of molding yet another group of players with tons of potential. Returning for the Saints is 6'4" senior center Andrew Johnson and guards Brandon Daggs and Givonni Dent. Johnson and Daggs had exceptional play at south state in Columbia last season including the championship game against Bowling Green. The Saints not only won the AA South State Title they also handed Bowling Green their first loss of the season.

These two teams will play twice during the regular season.....January 3rd at Trinity and January 24 at Brookhaven. These two games will surely draw lots of attention and will be a barometer of sorts with regards to who may be the favorite in the post season tournaments. Both won on their homecourts last season.

UFC 92 in Las Vegas on December 27th

http://www.ufc.com/

Planning a Vacation? Gotta Go To Moab, Utah!

Looking for a vacation with a little bit of everything? If you’re an early planner and find yourself searching for a destination for the whole family do a search on Moab, Utah! I knew nothing of Moab until May of 2007 when scanning through the travel atlas I stumbled upon Utah and began to scour the state from top to bottom in an attempt to find an interesting and new location to spend a vacation. Salt Lake City looked like fun but unless you really enjoy tours and picture taking it may not appeal to the whole family. Then I scanned on down the atlas to the southeastern part of Utah and saw Moab and decided to do some net surfing to find out what activities and sights were in that part of the state. Well it didn’t take long for Moab to get my interest up. Great information was readily available and before I knew it I was booking a flight and making hotel and car rental reservations. One thing that was clear from the start of my planning was that if the trip was a dud then it was me who would catch the wrath of the family. Anyway, plans were finalized and June was upon us quickly and the ritual of packing and repacking and going over every detail from proper identification for security at the airport to where’s the itinerary and did I leave anyone off? As most everyone knows one of the most stressful parts of a vacation post 911 is security at airports and long lines not to mention the what seems like miles of walking to find your gate for boarding. Being a habitual worrier that never sleeps the night before a trip adds to the stress but with Gods guidance we had no trouble and made our destination to Salt Lake City full of excitement. A smooth transition from airplane to rental car at the airport went off without a hitch and we were on our way to Moab. To all the guys out there…if your wife suggests paying a few extra bucks for the navigational system to go along with the rental car just swallow your pride and say “yes dear”, because you’ll need it! The drive from Salt Lake City to Moab is a short four hours, by short I mean time goes by quickly because you don’t know what you’ll see after every turn and it’s a two lane highway most of the way. One thing that’s obvious during the drive is the vast change of the terrain from mountainous wooded areas to huge rock formations as we got closer to Moab. We made the drive with ease and checked into our hotel and began planning the next four days in an attempt to cram as much in as possible and that we did! Moab is just on the outskirts of Arches National Park which is one of the most incredible experiences we’ve ever enjoyed. Thousands of natural arches, hiking trails and rock formations that grabs the interest of everyone. It would have been easy to spend our four days just inside of Arches National Park. We did see and do almost everything we wanted to during the four days……ATV riding in sand dunes, horseback riding, Hummer tour, whitewater rafting in the Colorado River, and one of the “must do” activities in Moab…the "Canyonlands by Night" tour. The tour actually begins with a dutch-oven buffet late in the evening and ends with a night-time boat trip up the Colorado. This was one of our most enjoyable things to do in Moab. Within 25 miles or so of Moab is Canyonlands National Park which is another mystical park and Deadhorse Point State Park is in the area as well. Although it was June and in the low 90's during the peak of day the humidity is so low that we never broke a sweat the whole time. After our time was up in Moab we made the drive back to beautiful Salt Lake City and spent the next two days there before heading back home. As most know, Utah is Mormon country and Salt Lake City is full of history of the church. Temple Square engulfs alot of downtown and has great architecture and greenery. Our last tourist location was the short trip north of the city to visit Salt Lake and Antelope Island. The only inland salt lake in the country is amazing and it’s easy to walk a hundred yards without the water getting above your knees. This area of Utah contrasts greatly to the Moab region but is worth the visit. We had so much fun during our May 2007 trip that we went back with more family members in September. Moab is definitely a vacation for the whole family.

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore Keystone, South Dakota

Badlands, South Dakota

Derek & Alissa Badlands, South Dakota

Arches National Park in Utah

Arches National Park near Moab, Utah

Championship Saturday

Centreville Tigers (12-2) vs Kirk Raiders (12-2).........As this Saturday approaches two teams prepare to face off for the AA State Championship and neither are strangers to being in a championship game. The Centreville Tigers will defend their state title against the Kirk Raiders who were in the title game just two years back. August 22nd seems like long ago and 27 teams had the same hopes when week one began but now only two will get the opportunity for what many dream about. Centreville and Kirk mirror each other in several ways but the two biggest comparisons seem to be the strong running games and defense they both possess. Centreville will no doubt be at limited strength due to injuries on their huge offensive line. This was indicative last week with Zack Sinclair rushing for just over 100 yards and no touchdowns in the Tigers 17-14 win over Oak Forest. The tailback had consecutive 200 yard rushing efforts and 7 touchdowns against River Oaks and Bowling Green in the first two rounds. Kirk has a tailback of their own who can take over a game in Rob Dambrino who accounted for 220 of Kirk’s 275 total yards in the Raiders 7-6 win over the Lee Colts. When it comes to the defensive side of the ball these two squads are the best in AA and have the numbers to prove it. The Kirk Raiders are #1 in the area of points allowed at only 8 per contest while Centreville is right behind them at #2 allowing only 9.71 points a game. During the first three rounds of the playoffs Kirk has improved on that number allowing just over 5 points a game while Centreville has given up 10.6 points a game. On the other side of the ball these two teams have a few contrasts……while both are effective on the ground Centreville has a decisive edge with regards to the passing game. Senior quarterback Kyle Brown is battle tested and has made big plays when called upon. Brown is one of the better all around athletes in AA sports and accounted for both Tiger touchdowns last week against Oak Forest. Whether Brown can effectively distribute the football behind a patched up offensive line will no doubt be pivotal to the Tigers success on Saturday. As for the kicking game I give the edge to Centreville. Nathaniel Gration has been solid all season for the Tigers. Kirk head coach Scott Martin has done an excellent job with Raider football and everyone knows the program Centreville head coach Bill Hurst has built. It’s safe (In my humble opinion) to say that the best team from AA South will face the best team from AA North on Saturday. Two weeks ago I would have given the Kirk Raiders about as big a chance to win state as my chances of getting a bailout check from the government but the injury situation has changed that dramatically. All that being said I think we’ll see a defensive gem of a game with points coming at a premium. The kicking game could be the deciding factor in what should be a low scoring game………I got Centreville over Kirk 13-10.

*It’s been lots of fun this season and I appreciate all the calls and text messages. I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving and all the fans and players have a safe Championship Saturday!

God is great!

Charlotte, North Carolina...Mavs at Bobcats

Charlotte, North Carolina Fall 2006

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada