2003 could be Cyclones season
By Wes Holtsclaw
STAR CORRESPONDENT
wholtsclaw@starhq.com
Their first meeting didn't live up
to its "hype."
Elizabethton's Vince Redd and Johnson
County's Matt Cornett were both labeled as possibly the top
two players in the area coming into this season.
Although both graced the basketball
preview cover earlier last fall, Redd and the rest of his
Cyclone teammates such as B.J. Miller, Jordan Lambert and
Walter Brown among others have made a statement this season.
Whereas the Longhorns have beaten
weaker opponents but have not been able to stack up to the
big dogs.
The last contest was billed as being
a good matchup, a showcase of good teams among other things.
On paper, looking at a size perspective,
both teams matched up well.
Judd Shoun and Tommy Short would
be too much of a threat outside for the orange and black,
while Cornett would have his break out game. It would not
happen.
Elizabethton beat Johnson County
in all aspects of the game and B.J. Miller held a Longhorn
barbeque from downtown with his five treys in rout to 21 points
leading Elizabethton to a 57-33 victory.
This past week, the only other team
that Elizabethton was yet to face, fell victim in Volunteer.
This is just another staple to prove that this could very
well be the year of the Cyclones.
This Friday's game will be just another
game on a schedule this season between the two squads. The
marquee match up that could have been, was swiftly swept off
into a winter breeze by the Cyclones.
This week's game will be no different
as Elizabethton is still rolling through the Watauga Conference
with no intentions of stopping their train in Mountain City
this Friday night.
BOYS GAMES OF THE WEEK: University
High at Cloudland (Tues), University High at Unaka (Fri)
University High can recapture the
Watauga Valley Conference lead in one week with wins over
Cloudland and Unaka. After losing to Unaka last week, the
Junior Bucs will be out for blood this week.
Riding high after Friday night's
win over Unaka, Cloudland may be fired up for the contest
on Tuesday. But they will have a hard time against the Jr.
Bucs. Unaka, on the other hand, will protect home court gracefully
this week.
UNIVERSITY HIGH 62, CLOUDLAND
58 and UNAKA 67, UNIVERSITY HIGH 61
GIRLS GAMES OF THE WEEK:
Elizabethton at Happy Valley (Tues), Johnson County at Hampton
(Tues)
Happy Valley and Elizabethton's girls
squads have been playing solidly this year and their game
this week could be a barn burner.
The Lady Warriors have been getting
solid play out of Brandi Dugger and Mandy Byrd, while Elizabethton
is being led by Rikki Baughman and Sarah Smith.
The Lady Cyclones took the edge during
the first contest, look for Happy Valley to possibly pull
something special in this one. HAPPY VALLEY 47, ELIZABETHTON
43
The Hampton Lady Bulldogs have begun
to turn their season around recently. Look for Joy Gardner
and Heather Chambers to have good games over Courtney Shaw
and Johnson County. HAMPTON 66-57
BOYS PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
VINCE REDD, ELIZABETHTON
Redd led the Cyclones in two big
conference wins over Sullivan North and Volunteer with 16
and 24 points respectively.
GIRLS PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
STACHIA JOHNSON, CLOUDLAND
Johnson helped power Cloudland to
wins over Cedarview Christian and Unaka scoring in double
digits each contest.
