Hendersonville Standard
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What we know: high school basketball edition




The Beech Lady Bucs have the best record in Sumner County at 15-4.

The Beech Lady Bucs have the best record in Sumner County at 15-4.

As we head into the second half of the high school basketball season, I thought it would be fun to address some things that have become clear over the first half of the season. While I will spend time looking back, I will also look ahead to the most important 31 days of the hoops year.

No matter how the first half has gone for your team, the thing to remember is the most important part of the season lies ahead.

 

Beech Lady Bucs

The Beech girls’ basketball team has been on a tear to star the 2018-2019 season winning 15 of their first 19 contest which includes a perfect 5-0 conference record with wins over Mt. Juliet, Station Camp, Wilson Central and Gallatin.

The Lady Bucs are talented at both the guard and post position as Shiya Hooser, Mia Dean and JC Swafford have all shown the ability to not only drop buckets but to run the offense when needed.

Defensively is where it all starts with the Lady Bucs, however. Spear-headed by senior Kendra Mueller, the Lady Bucs surrender just 46 points per game and have held six teams to 40 or fewer points.

If Beech has eyes on a state tournament appearance this is the season and this is the senior class to get them there.

I certainly believe they have the talent, but as we all know basketball is a tournament sport so it is important the team continues to trend upward as we creep ever so close to the District 9-AAA tournament in February.

 

Beech Buccaneers

The Beech boys’ basketball team has surprised many, including me to start the season. After graduating 12 players from last season’s team, no one knew who would take over and lead the Bucs this season.

After 16 games the Bucs sit at 10-7 on the season and 2-3 in league play with wins over Wilson Central and Gallatin.

It’s no secret the offensive weapon for Beech to start the season has been sophomore Kaleb Powell but the team has sometimes struggled to put the ball in the basket.

Offensively it will be interesting to see who steps up for the Bucs in the second half of the season.

 

Gallatin Green Wave

The Gallatin Green Wave are a lot like the Beech Bucs in the sense that they are young and talented.

Gallatin suits up just one senior and four juniors while the rest of his team is mainly sophomores and one freshman.

Bobby Luna has coached many different types of teams in his years at Gallatin but I’m not sure he has had a core this young in quite some time.

Coach Luna has mentioned how much he has enjoyed coaching this group of youngsters this season but now that is the second half of the season he needs the youth to grow up quickly.

With just nine basketball games remaining before the district tournament, Gallatin will need to senior Larodre Clark and junior Beljwok Adaing to turn it up a notch if the Green Wave have hopes of a region berth.

 

Gallatin Lady Wave

The Lady Wave are enjoying their best season in quite some time as Gallatin has jumped out to a 12-6 mark through the first 17 games.

What we know about the Lady Wave is Jo’Neca Talley, Makayla Wright and Jeremia Montgomery can all lead the team in scoring, but it will be the play of the role players and those that come off the bench that determine how far this season goes.

The Lady Wave have very few games that you can count on in the second half, so it will be interesting to see which games Gallatin can steal to improve their District 9-AAA tournament seed.

 

Hendersonville Commandos

Sitting at 8-10 through 18 games, the Hendersonville Commandos has looked like a team that could easily have five more wins in their column.

However, basketball isn’t a game of almost.

The Commandos opened up 2019 with a big win at home against Portland but a trip to Mt. Juliet could be a long night for those that wear the Commando logo.

January is manageable for Hendersonville as they play three key games at home between Beech, Wilson Central and Station Camp.

At 2-3 in the district, Hendersonville could easily work themselves in a two spot but I could also see them dropping to as low as seven.

 

Hendersonville Lady Commandos

The Hendersonville Lady Commandos have struggled to start the 2018-2019 season but the good news is the most important part of the season is ahead of you.

Looking ahead at the schedule there are some tough games ahead for Hendersonville but if the Lady Commandos believe in themselves then it doesn’t matter what the outside noise has to say.

At 1-4 in league play the Lady Commandos have the opportunity to earn the six or seven seed in the upcoming district tournament.

 

JPII Knights

The Knights are 18 games into the season and at 8-10 on the year are looking to improve their stock in the second half.

Playing in an unforgiving district it is going to be hard for JPII to get any traction as they haven’t shown the ability to put the ball in the basket on a consistent basis.

Shooter Sam Specht has certainly been good for the Knights since returning from his ankle injury but other guys are going to be counted on if JPII has any hopes in making a run at their league.

 

JPII Lady Knights

The Lady Knights have been solid in their first 14 games winning 11 including a 3-2 mark in league play.

Sitting in the sixth spot in their league, JPII has the ability and talent to pick up key district wins that could improve their seed to as high as the three- or four-spot.

Angi Puckett and the Lady Knights have played well defensively to start the season and it will be key for them to continue to momentum in the second half of the year.

Although they play in a very competitive league, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw the Lady Knights playing for an opportunity to get to the league semifinals.

 

Station Camp Bison

The Station Camp Bison have looked pretty good to star the basketball season. Sitting at 14-4 through 18 games and 4-1 in league play, the Bison have put themselves in good position for the second half of the year.

That said, the road only gets tougher as we cruise towards February but good guard and post play make me believer in the Bison and what they are selling.

Tough road trips at Mt. Juliet and at Wilson Central will test the Bison but I expect a two or three seed out of the East Bank when tournament time rolls around.

 

Station Camp Lady Bison

The Lady Bison have put a good product on the floor to start the 2018-2019 season at 12-5 and 3-2 in league play.

Good post play in Faith Eubanks and Olivia Delk have carried the Lady Bison and I expect more of that in 2019.

If coach Miranda Cravens can get a combined 20-25 points per game out of her guards the second half of the year could be very fun for the Lady Bison.

Sitting in the No. 4 spot now, I expect that to be where Station Camp finishes to end the regular season.

 

Merrol Hyde

The Merrol Hyde Hawks sit at 7-7 to start the season, but are atop the District 7-A standings at 3-0 with wins over KIPP and RePublic.

The Hawks play three very important district games from January 8-25 that will determine where the Hawks are seeded for the upcoming district tournament.

Fortunately for Merrol Hyde two of the three are at home with the only road game at LEAD Academy.

The Hawks have looked good this season and I expect the positive momentum to continue in 2019.

 

Merrol Hyde Lady Hawks

While the Lady Hawks overall record of 1-10 doesn’t jump out at you with promise, the Lady Hawks can hang their hat on the fact that they have gotten better with each game moving forward.

As I’ve stated, basketball is a tournament sport so Merrol Hyde only need to click on all cylinders once the tournament rolls around.

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