Christopher James

The dozen or so William Blount girls basketball players assembled to listen to their teammates talk to a reporter couldn’t hold back the giggles when Sami VanVranken was asked about a “16″.
“It’s a punishment,” VanVranken said. “It’s pretty rough. It’s not fun. I’d rather not do it.”
“And then get right back on defense,” interrupted sophomore Tatum Burstrom.
“Yeah, right back on defense. That’s tough,” VanVranken finished.

The 16 is not the suicide windsprint of old. Players line up on one sideline and must run 16 widths of the court in one minute.
“The first week was tough. We had a ton of 16s,” Burstrom said. “We ran for the littlest things, but it got us tougher I think. We’re way more in shape.”
Lady Govs coach Matt Fowler isn’t just running his team ragged in the first week to keep them fit. WB has to be a team that thrives on speed and stamina. It can go no other way when the Lady Govs platoon of guards struggles to crack 5-foot-6. It can only get worse after wing Brittany Tipton went down with a practice injury Thursday. Fowler had said the junior could be the district’s biggest surprise. Now her height of at least 5-foot-8 could be missing come opening night, leaving the pressure on the 5-foot-9 VanVranken.
“We work them so hard on getting the ball up and down the court, ’cause we have to,” Fowler said. “We can’t play a half-court game with Maryville when they have Miranda Maples and Torie Vaught and the Whaley girl. We want to run ‘em.”
A year ago WB hit a brick wall when the 3-point shooting it depended on at the start of the season was shut down. With the perimeter game defended, the Lady Govs couldn’t take advantage of quickness to penetrate and make tough 2’s. Not so this year, says Burstrom.
“I worked on my ball handling,” the 5-foot-6 Burstrom said. “Every time I drove in last year, I’d lose it. I worked on my shot and finishing inside.”
For tiny teammate Shelby Click (5-foot-3), her offseason focus wasn’t playing organized ball, but getting in the gym and keying on ways to get off the perimeter and to the hole.
“I worked on all the things I need to work on that wasn’t going to happen if I played AAU like shot off the dribble, better ball handling, finishing inside,” Click said. “It’s (made) a big difference.”
Building that second dimension to a guard-dominant offense is what Fowler sees as the key to becoming relevant in the county once more and making a return to the region tournament for the first time since 2006.
“(Last year) We could drive, but once we got in there we couldn’t make the shot,” Fowler said. “That’s what we’ve worked on all summer, being able to get in there and make a tough, 2-point shot against a bigger player.”

Stats courtesy Coacht.com

Matt Fowler loves to practice.
Even more than playing games, the William Blount girls basketball coach says. I believe the guy and if Tuesday’s practice is any indication, he likes to run, too. Fowler was a bundle of energy, shepherding his team up and down in a full court scrimmage.
Practice is the sort of thing that’s helped the fifth-year coach reclaim his team from the ashes of a one-win campaign two years ago. Behind a pair of dynamic freshman classes, he’s confident his team can repeat last year’s 10-win improvement.

“20 (wins), minimum,” Fowler said. “We don’t think there’s any body we can’t play with.”
An offseason program that started when this year’s junior class, including do-it-all guard/post Sami VanVranken, guard/wing Shelby Click and wing Brittany Tipton, was in fifth grade has developed the talent Fowler needs. The addition of Tatum Burstrom and Sarah Wilson last year filled out a starting five for WB that now has a year of experience behind them.
“When I took over this job we had no AAU program, there was no summer camps,” Fowler said. “There was a lot of people in the community that decided they want to have a good basketball team over here. So, you had parents coaching, parents taking them to play AAU ball, parents paying to travel. … You’re starting to see that we’re going to compete with everyone from now on, starting this year.”
Fowler is salivating over the elementary players who are growing up in an established feeder program. He seems just as excited with this year’s group, which returns nearly all of the offense and rebounding from the 2008 squad. VanVranken will have to apply everything she’s learned in the last six years, acting as a post who can drive and also step back and knock down a 3.
She should have plenty of help from the Lady Govs talented guards. WB proved it had three sharpshooters in Click, Wilson and Burstrom who could deliver a dagger from deep at any time last year. Their development could just make Fowler’s vision of competing with county powers a reality.
“Heritage has a great program. Maryville has a great program,” Fowler said. “We’re going to have one now.”

Lady Rebels win their second straight county title, unbeaten in this event for the second straight year.

Maryville now the only unbeaten. A win over Heritage clinches another BC title.

The second round matchup with Maryville and Alcoa could decide things.

Alcoa pulls out another come from behind win. Grace Stubblefield provides the power with a sky spike and some slick serves.

Maryville dominating Game 2.

M breaks open a 15-all first game to take it. Alcoa rebounds from 20-17 down behind strong spikes and serves by Abigail Walker.

Heading over to Heritage here in a minute for the Blount County volleyball tourney. Tonight’s matches, scheduled for 5, 6 and 7 p.m., have been moved from Alcoa after a fire in the gym last night.
Here’s how this shindig works: It’s a round robin format, so each of the four teams plays everyone else once. Best record wins. Games count in a team’s overall record, but not as district matches.
Maryville won this event last year, going unbeaten in three matches to edge past the Lady Tornadoes, who finished 2-1.
You can follow along here with standings on the Big Board. I’ll also try to keep you posted on matches in progress. It all starts up at 5 p.m.

Completed Matches: Maryville def. WB, 25-16, 25-8. Alcoa def. Heritage 25-21, 25-22. Maryville def. Alcoa 25-16, 25-17. Heritage def. WB 25-18, 25-23.

Two William Blount alums caught my eye this past week.
Yousef Baskin is listed as a freshman defensive back at Centre College. The 6-foot-2, 186-pound Baskin doesn’t appear to have seen any action in the Colonels first two games, including a 24-17 win over Maryville College Saturday. Baskin caught 11 balls for 172 yards and a touchdown last season as a receiver for WB.

Carson-Newman freshman golfer Melanie Manis, who advanced to the State class AAA tournament last year with the Lady Govs, tied for ninth in the Lady Falcon/McNairy Invitational in Badin, N.C. Manis shot a 79 Monday. Manis lost a chance to move up when the tournament was shortened today.

Manis is joined on the Lady Eagles by sophomore Erica Ray, a former Maryville standout. Ray tied for 36th.

It may be near impossible for a Blount County golfer to find a way into this year’s class AAA state tournament.
All three county teams struggled Tuesday at the District 4 tournament, played on Heritage’s home course at Lambert Acres Golf Club. Consider for a moment that the six individual qualifiers for the region tournament Sept. 22 at Tennessee National in Loudon is less than half the 14 Blount County sent to the same round a year ago. Last year’s haul included three teams and a district championship for the William Blount girls.
The WB boys dropped from third in the District, and a spot in the regionals, last year to eighth this season. The top County boys squad was Maryville, who finished sixth and failed to qualify an individual golfer.
“I can’t tell you (what happened),” Govs first-year coach Jason Rowe said. “We’ve played this course and our scores were higher than usual. Maybe it was, some of our younger players aren’t used to walking 18 holes. They’re used to walking nine at a time.”
Whatever the reason, Rowe saw just two WB golfers make the next round, senior Alaura Brogdon and freshman Kinsley Vincent. They’ll be joined by the Lady Rebels’ Cassie McCracken and Angela Long. Only two male golfers made it from the County: Heritage’s Logan Vaughn and Travis Nichols.

Inconsistent greens were the biggest complaint Tuesday, but what McCracken described as “links-style” bunkers will make the Region tournament a real challenge.
Just ask Maryville coaches Tom Stinnett and Mike Driver.

Wrestling season is now officially over in Blount County, and Blake Ridenour finally has that state championship for Maryville. The senior dominated Chris Sinsheimer of Independence, taking him down early and often en route to an 8-0 major decision in the 152 pound final.
The win means the Rebels’ top wrestler went the entire season without allowing a takedown, Maryville coach Mark Humphrey said. Ridenour’s next challenge will be surgery after suffering that hernia early this week. As you’ll be able to read in Saturday’s recap, Ridenour won despite a couple injury issues that caused him breathing problems, a hernia being one. Humphrey said the senior told him “I feel like crap” after every round in Chattanooga.
Ridenour wasn’t feeling so bad tonight though. He is now the first Blount County champ since Everett’s Doug Overly in 1964 and Ron Wilson in 1961. (Hear Ridenour moments after his win)

Jacob Holley almost joined Ridenour on top of the podium, but a shoulder injury originally suffered at this tournament last year was his undoing. The William Blount senior said he has almost no cartilage or ligaments in his right shoulder now. When it popped out in the 125 pound final, he couldn’t recover.

Finally, Greenback goes home with three medals, two for third and a second place finish for Jeremy Miller. The Cherokees finish eighth overall and first among A/AA schools. 

Tennessee Wrestlers now enter an offseason which has become as important as ever. Ridenour announced Friday he’ll wrestle on a full ride at Carson Newman. For the area underclassmen, Humphrey said Ridenour showed them what it takes to be a state champ.

“Wrestle a lot,” Humphrey said.

CHATTANOOGA — Ridenour def. Sinsheimer, MD 8-0
Blake Ridenour wins Maryville’s first state wrestling title, 8-0.

Graham def. Miller, 3-2
Jeremy Miller loses a narrow 3-2 decision at 135 pounds, leaving Blake Ridenour as the only area shot for a state title.
The Greenback sophomore locks horns with Bradley Central’s David Graham for five minutes, keeping the match scoreless. With 53 seconds to go, Miller gets caught and rolled over, registering a near fall before a quick reversal pulls him within one. Stuck on top of Graham, Miller can’t get the turn and loses the state championship by a point.

Lewis pins Holley, 0:34
Jacob Holley gets pinned 34 seconds into the 125 pound championship match. Soddy Daisy freshman Campbell Lewis takes down the William Blount senior for the state title, rolling Holley on his back 15 seconds into the match before getting the final pin.
Govs’ coach Matt Talley said Holley’s right shoulder popped out on impact, sinking his chances. Holley has dealt with shoulder problems all year, Talley said.

CHATTANOOGA — Three area wrestlers are set to compete for a state title here within the hour. Greenback’s Jared Browning and Jackie Miller already earned third place medals at 112 and 189 pounds earlier today.
The medal winners are just marching onto the floor at McKenzie Arena now. Finals are slated to start at 6 p.m. Jacob Holley from William Blount will lead off the local trio in the 125 pound title match. Greenback’s Jeremy Miller is next at 135 followed by Blake Ridenour at 152 when he attempts to become Maryville’s first ever wrestling state champion.
A win for Holley would be just as monumental. It would also be quite an accomplishment for first year Govs’ coach Matt Talley. The teacher at William Blount’s ninth grade academy fell into the position this year and now has a wrestler on the verge of a state title. After speaking to Talley, you can tell he’s passionate about wrestling having spent his youth on mats in West Knoxville. Yet nothing compares to what he said last night on the phone from Chattanooga. (Hear Talley)