Alabama 2016-2017

[Joshua Rutsky]

(Alabama Preview 2016-17 has been relocated downthread. Here is the current calendar for Alabama and regional events. Please feel free to update me as you find out dates:

September 3: (Labor Day Weekend)
September 10:
September 17: ASCA HS Fun Tournaments (Arab and LAMP HS); ASCA MS Fun Tournament (LAMP HS)
September 24: SMART II (West Point, SMART II); CATT (Chattahoochee, GA; WHAQ)

October 1:
October 8: William Rufus King (Tuscaloosa) (IS-157A)
October 15: Hoover Invitational (Hoover, HFT)
October 22:
October 29: ASCA MS Fun Tournament (Arab); Smith's Station Academic Challenge (Middle School)
November 5: Buckhorn Invitational (NAQT Speed Checks)
November 12:
November 19: Oak Park MS Invitational (Decatur); Brookwood Invitational Scholars Bowl (Snellville, GA)
November 26: (Thanksgiving Weekend)

December 3:
December 10: West Point Winter (IS-161A)
December 17:
December 24: (Christmas Weekend)
December 31: (New Year's Weekend)

January 7: Covenant Christian Invitational (IS-162)
January 12 (THURSDAY): ASCA JV/SS REGIONAL (Gadsden only)
January 13 (FRIDAY): ASCA JV/SS REGIONAL (All others)
January 14: LAMP Invitational (IS-160)
January 21: Good Hope Invitational (GSAC)
January 28: ASCA MS DISTRICTS

February 4:
Feb 10 (FRIDAY): ASCA DISTRICTS
February 11:
February 18: Buckhorn Spring Invitational
February 25: ASCA MS/JV/SS STATE (Hoover High)

March 4: ASCA REGIONALS
March 11: NHBB @ Spain Park High School http://www.historybowl.com/alabama-2/
March 18: Hoover Elite Meet (Invitation only; BHSAT)
March 25: NHBB Qualifier in Newnan, GA

April 1:Jag Bowl (Cedar Shoals, GA)
April 7 (FRIDAY): ASCA STATE (Jeff State Valleydale Campus)
April 8:
April 15: (Easter)
April 21 (FRIDAY): Snead State Invitational (IS-165A)
April 22: National History Bee and Bowl (NHBB), Washington, DC
April 29: NAQT Small School National Championship Tournament (SSNCT), Chicago, IL

May 6:
May 13: West Point Spring Invitational (IS-164)
NAQT Middle School National Championship Tournament (MSNCT), Dallas, TX
May 20:
May 27: NAQT High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT), Atlanta, GA

June 3:
June 10: PACE National Scholastic Championship (NSC), Chicago, IL
June 17:

[bhsmatt]

Thanks for the nice ranking, Josh. If I can get consistency from my top 4 players we should be pretty good. Our team is six strong, but they sometimes get shaky in the big games. I hope a year of maturity alleviated that issue.

[bhsmatt]

Buckhorn will host an early season invitational in October. We're looking at October 22. Does anyone know of conflicts?

Our tournament will use NAQT Speed Check and Lightning Round questions.

Each game will consist of 30 Speed Check tossups (no bonuses) and an oral lightning round for each team.
Let me know if you are interested in participating.

[bretthogan43]

This may be jumping the gun by a lot, but I'd like to at least ask it. Do you think that Team Alabama can show more improvement at NASAT this year? And when will applications be available?

[Joshua Rutsky]

That's a fair question, Brett, and I don't think it is too early to ask. In my opinion, Team Alabama absolutely should show improvement for next year. Sharath was outstanding at the tournament, and he is only going to improve, so if he returns, that's a big first step. The biggest obstacle from last year, however, was that we couldn't get many of the best players in the state to GO to NASAT. Our team was largely made up of volunteers, which is great, but not the optimal Team Alabama. We should be able to identify those players interested earlier in the season this time, offer some sort of application, and then set up a few practices this year to make a team-up more effective. We also know a lot more of what to expect from NASAT, which should help us out next time.

[100% Clean Comedian Dan Nainan]

That's a fair question, Brett, and I don't think it is too early to ask. In my opinion, Team Alabama absolutely should show improvement for next year. Sharath was outstanding at the tournament, and he is only going to improve, so if he returns, that's a big first step. The biggest obstacle from last year, however, was that we couldn't get many of the best players in the state to GO to NASAT. Our team was largely made up of volunteers, which is great, but not the optimal Team Alabama. We should be able to identify those players interested earlier in the season this time, offer some sort of application, and then set up a few practices this year to make a team-up more effective. We also know a lot more of what to expect from NASAT, which should help us out next time.

As someone who went, I think it's important to identify which players study on college questions a lot so you know who won't be intimidated by the jump in difficulty.

[Joshua Rutsky]

ALABAMA PREVIEW: (Relocated from top of thread)



I spent about two hours today writing a preview of the state, only to somehow delete it before I posted it. I am really, really, unhappy about that. I'm not going back and reconstructing all the PPG data and stuff I did right now, because I might lose my mind. Instead, I'm going to post my Alabama top 15 for this year, and if someone wants an explanation, I'll give it to you. This is my opinion; YMMV.

Honorable Mention (teams I expect will make state or be close): Northridge, Alma Bryant, Bayside, Indian Springs, Southside, Whitesburg, Good Hope, Donoho

15) CCA
14) Altamont
13) Grissom
12) LAMP - returning two players, losing their top scorer
11) Arab - stacked with seniors; ready to make a move up.
10) Sparkman - Consistent team that is returning their best player in Jacob Bowling, a state All-Star
9) Sylacauga - Will Hughes, an all-star as a 9th grader last year, keeps improving, and his teammates came to ACE Camp. Will they help him enough to push them higher?
8) West Point - Loses their top two, but returns the Parker twins and has two other solid players. Lee Henry exercised all summer so he could chase them down and throttle them if they aren't consistent this year at state. Probably a year away from a legit title shot, but playoff worthy.
7) Gadsden City - Losing Justin Kelley is like losing a leg, but Harry Hager and Josh Kelley will keep them competitive this year.
6) Spain Park - Good news: three returning players to defend the state title. Bad news: lost 480 of the 580 tossup points they scored at state last year when those seniors left. Still very good, but not the steamroller they were last year.
5) Springwood - As goes Venu Reddy, so goes Springwood. The #2 player in the state needs some help from his teammates if he's going to capture an ASCA title to go with his AISA win from last year, though.
4) Huntsville - Fast and Furious, Huntsville loses one major contributor but returns three. Speed will keep them in the top of any tourney bracket and can give them the big win if it comes to the wire. Will they play enough matches during the year, though, to be ready for state?
3) James Clemens - When you have the number one player in the state, Sharath Narayan, you belong in the top bracket. Sharath continues to improve, and I doubt he'll lose more than a handful of lit tossups all year in state. If he has to be a one-man team, however, it will be hard for him to advance past round one of the playoffs again. At state last year, Sharath averaged 100 ppg in his team's wins, and was held to 30 and 70 in the two losses.

TIE:
1) Buckhorn - Five seniors and a junior, including their second and third scorers from state last year. Adam Williams will be missed, but the entire Buckhorn squad was at ACE Camp this year, and they look very good. They are bent on winning state this year, and are fast, smart, and motivated. Buckhorn fell in the playoffs last year; this year, I expect to see them in the finals.
1) Hoover - I don't like putting my own team in the number one spot; it reeks of ego. That said, they belong there at the start of the season. Hoover's B squad finished ahead of the A squad at Nationals, beat Dorman's A team in a major upset last year, and won multiple tournaments. All six players return, including two with state championship experience, and unlike last year's Hoover team, which had great depth but struggled with speed, this year's group is full of aggressive players. After finishing second at JV state to Sharath and James Clemens on the final toss-up, they are hungry for a title, and they should be step-for step with Buckhorn this year, all the way to state.

[bretthogan43]

I figured that since this thread hasn't been posted in in over two months, I'd give it a bump because I'd honestly hate to see it stagnate. However, I think there are a few dates that should be added to the calendar at the top of the thread:

December 10 (Sat): West Point Invitational (Cullman) [IS-161A]
January 7 (Sat): Covenant Christian Invitational (Huntsville) [IS-162]
April 21 (Fri): Snead State Scholars Bowl (Boaz) [IS-165A]

In other notes, I think that from the statistics that I've seen so far (from the UA and Hoover tournaments), Josh's preseason rankings have proven steady. Total domination from James Clemens, Hoover, Buckhorn and the others toward the top of the list. Also congratulations to those three teams for being ranked numbers 21, 22, and 23 nationally. The only thing out of the ordinary so far has probably been an upset of Hoover A by Lee Henry's crew from West Point at UA back in early October. I'm looking forward to an eventful year as the season continues.

Also, best of luck to Sharath as he competes in the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament. I'll be watching on Tuesday, that's for certain.

[Joshua Rutsky]

Updated. Thanks, Brett!

[Joshua Rutsky]

Just because it's fun, here's my update for Alabama Quizbowl in the first quarter of the season:

Rutsky’s Humbly Assembled Top Ten (RHATT) for AL Quizbowl 10/20/2016


DISCLAIMER: The list below is purely my opinion, total speculation, and probably should never be read by anyone anywhere for any purpose. You have been warned.


RANKING / PREVIOUS - TEAM - WHY?

1 / 1(T) - Hoover - Winners at WRK and 2nd place at CATT

2 / 3 - James Clemens - Winners at SMART II; 3rd at HIT

3 / 1(T) - Buckhorn - No data from HIT; loss to James Clemens at SMART II

4 / 5 - Springwood - Quarterfinals at CATT; Top 5 at HIT; L to James Clemens and to Hoover

5 / 6 - Spain Park - 3rd at SMART II; Top 5 at HIT; L to James Clemens and Springwood

6 / 8 - West Point - 7th at HIT; 3rd at WRK. Defeated Hoover at WRK; lost to James Clemens and LAMP A

7 / 9 - Sylacauga - 6th at HIT

8 / 4 - Huntsville - No data at this time; speed overall in state has significantly improved, which will hurt
them
9 / 12 - LAMP - 4th at WRK; 2nd flight at HIT; good wins against Altamont, Itawamba, and Vestavia Hills

10 / 14 - Altamont - Improving rapidly; 2nd flight at HIT


NOTE: No results are available from the Aggie Invitational yet.

[jjjjjared]

Hey, umm. There was a tournament in Enterprise and the stats are on NAQT's website if anyone cares? https://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament-teams.jsp?tournament_id=7410&playoffs=true

[bretthogan43]

Hey, umm. There was a tournament in Enterprise and the stats are on NAQT's website if anyone cares? https://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament-teams.jsp?tournament_id=7410&playoffs=true

It looks as if Venu Reddy is a force to be reckoned with if he's averaging over 140 PP20TUH, and he along with James Clemens' Sharath Narayan are going to be invaluable quizbowl "weapons of mass destruction" for our state on a national scale as both of them continue to get better throughout the remainder of the season.

[jjjjjared]

Oh yeah it was fun seeing him play and competing against him in finals.

[Joshua Rutsky]

Stats for West Point Winter are promised for today, so I'll have more to say after I look over those. New RHATT in time for the holidays!

[quizbowllee]

Stats from our tournament:

https://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament-t ... nt_id=7867

[naesorman555]

This weekend's tournament at West Point was very good. We didn't have any major problems and finished early.
I think our varsity team had a tough time this weekend and didn't play to their full potential. Although we finished second without one of our best players (Rishik Hombal) we left a lot of points out there with late buzzes and bonus screw ups. After thinking about the match against James Clemens, I think it was closer than I initially thought. Sharath beat us on 3-4 buzzer races and we missed some chances to steal toss ups after James Clemens negs plus our own negs. Our game with West Point was fairly close (someone told me that their lit player was taking the ACT) and Bob Jones was much better than I thought they were. We didn't see Buckhorn or Gadsden so I don't know how those teams were. I know our JV split games with Gadsden but I don't know much about those matches other than the stats.

[quizbowllee]

This weekend's tournament at West Point was very good. We didn't have any major problems and finished early.
I think our varsity team had a tough time this weekend and didn't play to their full potential. Although we finished second without one of our best players (Rishik Hombal) we left a lot of points out there with late buzzes and bonus screw ups. After thinking about the match against James Clemens, I think it was closer than I initially thought. Sharath beat us on 3-4 buzzer races and we missed some chances to steal toss ups after James Clemens negs plus our own negs. Our game with West Point was fairly close (someone told me that their lit player was taking the ACT) and Bob Jones was much better than I thought they were. We didn't see Buckhorn or Gadsden so I don't know how those teams were. I know our JV split games with Gadsden but I don't know much about those matches other than the stats.

Thanks.

I can confirm that we were missing our literature player. It also seems that missing him threw off the chemistry of the whole team. They are usually very balanced, with each player within 10-15 ppg of each other. But, at this tournament, Will Parker had a higher ppg that the other three put together. That's unusual and definitely messed with the team dynamic. It's weird how missing one piece of the puzzle can affect the whole team that way.

We still managed to play Hoover close, but got DESTROYED again by James Clemens. My biggest concern, though, was the very lop-sided defeat we took at the hands of CCA. I didn't expect that at all.

Also, Florence is definitely knocking on the door of greatness. They have a lot of potential and will probably repeat as 6A champs. Oddly enough, though, 5A is a way more competitive division.

Unfortunately, I think our next tournament for our varsity team will be district, so we may have learned all we're going to before ASCA starts in February. It should be interesting!

[100% Clean Comedian Dan Nainan]

Speaking of Spring tournaments...

Good Hope is still hoping to run a tournament again this year in the early Spring, and I've agreed to help organize/run it. Do the players/coaches who frequent this board have a personal preference in Spring dates? February 4th is probably a no-go for me since that's the day of NAQT Sectionals, but we're definitely looking at January 14th, 21st, or February 11th. Ideally it would be run before February so that no teams' seasons had "ended" already at districts, but if the 11th is the best date, then so be it.

A few questions:
-Would teams come play on the Saturday after a district tournament is held on Friday? Either JV/small school which is on 1/13, or high school districts which is on 2/10?
-Is there a specific set teams are wanting to hear that hasn't been hosted in-state this year?
-Any other input?

Any and all feedback welcome, and hopefully we'll have a date set shortly!

Edit: Just realized Lamp's tournament is on 1/14, so its probably in Good Hope's best interest to not host on that day unless we find a lot of teams in Northern Alabama willing to come that day.

[quizbowllee]

Speaking of Spring tournaments...

Good Hope is still hoping to run a tournament again this year in the early Spring, and I've agreed to help organize/run it. Do the players/coaches who frequent this board have a personal preference in Spring dates? February 4th is probably a no-go for me since that's the day of NAQT Sectionals, but we're definitely looking at January 14th, 21st, or February 11th. Ideally it would be run before February so that no teams' seasons had "ended" already at districts, but if the 11th is the best date, then so be it.

A few questions:
-Would teams come play on the Saturday after a district tournament is held on Friday? Either JV/small school which is on 1/13, or high school districts which is on 2/10?
-Is there a specific set teams are wanting to hear that hasn't been hosted in-state this year?
-Any other input?

Any and all feedback welcome, and hopefully we'll have a date set shortly!

Edit: Just realized Lamp's tournament is on 1/14, so its probably in Good Hope's best interest to not host on that day unless we find a lot of teams in Northern Alabama willing to come that day.

LAMP's tournament is using the set that we used at the County Tournament. I don't think that hosting that same day will hurt your turnout OR LAMP's. Not many northern teams go to LAMP, and no Cullman County team CAN due to having heard the questions. I'd personally prefer either Jan. 14 or Jan. 21. We'd like to get in another tournament BEFORE district.

[Joshua Rutsky]

Rutsky’s Humbly Assembled Top Ten (RHATT) for AL Quizbowl 12/14/2016


DISCLAIMER: The list below is purely my opinion, total speculation, and probably should never be read by anyone anywhere for any purpose. You have been warned.


RANKING / PREVIOUS - TEAM - WHY?

1 (T) / 1 - Hoover - 1st WRK, Mt. Carmel; 2nd at CATT and WP

1 (T) / 2 - James Clemens - 1st@SMART II and WP; 3rd at HIT; Sharath.

3 / 3 - Buckhorn - Losses to JC; 3rd @ WP after loss to Bob Jones

4 / 4 - Springwood - Quarterfinals at CATT; Top 5 at HIT; 1st @ Enterprise

5 / 6 - West Point - 7th at HIT; 3rd at WRK. Shorthanded at WP but finished 6th

6 / 5 - Spain Park - 3rd at SMART II; Top 5 at HIT; L to James Clemens and Springwood. Idle since HIT.


7 / 7 - Sylacauga - 6th at HIT; Idle recently

8 / 8 - Huntsville - Still no data, so this is a guess.
them
9 / 9 - LAMP - 4th at WRK; 2nd flight at HIT; good wins against Altamont, Itawamba, and Vestavia Hills

10 / Unranked - Florence - 4th place finish at WP makes them a surprise contender

OTHER TEAMS WORTH NOTE: Altamont, Grissom, Gadsden City, Bob Jones

[Joshua Rutsky]

Speaking of Spring tournaments...

Good Hope is still hoping to run a tournament again this year in the early Spring, and I've agreed to help organize/run it. Do the players/coaches who frequent this board have a personal preference in Spring dates? February 4th is probably a no-go for me since that's the day of NAQT Sectionals, but we're definitely looking at January 14th, 21st, or February 11th. Ideally it would be run before February so that no teams' seasons had "ended" already at districts, but if the 11th is the best date, then so be it.

A few questions:
-Would teams come play on the Saturday after a district tournament is held on Friday? Either JV/small school which is on 1/13, or high school districts which is on 2/10?
-Is there a specific set teams are wanting to hear that hasn't been hosted in-state this year?
-Any other input?

Any and all feedback welcome, and hopefully we'll have a date set shortly!

Edit: Just realized Lamp's tournament is on 1/14, so its probably in Good Hope's best interest to not host on that day unless we find a lot of teams in Northern Alabama willing to come that day.

Personally, I would LOVE to see a good in-state tourney during January, but LAMP weekend is a big debate team day for us, and we would not be able to field much. I'd rather you picked a different day in January for your event. GSAC XXIV would be cool to see.

[bretthogan43]

Speaking of Spring tournaments...

Good Hope is still hoping to run a tournament again this year in the early Spring, and I've agreed to help organize/run it. Do the players/coaches who frequent this board have a personal preference in Spring dates? February 4th is probably a no-go for me since that's the day of NAQT Sectionals, but we're definitely looking at January 14th, 21st, or February 11th. Ideally it would be run before February so that no teams' seasons had "ended" already at districts, but if the 11th is the best date, then so be it.

A few questions:
-Would teams come play on the Saturday after a district tournament is held on Friday? Either JV/small school which is on 1/13, or high school districts which is on 2/10?
-Is there a specific set teams are wanting to hear that hasn't been hosted in-state this year?
-Any other input?

Any and all feedback welcome, and hopefully we'll have a date set shortly!

Edit: Just realized Lamp's tournament is on 1/14, so its probably in Good Hope's best interest to not host on that day unless we find a lot of teams in Northern Alabama willing to come that day.

Personally, I would LOVE to see a good in-state tourney during January, but LAMP weekend is a big debate team day for us, and we would not be able to field much. I'd rather you picked a different day in January for your event. GSAC XXIV would be cool to see.

Just wanting to throw this out there so everyone knows- due to the AP English study sessions being on January 7th both Fairview and West Point will not be able to make the tournament at CCA, and as of right now neither team will be playing again until districts on February 10. However, if Good Hope can schedule their tournament after that date then, speaking on behalf of Fairview, we're all in.

Also, what set is Good Hope looking to mirror? I know that they ran the GSAC set last year but both the BHSAT and BASK sets also seem to be viable options.

[100% Clean Comedian Dan Nainan]

Speaking of Spring tournaments...

Good Hope is still hoping to run a tournament again this year in the early Spring, and I've agreed to help organize/run it. Do the players/coaches who frequent this board have a personal preference in Spring dates? February 4th is probably a no-go for me since that's the day of NAQT Sectionals, but we're definitely looking at January 14th, 21st, or February 11th. Ideally it would be run before February so that no teams' seasons had "ended" already at districts, but if the 11th is the best date, then so be it.

A few questions:
-Would teams come play on the Saturday after a district tournament is held on Friday? Either JV/small school which is on 1/13, or high school districts which is on 2/10?
-Is there a specific set teams are wanting to hear that hasn't been hosted in-state this year?
-Any other input?

Any and all feedback welcome, and hopefully we'll have a date set shortly!

Edit: Just realized Lamp's tournament is on 1/14, so its probably in Good Hope's best interest to not host on that day unless we find a lot of teams in Northern Alabama willing to come that day.

Personally, I would LOVE to see a good in-state tourney during January, but LAMP weekend is a big debate team day for us, and we would not be able to field much. I'd rather you picked a different day in January for your event. GSAC XXIV would be cool to see.

Just wanting to throw this out there so everyone knows- due to the AP English study sessions being on January 7th both Fairview and West Point will not be able to make the tournament at CCA, and as of right now neither team will be playing again until districts on February 10. However, if Good Hope can schedule their tournament after that date then, speaking on behalf of Fairview, we're all in.

Also, what set is Good Hope looking to mirror? I know that they ran the GSAC set last year but both the BHSAT and BASK sets also seem to be viable options.

I should have more information regarding this potential tournament later this afternoon.

[100% Clean Comedian Dan Nainan]

This year's Good Hope Spring Invitational will be on January 21st, and is intended to be run on GSAC. This is pretty much official, barring confirmation from school administration. Expect an announcement later this week, and if you want to preliminarily register, shoot me an email at westchandler24@gmail.com.

[bretthogan43]

Did the Covenant Christian tournament happen, or was it a victim of "snowmageddon"?

[Joshua Rutsky]

I checked with the Sheldons at CCA, and they confirm that the tourney did NOT run. They are trying to rebook for the 28th of this month.

[bretthogan43]

Any word from JV/SS regionals?

[Joshua Rutsky]

Info should be up on the ASCA website tomorrow at the latest.

[jjjjjared]

Stats from the LAMP tournament are posted. Congrats to Springwood, Indian Springs, Sylacauga, and everyone else. https://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament-t ... yoffs=true

As for Dothan, we only had 2/4 of our A team but it was still fun competing.

[naesorman555]

Stats are up for LAMP. I didn't get to see any varsity teams as I was with our JV. I'm not really surprised by anything from looking at the stats except for sylacauga's success with only 3 people.

[bretthogan43]

I want to extend the greatest of thanks to Chandler, Hulsey, and the entire Good Hope crew for putting on such a well-run tournament today. Everything ran smoothly and my team was able to get in nine rounds well before 3.

The adrenaline-pumping final between James Clemens and Hoover to me showed how competitive our state has become and that can only mean good things on a national scale. Both of those teams are definitely going to do some damage at nationals.

All in all, I am very grateful to get to play quizbowl in Alabama because we have some of the top teams in the country. Period.

[100% Clean Comedian Dan Nainan]

I want to extend the greatest of thanks to Chandler, Hulsey, and the entire Good Hope crew for putting on such a well-run tournament today. Everything ran smoothly and my team was able to get in nine rounds well before 3.

The adrenaline-pumping final between James Clemens and Hoover to me showed how competitive our state has become and that can only mean good things on a national scale. Both of those teams are definitely going to do some damage at nationals.

All in all, I am very grateful to get to play quizbowl in Alabama because we have some of the top teams in the country. Period.

Thanks, Brett! We hope everyone else enjoyed the tournament as well. Stats should be up by tomorrow.

[100% Clean Comedian Dan Nainan]

Stats from yesterday's Good Hope Invitational are now up:
http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4144/

Now, a few things worth note:
All three James Clemens vs. Hoover games came down to the final tossup. It will be very interesting to see how this matchup plays out at state, if it ends up being the final. (I'm also aware Hoover was somewhat short handed yesterday).
Speaking of James Clemens, not only did Sharath dominate yesterday, but he got GREAT support from his teammates on both tossups and bonuses, especially in the finals. Props to them!
Also, Springwood seems solidly ahead of the rest of Rutsky's top 10 that aren't Hoover/James Clemens, but I haven't seen Buckhorn play.

Good luck to all of the Alabama teams as the ASCA series is approaching, and best of luck to all that attend nationals. I hope everyone had a good time yesterday!

[Joshua Rutsky]

Rutsky’s Humbly Assembled Top Ten (RHATT) for AL Quizbowl 1/23/2017


DISCLAIMER: The list below is purely my opinion, total speculation, and probably should never be read by anyone anywhere for any purpose. You have been warned.

IN A SENTENCE OR TWO: Not a whole lot of change here, except to give James Clemens sole possession of the number one spot and to flip Buckhorn and Springwood. There is a clear separation at the moment between James Clemens, Hoover, Springwood and Buckhorn and the rest of the state, with West Point falling somewhere in the gap or on either side of the boundary depending on the day. There are also several really good up-and-coming teams in the state to watch out for.

RANKING / PREVIOUS - TEAM - WHY?

1 / 1 (T) - James Clemens - 1st@SMART II, WP, and Good Hope; 3rd at HIT; Sharath. This team is fast and talented, and gets better every week.


2 / 1 (T) - Hoover - 1st WRK, Mt. Carmel; 2nd at CATT, WP, and Good Hope. Hoover lost the best of 3 to James Clemens at Good Hope in three matches that all went to the final tossup. Until they beat JC in a tourney, however, you can't say they are at the same spot.

3 / 4 - Springwood - Quarterfinals at CATT; Top 5 at HIT; 1st @ Enterprise and LAMP; 3rd @ Good Hope. Venu is averaging well over 100 PPG in tourney play and shut down #5 West Point and #6 Spain Park at Good Hope.

4 / 3 - Buckhorn - Losses to JC; 3rd @ WP after loss to Bob Jones. I don't think they have played Springwood head to head this season, but I give the nod to Venu here based on tourney experience. Buckhorn is a great team, but they haven't gotten to play together often enough this year, and it may hurt them later.

5 / 6 - West Point - 7th at HIT; 3rd at WRK. Shorthanded at WP but finished 6th. Fifth place at Good Hope. West Point is young, and it shows. They are a much different team when Lee Henry is present. They could be spoilers at state with a good run and some breaks.

6 / 5 - Spain Park - 3rd at SMART II; Top 5 at HIT; L to James Clemens and Springwood. Top 4 at LAMP and Good Hope. Spain Park is rebuilding this year but remains dangerous.

7 / 7 - Sylacauga - 6th at HIT; Semifinals at LAMP. Sylacauga is for real, and Will Hughes is continuing to improve rapidly.

8 / 8 - Huntsville - Someday, they'll play somewhere.

9 / 9 - LAMP - 4th at WRK; 2nd flight at HIT; good wins against Altamont, Itawamba, and Vestavia Hills

10 / 10- Florence - 4th place finish at WP; I haven't seen any reason to drop their position.

OTHER TEAMS WORTH NOTE: Altamont, Grissom, Gadsden City, Bob Jones

[bretthogan43]

The tournament at CCA has been postponed to April 1. Only 4 of the original 23 teams had expressed interest for this Saturday.

[sharathun]

I very much enjoyed the Good Hope tournament last weekend, and thanks to everyone who helped out there for giving us a fun time! I'd also kind of like to do something like Mr. Rutsky did above, sort of a survey of Alabama teams before ASCA starts up for this season. All these will be from my own perspective and my own opinion, so if you disagree with me, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. In the wise words of Coach Rutsky, "You have been warned".

Hoover is terrifying to play against. All of their players have incredible depth in their subject areas, and they show no signs of stopping anytime soon. Especially under the tutelage of Coach Rutsky, Hoover will be a force to be reckoned with within the state and at the national level, both this year and next. At Good Hope, they were also notably missing Joe Jun, a great fine arts player; when the stars align and all four players on their A team are available at one tournament, you can be sure they will give everyone a run for their money (even more so than they do now).

Springwood continues to get better, led forward on the shoulders of Venu Reddy. Venu has incredible depth in fine arts, history, and literature, and great generalist knowledge in other subjects as well. He piloted Springwood to win the LAMP invitational, against great competition like Spain Park, Indian Springs, and Sylacauga. Last year, if they had attended the state tournament, I feel the playoff spots may have been different, but this year, they are definitely going to rock the boat in both AISA and ASCA.

Spain Park is having a bit of a rebuilding year. While not the powerhouse they were last year, the trifecta of Daniel P., Jack G., and Grady F. keeps them competitive. I know at ACE camp this year, they were trying to fill in some of their gaps in subjects such as literature, which I believe they were quite successful in (I watched them get an impressive poetry buzz this year at Buckhorn's tournament on the Speed Check questions). Speed is another factor here; Spain Park has some of the fastest fingers I've ever played against. Buckhorn's tournament on the Speed Check was right up their alley in this, and those lightning fast clickers will help keep them close to the top all year.

Buckhorn is great team composed of great players, each with deep knowledge as evidenced by them having all 4 of their A-team players reach Room 1 at ACE camp this past summer. They beat teams earlier this year like Spain Park and Gadsden City, which I think shows they have a very high probability of making the playoffs this year at state. We played them in the finals of SMART II at West Point; the margin in our scores is not from a lack of knowledge on their part, but because there were three or four buzzer races that we were able to pull off against them. They will continue improving all year, and also I think have a great chance of making the final four.

West Point lost two of their highest scoring players last year, Ross and Zakk, which has half of the team that scored T-5 at SSNCT. Despite this loss in scoring, West Point can still pack a punch. With Coach Lee Henry at the helm, the Cullman County champs will still continue to be as knowledgeable as they have in previous years all the way until state. They have already beaten Hoover at WRK this year, and had yet another close game against them at West Point's Winter Invitational. The Parker twins, Will and Tom, have strong knowledge bases in almost all subjects, and they are backed by a team just as strong, who have formidable subject specialties as well.

Sylacauga is another up and coming team, whose top scorer is Will Hughes. Will did very well at ACE camp, and he has a backing of other experienced players who were also at camp. I'm sure if they continue to study, they have the chance to win JV state this year and make the playoffs at varsity. Will is only a sophomore also, so he will continue to get better over the years, making Sylacauga formidable competition for Alabama teams in the future.

Florence is a very good team, one that actually beat us last year at ASCA regionals. It was definitely not one of the best games we've played (we had buzzer difficulties and we were seated quite far from the moderator, making it hard to hear), but I'm not making excuses. They are a very strong team with a large subject base in history and geography, and I think this year they are ready to make a step up.

I'm not really able to comment on any other Alabama teams on Mr. Rutsky's rankings, just from not having played them and a lack of knowledge about them. Some are still relatively inactive this year so far (Huntsville and Grissom), so we may not get a glimpse of them until district. However, if I am able to see them play there, I could probably make an update here just for the sake of discussion.

I'd like to talk about us too. James Clemens is a relatively new school (~5 years old now), but I'd like to think that we do okay for being so young. After losing to a lot of experienced teams, we are trying to get our speed up, and I think we'll also attend nationals this year so we can get experience playing more teams. I'm excited for the rest of the season, and I hope to see everyone soon!

[bretthogan43]

ASCA districts are one week away now... do we have any predictions?

I won't make any predictions because I'm not necessarily in the position to do so.

However, a few questions are looming... Will there be any major upsets? Will Huntsville or Grissom do very well considering neither of them have played at all this year? Will powerhouses Hoover or James Clemens walk away with the overall state title in April?

I am greatly looking forward to the ASCA series as well as the many other tournaments we have lined up in the coming months.

[jjjjjared]

From the enterprise site I expect Enterprise, LAMP, and Dothan to come out on top. I'm very Hopeful for good matches and i'm excited to see Dothan with our full A team.

[jjjjjared]

Dothan won 5-0 at the enterprise site. Close game against LAMP.

[bretthogan43]

Quick results from the Wallace-Hanceville district:

Moving on from Pool A:
1. West Point
2. Ellkmont
3. Good Hope

Moving on from Pool B:
1. Arab
2. Fairview
3. St. Bernard

Notes:
West Point once again dominates, breaking the state record for points scored in a game with 660 of a possible 700.
Arab is a power player but isn't as good as they once were.

[Joshua Rutsky]

From Birmingham:

Pool A advancers:
Hoover
Indian Springs
Mtn. Brook
Thompson

Pool B advancers:
Vestavia
Spain Park
Altamont
Oak Mountain

[sharathun]

From the Huntsville district site at UAH:

Pool A:
1. James Clemens
2. Sparkman
3. Covenant Christian

Pool B:
1. Buckhorn
2. Grissom
3. Huntsville

[negmanfred]

Just officially confirmed by ASCA board member, and stats guru Christopher Arthur, West Point High broke the scoring record for ASCA today against Holly Pond with a score of 660. The previous record being 645 was held by Gadsden City against Walter Wellborn High a couple years ago.

[bretthogan43]

Many thanks to Dr Dean and all at Buckhorn for a very well-run tournament on Saturday. Now- ASCA regionals are in just under two weeks. Best of luck to all competing.

[bretthogan43]

I have also been asked to gauge interest for an Alabama mirror of Prison Bowl. I think it would be really cool to see it run in our state. However, my school would not be the best place to do it. At all. I hope we can get somebody to take it.

[jjjjjared]

I would personally love to play on the prison bowl set if at all possible a good location and date were to be found.

[negmanfred]

I'm all down for some prison bowl Brett. If Fairview were to do the tournament, you'd probably make decent and have an ok turn out.

[bretthogan43]

I can confirm that the idea of hosting a tournament was shot down by Fairview's coach. It looks that if someone our area won't take it, then the idea for an Alabama Prison Bowl mirror is dead in the water (sorry, Luke).

[An Economic Ignoramus]

Might as well post this here: the ballots are in for my Southeast player poll. Thank you to all who participated, and especially Min Kim, Rishik Hombal, and Akash Para for advising me and coordinating stuff.
Results (11 ballots returned):
1) Chattahoochee A (10 Adjusted Votes)
2) Dorman A (9 Adjusted Votes)
3) Northview A (4.86 Adjusted Votes)
4) Hoover A (4.53 Adjusted Votes)
5) Southside A (3.31 Adjusted Votes)
6) Chattahoochee B (3.27 Adjusted Votes)
7) Collins Hill A (3.03 Adjusted Votes)
8) Dunbar A (1.93 Adjusted Votes)
9) Woodford County A (1.27 Adjusted Votes)
10) North Gwinnett A (0.563 Adjusted Votes)
Also receiving votes: Dunwoody, Chamblee, South Forsyth, Lakeside, Johns Creek A, Chattahoochee C, Springwood A, Northview B
NOTE: it's interesting to note that all 11 ballots (save one that had it reversed) had Hooch A first and Dorman second.

[Joshua Rutsky]

Thanks for doing this. Always interesting to see these and how they turn out. My only comment: I have to assume James Clemens was left off because they haven't been out of state, but they have been neck and neck with us all year, and are absolutely one of the top three teams in Alabama.