New 6-AA a monster

It's almost hard to fathom the thoughts that run through East Hamilton coach Michael Stone's head every time he glances at his 2009-10 basketball schedule. The first-year Hurricanes will field a team void of seniors and lacking any varsity experience, and entering the new District 6-AA, experience is one thing not to be lacking.

"It is what it is," Stone said. "It could have been better, but the thing is we're preparing to be good down the road. Everybody knows it will take time to build, but this gives us a chance to get kids in the program and the system in place. We're just going to have to treat it as trial by fire."

Central coach Rick Rogers understands the feeling, after losing all five starters and his top eight players from a 19-8 team. He returns three players with varsity experience, and only one -- junior center Matthew Short -- with any starts as a high-schooler.

"We knew coming into the season that it would be rough," Rogers said. "Being in the toughest district in town will make us better and will make us tougher because the past four years we automatically qualified for region because it was a four-team district. Now we've expanded from four to eight teams and you have to look at Tyner, Red Bank, Howard and Brainerd as the teams to beat because they've always had a great tradition of winning."

By all accounts, District 6-AA looks menacing -- as tough a district as there is this side of Memphis. Red Bank advanced to the Class AAA state tournament a year ago before bowing out to eventual state champion Memphis White Station. Brainerd won 26 games and made it to the Class AA state semifinals. Tyner, the preseason favorite, was a sectional participant and has two NCAA Division I signees: 6-foot-10 Michael Bradley to Connecticut and 6-foot-4 Thomas Cooper to North Carolina A&T.

Howard was a 27-game winner and spent the entire season ranked in the state, rising to No. 3 before falling to Tyner in the Region 3-AA semifinals. The Hustlin' Tigers return three starters and eight of their top 10 players.

"It's going to be interesting," said Red Bank coach John Cherne, whose Lions return junior Nick Ross but have been missing 11 players as the school's top-ranked football team reached the state quarterfinals. "Night in and night out, you have to be ready to play, because anyone can knock anyone else off."