Four area high school teams feeling fortunate for TSSAA playoff chances

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Some area high school teams in the TSSAA playoffs this Friday were expected to be out of the picture before the regular season was half completed, and others had a poor track record in previous years, so they weren't making plans for extended play.

Some even had begun making plans late last Friday to take up the players' equipment by now, but they're living to play another week at least.

Here are four feeling fortunate:

BLEDSOE COUNTY (Class 3A)

• Record: 5-5; will play at Red Bank

• Fact: The Warriors haven't participated in a playoff game since a 2010 second-round loss to Alcoa.

• Coach's quote: "I told our kids coming off the Grundy County loss that we were in the (figurative) playoffs: Win and keep playing or lose and go home. We have lived by that the last two or three weeks. The kids played hard versus Sequatchie and Grundy and didn't close the deal, but they never faltered. Hard work and resiliency paid off. It's not basketball season yet." -- Jason Reel

CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN (Class 3A)

• Record: 4-6; will play at Notre Dame

• Fact: The Chargers have yet to have a winning season but will be competing in the postseason for the first time.

• Coach's quote: "There's no question (being in the playoffs) has generated excitement. We're thrilled that the state thought highly enough of us to include us in the 32 (3A) playoff teams. A couple of the games we lost we were winning with like four to six minutes to play and we lost the lead. This team is a lot better than its record." -- Rob Spence

MEIGS COUNTY (Class 2A)

• Record: 6-4; will play at Knoxville Grace Christian

• Fact: Meigs had not had a winning season since 2007 (7-4), and the Tigers haven't won a playoff game since 2000 (Smith County, 30-27).

• Coach's quote: "As coaches our expectations were the number 48. We wanted them to learn to play for 48 minutes. Coming into a program that hadn't had a lot of success, we wanted them to play hard and we'd go from there. I think the administration wanted us to be competitive, and the community, well, they always want you to win." -- Jason Fitzgerald

SODDY-DAISY (Class 5A)

• Record: 4-6; will play at Oak Ridge

• Fact: The Trojans have had as many head coaches (three -- E.K. Slaughter, Kevin Orr, Justin Barnes) as playoff years during the last six seasons.

• Coach's quote: "This is something our kids haven't experienced. It wasn't the way we wanted to get in, but we'll definitely take it. It's something to build on. In two or three games I felt if we had made a play here, a play there, we could've had a better record. Our seniors wanted another one after Friday night, and the younger guys, it gives them a taste and something to strive for in the future." -- Justin Barnes

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