McCallie's Mac Hunt lays up a shot over Thomas Robbins during a 66-37 victory over Howard on Dec. 11. McCallie lost for the first time this season on Monday, to Montgomery Bell Academy, but is No. 1 in the Division II state poll.McCallie is ranked No. 1 and Baylor's girls are ranked No. 3 in Division II in this season's first Associated Press TSSAA high school basketball polls, which were released Monday.
McCallie, 16-0 heading into Monday's East/Middle Region game against No. 8-ranked Montgomery Bell Academy, received a total of 89 points. That put the Blue Tornado four ahead of No. 2 Brentwood Academy (12-0) and six ahead of No. 3 Christian Brothers (16-0), even though CBHS received five first-place votes to BA's three and McCallie's one.
Baylor's girls are 10-1 and recently won the Times Free Press Best of Preps tournament for a third consecutive year. They received two first-place votes and amassed 61 points.
Knoxville Webb (14-3) tops the DII girls' rankings with 76 points, and Brentwood Academy is second with 66. They each received three first-place votes.
No Chattanooga-area teams are ranked in Division I. The closest is Meigs County's Class A boys (15-3), who with 26 points are the first team listed as receiving votes behind No. 10 Jackson County (12-3), which totaled 34 points.
Aside from the top 10, the AP polls list only those teams garnering 12 points or more through the voting. McMinn Central's girls received 16 points in Class AA, and Baylor's boys and GPS each has 12 points in DII.
Meigs coach floored
Grace Christian is hosting Meigs County tonight in two key District 3-A basketball games. Coincidentally -- or maybe not -- the Knoxville school also is holding a dedication ceremony for its gymnasium floor.
"They're introducing a new floor for the first time," Meigs boys' coach Sammy Perkinson said of the Rams and Lady Rams. "There hasn't been anybody play on it yet. We beat them two times last year and four times total. You think this was scheduled when we just happened to be there?"
Both Grace teams are 3-0 in the district, and both Meigs teams are 3-1. Both boys' teams also are among those with 12 or more points in the first AP state poll.
Perkinson, who guided the Tigers to a state-runner-up finish last season, said injury and illness setbacks have kept him from having his full varsity squad together until the last four games.
"We could play well and win, or we could get beat by 15," Perkinson said. "We'll see how they respond."
Hixson wins Clemens duals
Hixson's wrestling team went unbeaten in the James Clemens duals tournament in Madison, Ala., over the weekend and improved its record to 20-4 with victories over Muscle Shoals, Buckhorn, Dressler, James Clemens and, in the championship match, Bob Jones.
Four of the Wildcats wrestled in all five meets and made it through without a loss: Dylan Bargerstock (195), Brody Gregory (285), Landon Goforth (145) and Isaac Yates (126).
Trotter, Parker lead region team
McCallie running back Alex Trotter was named offensive MVP and Baylor linebacker Ryan Parker was defensive MVP for the 2014 Division II-AA East/Middle all-region football team.
Baylor kicker Colin Brewer was named special teams MVP, and academic MVP honors were accorded to Baylor receiver Devin Smith and McCallie offensive lineman James Throckmorton.
Local players named to the offensive unit included quarterbacks Nick Tiano of Baylor and JaVaughn Craig of McCallie, offensive linemen Jon Schmissrauter of Baylor and Billy Boardma and J.J. Moncus of McCallie, tight end Matthew Brock of McCallie and receivers Paul Silverblatt and Tyler Payne of McCallie.
Baylor's defensive team members are lineman Blake Sutherland, linebacker Luke Hutchins and defensive back Ulysses Strawster, and McCallie defensive picks are linebacker Kerrington Wilson and lineman Jay Roberts.
Mustangs bowlers No. 2
The Walker Valley boys are 22-2 and ranked No. 2 in Division I in Tennessee prep bowling, behind Columbia Central, and Walker Valley's 20-0 Lady Mustangs are No. 5 in the girls' list. McCallie and Girls Preparatory School each is No. 3 in Division II.