Big 25: Arby's Classic begins again.

From the BHC...


Sullivan East coach John Dyer rolls through the names with ease.

Princeton High School. Dorsey. Wheeler.

Then Dyer matches the names with the years. And then he has fun.

"I remember in 1999, we came into the tournament at 11-2," Dyer said laughing. "We had a good team, a great group of kids. I liked our chances. Then we went up against a really good Princeton [Cincinnati, Ohio] team. And they ... they beat us pretty bad. They punched us in the mouth."

But to Dyer, blowouts are a major part of what makes the Arby's Classic ? which celebrates its 25th year of existence today ? so special.

Lasting memories are created; legends are born. And for every blowout or mismatch, there are a season's worth of lessons instantly learned.

"It's easy to get intimidated because of some of the competition that comes in here," Dyer said. "But it's also a great experience. If, as a team, you can keep from being intimidated, you're going to be so much better after it's over. How often do you get to go up against future NBA-type caliber players in high school? It's rare for most kids. But it happens all the time in the Classic."

Dyer heads a Patriots (11-3, 5-1 Big Nine Conference) squad that opens up the 2007 Arby's Classic with a 1 p.m. matchup today against Tabernacle Baptist (Freeport, Great Bahamas) at Viking Hall.

Five-foot-11 senior guard Isaac Snapp (18 points, two assists per game) leads East, while 6-foot-4 senior center Kyle Barnes (12 points, seven rebounds) and 6-foot-1 senior guard Dillon Faver (11 points, five rebounds, two assists) have helped propel an early-season Patriots push.

East combines an up-tempo, shoot-and-run offense with a pesky, persistent defense. The combination has paid early dividends, as the Patriots have knocked off Tennessee High, Daniel Boone, Sullivan South, Sullivan Central, David Crockett, Abingdon and Virginia High while going 7-2 in their last nine games.

"Our team is off to a great start because of all the hard work and dedication of these young men," Dyer said.

Five other games kick off today's action, including a 5:30 p.m. contest between Archbishop Carroll (Washington, D.C.) and Tennessee High, and an 8:30 p.m. matchup between Pine Castle Christian (Orlando, Fla.) and Gate City.

Vikings (6-6, 3-4) coach Roby Witcher hopes his team can use the Classic to improve on its early season roller-coaster ride.

"We have been in four of the games we lost and only needed to do a few things better during the game[s] to win," Witcher said. "We are gaining ground and working hard to eliminate mistakes and improve on our weaknesses."

Meanwhile, Dyer is already dreaming up possible scenarios and matchups that could arise if East is able to stay in the winner's bracket and make a strong run.

"All the kids in this area grow up thinking about playing in this tournament, so this is exciting for our boys," Dyer said. "The teams that come in, the players, the way it's run ? everything about it is top class. It's definitely one of the premier Christmas tournaments in the nation. I know we're all excited for it to start."

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Arby's Classic at a Glance

Today's Games

Game 1 ? 1 p.m., Tabernacle Baptist (Great Bahamas) vs. Sullivan East
Game 2 ? 2:30 p.m., Urspring, Germany vs. Greeneville
Game 3 ? 4 p.m., Northview (Duluth, Ga.) vs. Science Hill
Game 4 ? 5:30 p.m., Archbishop Carroll (Washington, D.C.) vs. Tennessee High
Game 5 ? 7 p.m., Columbia (Decatur, Ga.) vs. Dobyns-Bennett
Game 6 ? 8:30 p.m., Pine Castle Christian (Orlando, Fla.) vs. Gate City

Thursday's Games

Game 7 ? Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Game 8 ? Briarcrest Christian (Eads, Tenn.) vs. Game 1 winner
Game 9 ? Iolani (Honolulu, Hawaii) vs. Father Henry Carr (Toronto, Canada)
Game 10 ? Charlotte (Punta Gorda, Fla.) vs. Volunteer
Game 11 ? Dorsey (Los Angeles, Calif.) vs. Game 2 winner

Fact Box

What: 25th-year anniversary of the Arby's Classic
When: Today-Dec. 29, Dec. 31
Where: Viking Hall at Tennessee High, 1100 Edgemont Ave., Bristol, Tenn.

Out-of-area teams to watch: Columbia, Northview, Iolani, Briarcrest Christian, Urspring.


Players to watch: Christopher Niemann (Urspring), Ralph Samson III (Northview), Kristopher Joseph (Archbishop Carroll), Tremaine Gash (Greeneville), Issac Snapp (Sullivan East), Derek Gaitor (Tabernacle Baptist), Thomas Austin (Pine Castle Christian), Jamie Hackney (Gate City), Rodel Grenaway (Father Henry Carr), Nigel Carter (Dorsey), Travis Leslie (Columbia), Dago Pena (Charlotte), Leslie McDonald (Briarcrest Christian).


Other Highlights
Slam Dunk Contest ? 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 29
3-point Contest ? 4:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 31
Championship ? 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 31

Anyone see the thing on the arbys on the news this morning? It showed alot of the NBA players from the 80s and up on it.

I can't wait, I hope to get thier for the 2:30 game, to see upspring

Science Hill sure wasn't in awe of the Sampson's today. 77-35 over Northview according to the tourney's website.

I just talked to PVFAN and he said that the oldest Sampson didn't even play said he never even took his warm ups off......and another buddy said his youngest son wasn't to great of a ball player!

Oh, I wonder what was wrong with him? I was gonna say that might be the biggest upset margin ever.

Looks like DB is going down. Columbia leading in the 4th right now by about 20 with about 4 minutes to play..Columbia pulling away after a 4 point halftime lead. You can listen to the games on WXSM... http://www.640wxsm.com/ for those wanting to listen to the GC game when it starts.

Columbia was huge at every postion but they couldn't hit [censored] tonite

Ralph Sampson's oldest son Ralph III did not play...and he was like his younger brother was at his age, kinda lanky and didn't look too well but really came on in the AAU circuit in the spring of his Jr. year...i would suspect the same will happen with the younger one

would've been much different had Ralph III played, he can play

BHC article on the game says he was out with bronchitis and is expected to play Friday.

http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tr...2-26-0028.html

GC is playing DB now, what time is it? Its friday right?

There were a couple of pretty good games and a couple of sleepers in the first session.

Urspring, Science Hill, and GC made pretty good showings. The Columbia team from Decatur, GA looked good.

A friend of mind who lives in the Northview (Duluth) area of Georgia was telling me that three of their basketball players were in a group of six kids got into some legal troubles recently. I'm wondering if they had their usual starters. At any rate, Science Hill embarrassed them.

I think GC and DB play at 10:30 Friday morning in the first session.


<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Djpenguin</div><div class="ubbcode-body">GC is playing DB now, what time is it? Its friday right? </div></div>

Yeah the Northview team didn't look good at all, they couldn't hit a shot. They didn't look like a team that would of been invited, Sience Hill looked really good though.

The Columbia team was good, the team from washington i think ? Looked really really good though, they played Tenn high.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cvcgrad</div><div class="ubbcode-body">A friend of mind who lives in the Northview (Duluth) area of Georgia was telling me that three of their basketball players were in a group of six kids got into some legal troubles recently. I'm wondering if they had their usual starters. At any rate, Science Hill embarrassed them. </div></div>

The coach said, in the paper, that they were missing two of their main guys, so one was probably a starter.

One of them was Ralph Samson's son.

I can't say for sure since I didn't see any of yesterday's games, but IMO Charlotte and Briarcrest are the two best teams in the tourney. Dorsey was very very undisciplined. Iolani and Carr was the best game of the day. Iolani was ahead at the half, but I figured Carr's speed advantage would help them in the second half and I was right. Iolani's last lead was less than 50 seconds into the half.

Pena for Charlotte had 41 points, 15 in 6 minutes of the fourth quarter. He could have had the tourney record had he stayed in the game (52 by Kenny Lawson in 94). Hell, Charlotte could have had the tourney record for points in a game (110).

These are the best teams Tabernacle and Urspring have brought to Bristol. How the heck did Tabernacle lose to East? Urspring won't beat Charlotte though. They struggle against a pressing team.

East isnt that bad this year from the scores I have seen. They should have beat DB last week.

Does anyone know the times for the games today?

Northview Titans 42, TN High Vikings 29

Scoreboard had the Sampson (ralph) kid scoreing 19, 7 blocks and 8 rebounds

DB laid the wood to Great City. Wonder why Hackney got a technical?

what was the score of db gc?

77-50---Lack of competition for Kingsport. A walk in the park.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: titans_1_2005</div><div class="ubbcode-body">what was the score of db gc? </div></div>

http://www.btcs.org/ths/arbysclassic/

Urspring is looking very good in this tournament!

Science Hill played a good 1st half yesterday against the team from DC, Archbishop Carroll but couldn't hold out in the second half. They were the last local team advancing in the tournament.

The Urspring/Charlotte score last night surprised the hell out of me. I guess Charlotte didn't put much pressure on the Germans.

Urspring has a great chance of winning the whole shebang. They match up well with Briarcrest.

Columbia and Archbishop Caroll Play today, should be a great game

What time is the game between Columbia and Archbishop Carrol?

The session starts at 5:30 with the slam dunk contest, its listed that after that the game between Archbishop Carroll and Columbia will start at 7:00

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Burrhead</div><div class="ubbcode-body">77-50---Lack of competition for Kingsport. A walk in the park. </div></div>


GC's style plays right into the Indian's hands....You can run and gun with the slower teams, but DB is quicker/faster/and better deffensively

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: neutral88</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Burrhead</div><div class="ubbcode-body">77-50---Lack of competition for Kingsport. A walk in the park. </div></div>


GC's style plays right into the Indian's hands....You can run and gun with the slower teams, but DB is quicker/faster/and better deffensively </div></div>

DB has a good team and the Williams kid is a good addition. Hopefully he has his head straight now.

AC vs. Briarcrest for the championship Monday night. Urspring shot 30% from the field tonight and still only lost by 8. Didn't help that they went 5-26 from behind the arc.

If Briarcrest wins Monday (and maybe if they don't), Leslie McDonald will be the tourney MVP. And he's only a junior.

Word is that Bruce Pearl was in Viking Hall Wednesday for a while to watch a few guys. There were a couple of UT guys there last night for the Briarcrest game.

Urspring came out very flat in the last game. Archbishop Carrol and Briarcrest are both very good teams. Leslie McDonald (Briarcrest) is amazing to watch.

I thought we might be seeing Urspring and Charlotte, FL in the final.

The kid who won the slam dunk contest from Canada was awesome. I heard someone comment that he is only 5'9".

Yeah, Its on tricitiessports.com, he said he had a 43' vertical!!

The kid had some serious hang time!

Briarcrest Christian defeats Archbishop Carrol in the championship game.

Leslie McDonald put on a helluva show and very rightfully earned tournament MVP.