With basketball season in full swing and district play ramping up, UCR’s Rusty Ellis and Michael Lindsay have graded each team’s performance to this point. Grades were decided upon using multiple factors including win-loss records, quality of wins and preseason expectations for each school.
Lady Buffaloes: A-
Overall Record: 12-4
Key Wins: Oneida, Lenoir City, William Blount
Reasoning: The Lady Buffaloes have once again put together a strong start to their season. Dominant wins over Oneida, Lenoir City and William Blount show Clarkrange has the potential to make yet another deep postseason run. Clarkrange’s home loss to Stone Memorial is the lone red flag so far.
How to Improve: With an already-high grade, it’ll take some impressive performances for Clarkrange to move up. The Lady Buffaloes will have no shortage of opportunities, though, as their remaining schedule features state tournament hopefuls across multiple classifications.
Buffaloes: C
Overall Record: 3-15
Key Win: Cumberland County
Reasoning: Clarkrange has shown obvious progress from last season, but they’re still young and gaining experience. They’ve already eclipsed last season’s win total (2), but I’m sure the Buffalo faithful want more.
How to Improve: Clarkrange needs to turn its progress into wins. They’ve played multiple teams close, but need to put a few more in the win column to improve their grade.