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Historic tourney turns 55
Published December 26, 2008
An Arab native, Tracy Vest didn’t quite know how much basketball fans across Sand Mountain thought about the annual Sand Mountain Tournament when he became the North Sand Mountain High School girls basketball coach in 1994.
That season, NSM upset 2A power Fyffe to win the ‘94 Sand Mountain Tournament Championship.
“(Former NSM boys) coach (Glen) Hicks came in after the finals and told me that winning the Sand Mountain Tournament was almost like winning the state tournament,” Vest recalled.
“After that weeks and years later people would still come up to me and talk about it. I learned pretty fast how big it is. It’s one of the better Christmas tournaments there are.”
Vest, who now coaches the NSM boys team, won three Sand Mountain Tournament titles in the 1990s while coaching the NSM girls.
Like Vest, current NSM girls coach Michael Wilborn won a Sand Mountain Tournament Championship in his first season with the Bison last season.
The NSM girls and the Crossville boys are the defending tournament champs as the 55th Sand Mountain Tournament begins this afternoon at the DeKalb County Schools Coliseum in Rainsville.
In the girls bracket, Ider is the No. 1-seed, followed by No. 2 Plainview, No. 3 Section, No. 4 NSM, No. 5 Fyffe, No. 6 Pisgah, No. 7 Sylvania, No. 8 Crossville, No. 9 Geraldine and No. 10 Asbury.
In the boys bracket, Plainview is the No. 1-seed with Crossville second, Fyffe third, Asbury fourth, Ider fifth, Geraldine sixth, Section seventh, Sylvania eighth, Pisgah ninth and NSM 10th.
Today’s contests include boys games involving locals NSM, Pisgah and Section. Girls teams from those schools play on Saturday.
Wilborn’s second NSM team enters this year’s tournament as the No. 4-seed and faces No. 5 Fyffe on Saturday at 10 a.m. The winner plays the winner of the Ider/Crossville or Geraldine play-in winner in the semifinals Monday at 7 p.m.
“I feel like anybody can win it,” Wilborn said. “I feel like we’ve got as good a chance as anybody.”
Section’s girls are the No. 3-seed in the tournament, while the Pisgah girls are the No. 6 seed. They’ll meet in a quarterfinal game on Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner plays the No. 2 Plainview/Sylvania or Asbury winner in the semifinals Monday at 4 p.m.
“I think it’s a balanced tournament,” said Section coach Danielle Maples. “You have to be ready to play every game to win it.”
Pisgah had won three straight SMT girls titles until last season when it lost in the finals to NSM.
“I think there’s a number of teams that could win it,” Pisgah coach Carey Ellison said. “If things go right, we could make a run, but it’s going to be tough because it’s a challenging bracket.”
Another Jackson County matchup has the No. 7-seeded Section Lions facing No. 10-seeded NSM tonight at 5 p.m. The winner plays No. 2 Crossville Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Section coach Ronnie McCarver, who has coached two Sand Mountain Tournament championship teams, doesn’t see a favorite in the boys tournament.
“We’re the seven seed I honestly believe we can win it and believe anybody can win it. There’s no team out there that’s a whole lot better than anybody else,” McCarver said.
Section nearly defeated top-seed Plainview Monday night in a regular season game, lending reason to McCarver’s beliefs. The Lions’ opening game is a rematch of a game with NSM that saw Section blow a double-digit second-half lead and eventually lose in overtime.
Ninth-seeded Pisgah will face No. 8 Sylvania in another play-in game Friday at 8 p.m. The Eagles defeated Sylvania earlier this season. The winner plays No. 1 Plainview Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
“I think this is a pretty even tournament,” said Pisgah coach Woody Beard, who has coached two SMT Championship teams. “There’s no dominant team. If you play well consistently you’ve got a chance.”
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
FRIDAY
Girls: Sylvania vs. Asbury, 3:30 p.m.
Boys: Section vs. NSM, 5 p.m.
Girls: Crossville vs. Geraldine, 6:30 p.m.
Boys: Pisgah vs. Sylvania, 8 p.m.
SATURDAY
Girls: NSM vs. Fyffe, 10 a.m.
Boys: Asbury vs. Ider, 11:30 a.m.
Girls: Section vs. Pisgah, 1 p.m.
Boys: Crossville vs. Section/NSM winner, 2:30 p.m.
Girls: Ider vs. Crossville/Geraldine winner, 4 p.m.
Boys: Fyffe vs. Geraldine, 5:30 p.m.
Girls: Plainview vs. Sylvania/Asbury, 7 p.m.
Boys: Plainview vs. Pisgah/Sylvania winner, 8:30 p.m.
MONDAY
Girls Semifinal, 4 p.m.
Boys Semifinal, 5:30 p.m.
Girls Semifinal, 7 p.m.
Boys Semifinal, 8:30 p.m.
TUESDAY
Girls Championship Game, 6 p.m.
Boys Championship Game, 8 p.m.
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