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Hilltoppers paired with Memphis team, again, for Arby's

By Douglas Fritz
Press Sports Writer
dfritz@johnsoncitypress.com

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BRISTOL — It has gotten to the point where Ken Cutlip can simply smile about it.

“I would say the tradition continues,” said the Science Hill head basketball coach after his team drew Memphis Melrose in the first round of the 27th annual Arby’s Classic. “It started long before I got here. Coach (George) Pitts and Coach (Mike) Poe found a way to draw the tournament favorite. I’ve tried to spread the wealth and have different people draw, trying to break the curse.”

In the blind draw held Sunday at the Arby’s restaurant on Volunteer Parkway, the Hilltoppers were paired with the Golden Wildcats.

Melrose was bumped off in last year’s sectional round by eventual state runner-up Raleigh-Egypt, and the Tigers enter this season as one of the favorites to win the Class AAA title. Science Hill will play Melrose on Dec. 26 at 8:30.

Other first-game matchups for Dec. 26 include a pair of out-bracket contests with Cherokee playing Grand Bahamas Tabernacle Baptist at 1, and Gate City, Va., taking on Chattanooga Brainerd at 2:30.

Also on Dec. 26, Greeneville plays Powder Springs (Ga.) McEachern at 4, Louisville (Ky.) Fairdale takes on Tennessee High at 5:30, and Sullivan East squares off against New Rochelle, N.Y. at 7 o’clock.

Day-two first-round matchups on Dec. 28 are Norcross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Christian against the Cherokee-Tabernacle winner at 4, Murfreesboro Siegel battling Toronto (Canada) Father Henry Carr Catholic School at 5:30, Dobyns-Bennett playing Fayetteville, Ark., at 7 p.m., and Miami Palmetto facing the Brainerd-Gate City winner at 8:30.

Of all those teams, Melrose might have the most overall talent. The Wildcats are led by 6-7 Adonis Thomas, who averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds per game last season.

Thomas is ranked as one of the top five juniors in the nation, and is being recruited by North Carolina, Duke, Tennessee, Memphis and Kentucky.

Chris Jones (5-11, Jr.) returns at shooting guard after averaging 21 points per game last year. He is being looked at by Tennessee, Mississippi and Marquette.

Nate Rucker, a 6-7 post, returns after averaging nine points per game.

If that wasn’t enough, Melrose also added Bobby Parks, a 6-4 junior wing who transferred from St. George’s Academy after scoring 26.2 points per game last year. Parks was the Division II Class A Mr. Basketball last season.

That gives the Wildcats a potential 47 points per game from the starting wing positions with Thomas adding 18 more in the paint.

Add it all up, and it looks like an extremely tough draw for the youthful Hilltoppers, who are off to a 4-0 start this season after Hall of Champions games.

“Obviously when you play in the Arby’s Classic, you’re going to end up playing against high-caliber teams,” said Cutlip. “It will be another opportunity for us to try to grow up.

“You don’t have to have success in the Arby’s Classic to have a successful season. You’ve just got to learn from it.”

That’s what Science Hill did after last year’s two-and-done performance in the Arby’s. The Hilltoppers didn’t lose again until the Class AAA state tournament, ripping off 19 straight victories.

Playing a Memphis team should also give the Hilltoppers a chance to see if they are state tournament worthy in 2010.

“It will be a true barometer of where you stand in the overall scope of the state,” said Cutlip.