By MONTE DUTTON

What’s that commercial? Head for the mountains!

I spent Tuesday packing, leaving some stuff at the storage unit and bringing some back to the camper-trailer, which, no, I’m not towing to the mountains. I’ll be in cheap motel rooms. I won’t be doing anything there but sleep.

Once I was an inveterate traveler, leaving for, oh, Michigan on Thursday, flying back on Monday, washing and drying, paying bills, packing again and driving to Bristol on the next Thursday.

Nowadays I’m older, out of practice and still absentminded.

If I don’t turn around in Spartanburg realizing I don’t have my camera, I’ll watch two really bad women’s teams fight their guts out in Johnson City, where the Big South shindig commences.

Then it’s off to Asheville, back to Johnson City, Asheville, Asheville, Asheville.

If I enjoy myself, I might move somewhere between Asheville and Johnson City.

Conference basketball tourneys are places to spend time with folks who don’t fry eggs over medium for a living (nothing against egg fryers; it’s an honest living). Most remaining ink-stained wretches get there at the last minute and get out as soon as possible nowadays.

I want to see it all, or as much as shuttle diplomacy allows.

As the late, great Lefty Frizzell, wrote, I’m an old, old man trying to live while I can.

Furman is in the hunt for the Southern Conference tournament championship.

That’s the women’s basketball team, mind you. Three schools – Chattanooga (18-9, 10-4 SoCon), East Tennessee State (17-12, 10-4) and Wofford (16-12, 10-4) – tied for first in the regular season. Furman (17-12, 9-5) is fourth and plays fifth-seeded Mercer (17-12, 7-7) on Thursday at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C., at 5:45 p.m.

Forward Clare Coyle and guard Alyssa Ervinmade all-conference.
 Coyle, a 6- 1 sophomore, made the first team, and Ervin, a 5- 11 sophomore guard, made second team. Coyle was selected to the all-defensive team.
 Coyle led the league in rebounding (9.3), field goal percentage (.541), and double-doubles (11), and ranked fourth in scoring (14.8), third in steals (2.1) and fourth in blocked shots (1.41).  She was the only player in the conference to rank in the top four in all six categories.

The Jacksonville, Fla., product, who scored 25 points in a 63-61 road victory over UNC Greensboro, is Furman’s first All-SoCon first team selection since Tierra Hodges in 2022.
Ervin ranked sixth in the league in scoring (13.3), seventh in free throw shooting (.718), and eighth in steals (1.55) in her first season as a Paladin.  The Galax, Va., product, who tallied a career-high 24 points in a 69-56 home triumph over UNCG, connected on game winning shots in three road league games this year — vs. ETSU (72-70 in Johnson City), vs. Wofford (65-64 in Spartanburg), and vs. UNCG (63-61 in Greensboro).
Camilo Rodriguez has joined the men’s soccer staff as associate head coach, and Dawson Martin has been added as a volunteer assistant coach and director of operations under new head coach Brandon Tucker.

Rodriguez arrives at Furman after spending the last 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Clemson, where he helped the Tigers claim two national championships (2021 & 2023), a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament titles (2020 & 2023), and three ACC regular season crowns (2019, 2020 & 2023).

Prior to joining the Clemson staff, Rodriguez spent eight seasons as head coach at Southern Wesleyan University and led the program to national titles in 2013 and 2015.

Martin, a native of Taylors, is a graduate of North Greenville University and former member of the Trailblazers’ men’s soccer program.

Rodriguez and Martin join a Furman staff that welcomes back assistant head coach Bret Boulware and volunteer assistant coach Charlie Arndt.

The 2025 Paladins posted a 16-2-5 record, claimed the Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles, and reached the school’s first NCAA College Cup. Furman finished the season ranked No. 3 in the country.

Sophomore Jenna Madden (E) tied for 11th to lead Furman to a fifth-place finish Tuesday in the final round of the Daniel Island Invitational at Ralston Creek Course at Daniel Island Club.

A native of McKinney, Texas, Madden posted consecutive birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 to card a final-round 73.  She finished seven shots behind individual medalist Marie Madsen (-7) of N.C. State, who ranks 13th nationally and fired a 68 in Tuesday’s round to win the tournament by one stroke. 

High Point (E) won the tournament by six shots over 46th-ranked N.C. State (+6).  Xavier (+12) and East Carolina (+12) tied for third, one shot ahead of the Paladins.  

Furman plays at the Valspar Augusta Invitational, March 14-15, in Augusta, Ga.

Women’s tennis is ranked 67th nationally, and two Furman women’s doubles teams are ranked in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I poll.

The top-ranked team in the SoCon, the Paladins (5-3) moved up to 67th from last week’s 75th-place ranking.

Freshmen Lillie Murphy and Elle Warren, who competed at the NCAA Doubles Championship in the fall, are ranked 34th nationally with a 9-3 record.   Murphy and Warren won the Southern Conference Fall Championship then finished third at the ITA Masters Championship to qualify for the national championship.  The duo recorded key wins over Pepperdine, Delaware, Ball State and Wichita State in fall competition. 

Freshmen Sasha Dimitrov and Murphy are ranked 63rd nationally with a 6-4 record.

Furman edged Florida Gulf Coast, 4-2, Monday in Fort Myers, Fla.

The Paladins move to 5-3 after handing the Eagles their first home loss of the season, while Florida Gulf Coast drops to 9-3.

Furman won two doubles matches to claim the opening point.

The Paladins surged to a 3-0 lead after singles wins by Ceroni and Murphy.

Women’s lacrosse suffered its first home loss of the season Monday evening to the Campbell Camels, 11-9, at Paladin Stadium.
Furman drops to 2-2 on the season while Campbell improves to 6-1 overall.
Shae Insinga recorded her third straight game with at least four goals, leading the Paladin offense with five points on five goals. Lily Mosser dished out two assists while Reynolds Hester added one goal and one assist. In goal, Sam Melville and Madigan Brewer combined for nine saves and one ground ball.
Emma Penkunas scored three goals for the Camels, and McKenna Duncan and Delaney Nicolaus both had two assists. Goalie Adria Welsh finished with four saves.

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It means a lot to me that you enjoy what I write.

Most of my books are available at Amazon. Two of my novels, Cowboys Come Home and Lightning in a Bottle, are available in audio versions.