Friday Night in 11AAA

The balance of 11 AAA looked to be Franklin, Ravenwood, and Brentwood as the calendar changed. Would those teams convince onlookers of their prominence Friday night? Which teams impressed? Any players enhance their reputation? Partial Rosters (Starters*) Centennial #0 Treyvon Barberry (2022) #1 [player_tooltip player_id="983707" first="Patrick" last="Garrett"]* (2021) #3 Malachi Pointer (2021) #15 Luke Westmoreland* (2021) #23 Matthew Busing (2021) Franklin #1 Taylor Spierto* (2021) #4 [player_tooltip player_id="775559" first="Reed" last="Kemp"]* (2021) #5 [player_tooltip player_id="954811" first="Aidan" last="Smylie"]* (2021) #10 [player_tooltip player_id="775604" first="Connor" last="Beavon"]* (2021) #32 Matt Thurman* (2022) #24 [player_tooltip player_id="1018120" first="Brevin" last="Klym"] (2022) #35 Mason Jones (2022) Brentwood #10 [player_tooltip player_id="775552" first="John" last="Windley"]* (2021) #12 Griffin Burke* (2021) #24 Macen Redner* (2021) #30 [player_tooltip player_id="1029084" first="Jack" last="Medalie"] (2023) #32 Joseph Hohn (2021) #34 Daniel Cochran* (2023) #44 Dustin Bluhm* (2021) #14 Carter Patton (2022) Ravenwood #1 Matthew Williams* (2022) #4 Molette* (2022) #5 Nick Deng* (2021) #10 Andrew Lamuno* (2022) #14 Owen Grismore (2021) #15 Ben Bonga* (2021) #21 Ethan Dills (2021) #23 Connor English (2021) #25 Jake Mulder* (2022) #44 Noah Clifford* (2022) Page #3 Andres Casella* (2021) #12 Ethan Overstreet* (2022) #21 Pierce Bruehl* (2022) #23 [player_tooltip player_id="983704" first="Thomas" last="Seaman"]* (2021) #34 Jaime Hernandez* (2021) Summit #4 Caleb Jolley* (2021) #5 Tre Hunter* (2021) #12 Konata Werts* (2021) #1 [player_tooltip player_id="1006438" first="Destin" last="Wade"]* (2022) Keaton Wade* (2022) Independence #1 Jeff Montgomery* (2024) #3 Tyus Anderson* (2022) #11 Sam Womack (2021) #22 #24 River Katina* (2022) #25 Cameron-Bell (2021) <h3>Centennial (62) vs. Franklin (67)</h3> [player_tooltip player_id="775604" first="Connor" last="Beavon"] was a terror on the glass and scrapping for loose balls. The team is deep and scoring is not a problem. Contributions like Connor's are vital the flow and success of 11AAA's best team. Centennial kept up admirably with Franklin for the entire first three quarters thanks to scrappy offensive rebounding. https://twitter.com/PrepHoopsTN/status/1347727508163211264?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="775559" first="Reed" last="Kemp"] was efficient, but certainly quiet by his standards for much of the first half and even third quarter. Reed's ball-handling and creation were not curtailed. Centennial really forced him to involve others. This is not something Franklin or Reed despise, but it does put the impetus on the other scorers. He hit an off-balanced three-pointer late in the third quarter that boggled the mind. Falling to the side. Pure. Franklin finished the game with a 24-19 fourth quarter. Consider that the late-game free throws did contribute to the large scoring segment. [player_tooltip player_id="775559" first="Reed" last="Kemp"] and [player_tooltip player_id="954811" first="Aidan" last="Smylie"] each shot flawlessly from the stripe in the final minute. Matt Thurman missed his pair. https://twitter.com/PrepHoopsTN/status/1347735629262688256?s=20 <h3>Summit (57) vs. Independence (50)</h3> In the first half, Independence used their speed to create opportunities. Junior combo Tre Hunter was especially effective pushing the ball and making Summit defend early in the possession. Independence worked to extend a defense and trap Summit around halfcourt. It did not work very well as Konata Werts played fast and crisp through the transition from backcourt to frontcourt. Werts and his teammates did make a troubling amount of low-percentage pasts. Most of their success scoring and the occasional failures passing came from lobs on the break. It was hit and miss. Summit did plenty of damage in the lane, both early and late in the possessions. Independence did the majority of their defending out away from the basket. Constantly IHS found themselves defending 3-on-1 and 2-on-1 in transition through their own choosing. https://twitter.com/SummitHSBball/status/1347735361078898688?s=20 <h3>Spring Hill vs. Page</h3> Updating Soon. <h3>Brentwood (50) vs. Ravenwood (47)</h3> Two of the top three teams in the district tipped Friday night. Though Brentwood is not known as a post juggernaut, much of their early success against a depleted RHS frontline came on the low blocks. Offensive rebounding helped Brentwood get extra chances. Macen Redner earned his way to the line after his whole team fought for the second chance. The Raptors injected Noah Clifford quickly to help on the glass. Football star Noah is a strong presence. An added bonus to his strong rebounding, Noah is a fantastic free-throw shooter. Matt Williams shot the ball well and the Raptors as a whole thrived in the second quarter via the extra pass. Multiple times Brentwood's coaching staff called a timeout to stop the rush. Nick Deng and Andrew Lamuno were great creating and passing without hesitation. Daniel Cochran (2023) got the start with the usual suspects (Burke, Redner, Bluhm, Windley) joining him. Ravenwood started Nick Deng, who spent time coming off the bench earlier in the season. https://twitter.com/PrepHoopsTN/status/1347775270422523904?s=20   Projected Order of Finish (Picked this on 12/15) 1. Franklin 2. Ravenwood 3. Brentwood 4. Page 5. Centennial 6. Independence 7. Spring Hill 8. Dickson County 9. Summit Analysis: Is Franklin ever going to have a rebuilding year? Ravenwood performed the best in the opening month+. They will fall from their current perch slightly in our projections because are you going to bet against [player_tooltip player_id="775559" first="Reed" last="Kemp"]? This year the district really breaks into two or three tiers. Franklin, Ravenwood, and possibly Brentwood are the top tier. Page and Centennial are undeniably a step down and yet they are clearly better and deeper than the bottom third (Spring Hill, Dickson County, Summit). Independence is a team that deserves consideration for that middle grouping. They might just be a 5-6 team instead of relegated to that bottom bunch.   Player of the Year Senior [player_tooltip player_id="775559" first="Reed" last="Kemp"], Franklin: From his feisty sophomore season, Kemp took an incredible leap. The confluence of Reese Glover graduating and Kemp maturing physically beget Kemp's breakout junior season. Remember his explosion against Cane Ridge? This season Reed has the full confidence of his teammates and beautifully scores despite tremendous defensive attention. Runner-up for player of the year should be [player_tooltip player_id="775552" first="John" last="Windley"]. He really has no flaws in his game. If anything, Windley's unselfishness enables scouts to overlook him. Opposing coaches know his value. Those guards that drive at the pesky Windley understand how infuriating he can be. Earlier in the week, Windley scored 30 points (Tuesday) and 15 points (Thursday). Those two games both featured a running clock Read below a broad mid-season primer written back December 23rd.   https://prephoops.com/2020/12/what-we-know-now-d11aaa/   Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewForce8">@AndrewForce8</a>.