District 8-3A Tournament Preview

Page is the hottest team in Tennessee! While East Nashville is unbeaten, it is difficult to affix hot to a team that consistently wins every night, thus Page with their 11 consecutive wins after a 6-10 start is The Hottest Team in Tennessee!   It required a late overtaking of Fairview Friday night yo keep rhe magical streak alive. [player_tooltip player_id='1670548' first='Grant' last='Snider'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1390290' first='Issac' last='Power'] each scored a dozen to lead the way. [player_tooltip player_id='1927474' first='Andrew' last='Cucullu'] had 7. Josh Spining added 6.   Team District Overall   1 Page 10-0 100.0% 16-10   2 Lawrence County 6-4 60.0% 22-6   3 Marshall County 5-5 50.0% 14-13   4 Spring Hill 5-5 50.0% 14-11   5 Tullahoma 3-7 30.0% 7-15   6 Lincoln County 1-9   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">Page (#1) vs. Winner of Spring Hill/Tullahoma (?)</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/wcsPHShoops/status/1624175492113784834?t=9ptiuGOHpzSI-htb3mkYnQ&s=19 </div></figure>   [player_tooltip player_id='1670548' first='Grant' last='Snider'] is averaging 14.0 ppg, 3.5 apg, 4.5 rpg, 2.5 spg with 37.5% three-point shooting. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1390290' first='Issac' last='Power'] earned District MVP. The dude is scoring 21 points per!   Grant will play D1 baseball next year for Middle Tennessee.   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">Spring Hill (#4) vs. Tullahoma (#5)</h2>   Tullahoma Xavier Farrell earned All-District honors.   Tullahoma is very, very young. [player_tooltip player_id='1798039' first='Deandre' last='Jenkins'] (Tullahoma) is nimble. A willing passer. Thin. Jenkins is not the finished product, but there is a lot to like in his blossoming game. Plus, he is tall for the position (PG) and patient. Patience is not common among young guards. Xavier is a bruiser on the low blocks. His footwork is impressive. Look out for his up-and-under. It is shifty. Wonderful with his back to the basket.   [player_tooltip player_id='2352126' first='Austin' last='Tinnon'] (Tullahoma) is built like every big, lean Indiana Hoosier big from the 90's. Just a basketball body through and through. Tinnon is a freshman starting varsity, so you already know he does several things very well. The future for Tinnon will be as one of the forward spots. He can change direction surprisingly well for a 6-foot-5ish 14ish year old.   Spring Hill swept Tullahoma this season after won all three last season, bouncing the Raiders from the playoffs in the final clash, 63-53. The winner gets Page High.   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">Marshall County (#3) vs. Lincoln County (#6)</h2>   Tough, tough season for the Lincoln County Falcons. Wins were sparse. Gleeful celebrations rare.   [player_tooltip player_id='2238823' first='Reese' last='Smith'] is the future of the program, a freshman already starting and scoring. Smith gets his eyes on the rim early, and follows through high. Defenders can not play him to either hand because Reese is wonderful darting to the rim with either.   <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"> Excellent penetrator. Quick. Can shoot the 3. He is their guy that makes them go. Not the only one they have. The two games that we played he scored 33 and 17. - Lawrence County Coach Joseph Wilson on Jamahl Gentry (Marshall County) </blockquote>   "Marshall can really get after you defensively," observed Lawrence County Head Coach Joseph Wilson. "You have to keep them in front of you (when defending)."   Marshall County starts four sophomores, and still managed a third-place finish.   "We are young," said Marshall County Head Coach Lavon King. "We play about 8-9 guys and just try to force the tempo."   Coach King is fond of the work ethic of both Jamahl Gentry and [player_tooltip player_id='2539654' first='Jabrae' last='Howard']. "They are both sophomores. Gentry started at Christmas last year. We put him in the rotation and he made All-District last year. He has been picking it up, and his defensive side...he really gets into you and pressures you on defense. He is a solid, tough shooter."   "Jabrae is more of a slasher, kind of get to the rim. Really good free throw shooter. He is pretty solid from the free throw line. I would daresay, in the 80% range."   Coach King and his Tigers faced Lincoln County twice this past year. "We ended up beating them by 10 this last game. I think we beat them by 15 the last game. They are streaky as far as shooting the three-ball. He has 2-3 guys that shoot the three-ball really well. They are one of those teams that are, if they are on it can be a really tough night. They are young also that come in and score a lot."   The winner will meet Lawrence County Friday.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pmhsports/status/1591951186160193536?s=20&t=_XjGPwkzBlNPX55ZNPIiFA </div></figure>   <h2 class="has-text-align-center">Lawrence County (#2) vs. Winner of Marshall Co./Lincoln Co.(?)</h2>   On the Falcons floor, early February the purple-and-gold Lawrence County pummeled Lincoln County, leading 32-22 midway through, and it would certainly seem a return match would favor the #2 seeded Lawrence County boys.   The Wildcats leave the deep corners open when they press. Expect teams to struggle to find those openings though, because the Wildcats are scrappy, strong, and feisty.   "In the past I have run a diamond or 2-2-1, but ideally you force them to do what you want them to do," said Coach Wilson. "You have to be able to adjust if they adjust. Ours is basically man-to-man top press. If the ball crosses last we are liable to jump. More like you would in the zone...we work on it and worked on it. We have gotten where when we do it well we are pretty good. Of course, when you double somebody is going to be open. But you hope your double is good enough to keep them from finding him. If you are going to be aggressive on offense then you need to be aggressive on defense."   They pressure the ball the length of the court, and opposing teams absolutely make desperate, sometimes hurried passes just to escape the pressure.   "In the past I have run a diamond or 2-2-1, but ideally you force them to do what you want them to do," said Coach Wilson. "You have to be able to adjust if they adjust. Ours is basically man-to-man top press. If the ball crosses last we are liable to jump. More like you would in the zone...we work on it and worked on it. We have gotten where when we do it well we are pretty good. Of course, when you double somebody is going to be open. But you hope your double is good enough to keep them from finding him. If you are going to be aggressive on offense then you need to be aggressive on defense."   "[player_tooltip player_id='2368766' first='Alex' last='Bedford'] is very athletically gifted. He played really well this summer. He can do it all. He is going to be really good."   What does he do well offensively?   "He can shoot the three. He can take it to the hole. Great rebounder. Needs to get better at defense."   Luke Mattox is a strong, physical guard with some three-point touch. He draws a lot of fouls and embraces the contact. The team, which presses full games, must enjoy Mattox's tripe to the charity stripe and the momentary respite from trapping, sprinting, and running it provides.   Lawrence County Roster (Starters*) #2 Jakabri Stevenson* (2024) #11 [player_tooltip player_id='2368766' first='Alex' last='Bedford']* (2025) #14 TJ Gobble* #20 Blake Long (2024) #23 Logan Boswell* (2024) #25 PG #33 Luke Mattox* (2023) 5'9"   Early February the purple and gold Lawrence County pummeled the Falcons, and it would certainly seem a return match would favor the #2 seeded Lawrence County boys.   The Wildcats will run quite a few players through, in an effort to keep the tempo high.   "We are gonna do what we do basically no matter who we play," asserted Lawrence County Head Coach Joseph Wilson."   Jakabri Stevenson, a junior, is a fantastic player, with light feet and a scorer's hunger.   "He is really improved his on-ball defense. He is probably our best on-ball defense."   "He is averaging right about double figures, but he has had over 20."   Blake Long, also a junior, will block fullcourt passing options with his long arms extended high. He stands 6-foot-3 and certainly makes switching the point of the attack challenging.   [player_tooltip player_id='2368766' first='Alex' last='Bedford'] plays with wonderful defensive awareness. Reads plays quickly and denies passing lanes better than most.   Lincoln County Roster (Starters*) #0 Jackson Mullins* #2 * #3 #4 Jack Massey* #31 * #35 [player_tooltip player_id='2238823' first='Reese' last='Smith']* (2026) #42   #2 is a shooter. He likes the corners. Same with #4.   Jack Massey earned placement on the All-District Team. The 5-foot-11 senior two-guard scores often, but is also charged with handling fullcourt pressure when they see it.   Tullahoma County Roster (Starters*) #0 [player_tooltip player_id='1798039' first='Deandre' last='Jenkins']* (2025) #3 Ethan Hargrove* (2024) #12 Grant Chadwick* (2024) 6'4" 180 #24 [player_tooltip player_id='2352126' first='Austin' last='Tinnon']* (2026) #33 PF [player_tooltip player_id='2816168' first='Xavier' last='Ferrell']* (2025)   Tullahoma is very, very young. [player_tooltip player_id='1798039' first='Deandre' last='Jenkins'] is nimble. A willing passer. Thin. Jenkins is not the finished product, but there is a lot to like in his blossoming game. Plus, he is tall for the position (PG) and patient. Patience is not common among young guards. Xavier is a bruiser on the low blocks. His footwork is impressive. Look out for his up-and-under. It is shifty. Wonderful with his back to the basket.   [player_tooltip player_id='2352126' first='Austin' last='Tinnon'] is built like every big, lean Indiana Hoosier big from the 90's. Just a basketball body through and through. Tinnon is a freshman starting varsity, so you already know he does several things very well. The future for Tinnon will be as one of the forward spots. He can change direction surprisingly well for a 6-foot-5ish 14ish year old.   Spring Hill Roster (Starters*)

Page is the hottest team in Tennessee! While East Nashville is unbeaten, it is difficult to affix hot to a team that consistently wins every night, thus Page with their 11 consecutive wins after a 6-10 start is The Hottest Team in Tennessee!