Region 4 Notebook (3A)

Andrew Force September 1, 2023 @ 02:05 PM

District 7

Giles County will follow the lead of Jaceion Coffey Jaceion Coffey 6'5" | SF Giles County | 2024 State TN . Coffey spoke at length with PrepHoopsTN as July wrapped. Though Giles County advanced to the State Tournament for the fourth time this century last spring, they will be replacing quite a lot of talent and experience. Seven players earned 10+ minutes against Douglass in that State Tournament loss (2023). Jake Cardin, Clay Mitchell, Jack Harper, and Deoindra’ Daly all graduated. With Coffey the Bobcats return prominent players Kamauri Turner and Kareem Bryant Kareem Bryant 6'4" | PF Giles County | 2025 State TN . That is it. Kamauri is a 5-foot-9 senior shooting guard while Bryant is the most experienced junior in the program.

Upperman’s starting quarterback is quite the hooper too. Standing 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, sophomore Bronzden Chaffin Bronzden Chaffin 6'4" | PF Upperman (football) | 2026 State TN will start for his second season. The Upperland Cumberland Reporter newspaper named Chaffin All-Upper Cumberland Freshman of the Year. Though the Bees landed four players on the All-Tournament Team, Bronzden and Clayton Harris are the two that return. The other two (Jaxson Bush, Brayden Roberts) graduated. Ty Cobb Ty Cobb 6'2" | PG Upperman | 2027 State TN is expected to immediately take command of the point guard position despite his youth as a member of the Class of 2027.

Ethan Dixon (Cumberland County) is jet-quick for the Cumberland County Jets. He started as a junior and served as the primary ball-handler. Dixon is likely to earn All-District honors. Teammate Nolen Carter is a willing banger on the blocks.

Seven Stone Memorial senior Panthers alongside Cade Capps Cade Capps 6'5" | SG Stone Memorial | 2025 State #210 Nation TN (PrepHoopsTN#1). Is this team good enough to return to the State Tournament? Jayden Eldridge (3.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg), Preston Mayberry (5.8 ppg, 1.2 apg), and Wyatt Grothe (3.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.5 apg) will be asked to grow into bigger roles after all averaging between 12-16 minutes per last winter. Brady Lane is not foul-prone, but the team desperately needs him to be on the floor no matter what. Without the hulking senior the offense is unbalanced, too shooter-dependent. Lane’s value to the team can not be overstated.

Tripp Pinion Tripp Pinion 5'11" | PG White County | 2025 State TN (White County) is the guy. A generationally-great ’23 class took talent, size, work ethic, upstanding character out of the gym when they graduated. Pinion is the only remaining starter from that magical home victory over Austin-East in March. What does Tripp do? He leads with the basketball in his hand. Rugged. Charges into bodies like a bull without fear of whacks and smacks. Better slasher than shooter even though he will succeed at the free throw line.

District 7
All anticipated starters are marked with *.

Cumberland County High School (Crossville, TN)
#3 Ethan Dixon*
#12 Dylan Smith
#22 Daiden Mifflin
#23 Solomon Sitton (2026)
#25 Peyton Roberts
#30 Asher Mifflin (2026)
#33 Nolen Carter* 6’3″ 170
#34 Noah Ledbetter (2026)
#44 Braden Templeton
Jaxon Houston (2025)

DeKalb County High School (Smithville, TN)

Livingston Academy (Livingston, TN)

Stone Memorial High School (Crossville, TN)
#1 Jayden Eldridge*
#14 Cade Capps Cade Capps 6'5" | SG Stone Memorial | 2025 State #210 Nation TN * (2025)
#15 Preston Mayberry*
#25 Brady Lane* 6’5″ 215
Kayne Bosanko (2025)
Jordan Manis
Wyatt Grothe*
Zaiden Rice
Braiden Elliott
Spencer Bowman (2025)

Upperman High School (Baxter, TN)
#0 Ty Cobb Ty Cobb 6'2" | PG Upperman | 2027 State TN * (2027)
#15 Clayton Harris* 6’3″ 225
#23 Bronzden Chaffin Bronzden Chaffin 6'4" | PF Upperman (football) | 2026 State TN * (2026) 6’3″ 190

White County High School (Sparta, TN)

Tripp Pinion Tripp Pinion 5'11" | PG White County | 2025 State TN * (2025)

Lukas Smith* (2026)

District 8

Jabrae Howard Jabrae Howard 6'0" | PG Marshall County | 2025 State TN (2025) earned All-District Team alongside Marshall County teammate Jamahl Gentry (2025).

Xavier Farrell of Tullahoma was a member of the 2023 All-District Team. Xavier is a 6-foot-0 junior. The team likes to use him as a forward.

Franklin County finished with 14 wins, but more encouragingly they finished second behind Warren County in the district. The program dropped down from 4A to 3A though. Franklin County beat Tullahoma twice last year by a combined 6 points even though those were non-district games last year. Returning senior Kenyon Fuqua averaged 12 ppg, 4 apg. He played with a sharp basketball mind that will continue to benefit the program.

Franklin County will get Kai Baker back this season. Baker added a Morehead State football offer in June. His team will benefit tremendously from his rebounding and size (6-foot-4, 200 lb).

District 8
All anticipated starters are marked with *.

Franklin County High School (Winchester, TN)
#3 PG Kenyon Fuqua*
#2 SG Willie Cobb*
#1 SF Kai Baker*
#0 PF Jacob Sanchez*
#25 C Brandon Walker*

Giles County High School (Pulaski, TN)

Lawrence County High School (Lawrenceburg, TN)

Marshall County High School (Lewisburg, TN)

Murfreesboro Central Magnet School (Murfreesboro, TN)

Tullahoma High School (Tullahoma, TN)
#33 Xavier Farrell*