First Impressions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PICTURED: Riverdale team.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Jefferson County - Elizabethton</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two scrappy teams. They played an intense game at Volunteer High. Both teams relied almost exclusively on guards. Late-game free throws mattered greatly. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Elizabethton is quite small for a 3A team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2934631' first='Brody' last='Carr']</strong> (Jefferson County) is built like a football dude. The sophomore was an intensity guy, defended and rebounded. His basketball skill lagged behind his peers somewhat. <strong>Vontez McCray </strong>was a willing passer. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2635795' first='Zach' last='Coffey'] </strong>showed a bit of a quick first step. Both are quite thin by basketball standards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Jefferson County Partial Roster</span><br>#0 Vontez McCray<br>#3 [player_tooltip player_id='2635795' first='Zach' last='Coffey'] (2025)<br>#10 [player_tooltip player_id='2934631' first='Brody' last='Carr'] (2026)<br>#24 Tyler McMahan (2025)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>ETown player put up some stats: <strong>Andrew Barnett </strong>(<a href="https://twitter.com/Drew_b12">@Drew_b12</a>) and <strong>Will Churchill</strong> (<a href="https://twitter.com/WillChurchill21">@WillChurchill21</a>) with 17. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1920705' first='Jackson' last='Hobbs']</strong> finished with 11 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal, four forced turnovers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Watertown - Mt. Juliet Christian</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mt. Juliet Christian really, really struggled to score. They only put up 25 points through the first 3.5 quarters of basketball. Watertown looked a little slow of foot with the dribble, broadly-speaking. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A key player for them is <strong>JJ Goodall.</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Riverdale - Summit</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2274016' first='Waymon' last='West']</strong> (Riverdale) hit a beautiful arching three-pointer in the first half, posing with the release hand high. He was feeling himself. Unfortunately, he took another on the very next possession that looked predetermined and hurried. Missed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Later in the quarter Waymon made an effortless pull-up and shortly thereafter absorbed a foul as he released a three-pointer. West is a lithe sophomore wing guard with a nice offensive game. He gave the team a unique element aside from their many short and fast speedsters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Riverdale played defense with fast feet and fast hands. This was expected as it has been their identity for the last 2+ years. Summit senior guard <strong>Derrick Smith</strong> appeared to be a passable and poised guard and he really struggled to get any meaningful penetration with the Warrior guards flying around.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Offensively, Summit looked like a team that intends to drive to kick more than to score. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It felt as if RHS did not utilize <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2293339' first='Gray' last='Turek']</strong> as they should. He is a fit 6'6" with some touch around the rim. Summit didn't have much size. There just were not many post looks at all.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Riverdale Partial Roster</span><br>#4 Malachi Gilliam*<br>#3 EJ Turner*<br>#5 [player_tooltip player_id='1670541' first='Rashad' last='Mitchell']*<br>#33 Dontez Johnson* (2025)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Summit </span><span style="text-decoration: underline">Partial Roster</span><br>#4 Derrick Smith*<br>#13 [player_tooltip player_id='2634800' first='Keenan' last='West']* (2025)<br>#24 </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->