Landon Bryant and LHS Endure a Massive Blackman Comeback

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PICTURED: [player_tooltip player_id='1947172' first='Landon' last='Bryant']</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>LaVergne finished winners, 47-44, as [player_tooltip player_id='1830667' first='Garrison' last='Eady'] missed a last-second three-pointer to tie. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Blackman vs. LaVergne</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wolverines hopped out to a 12-0 lead within the first three minutes! This against a team that allowed 40, or fewer points, 11 times last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two of the first made buckets fluttered off of the hand of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1947172' first='Landon' last='Bryant']</strong>, PrepHoopsTN Combine Co-MVP.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The hosting Blaze played nearly five minutes without scoring! <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1830667' first='Garrison' last='Eady']</strong> made a wonderful pass to <strong>Brayden Sanford</strong> under the rim, after drawing two defenders, but a help defender and Sanford's lack of urgency ruined that.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With 1:35 <strong>Trey McGaffee </strong>flipped up a banked layup among the trees to open Blackman's bank account. They then trailed, 14-2.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/PrepHoopsTN/status/1744515163477148018?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/PrepHoopsTN/status/1744515163477148018?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Garrison's step-back corner three-point elevated his team, if momentarily. Still, LHS led 23-5 with 2:06 left in the first half. Early in the third quarter Eady hit another tough three-pointer, which made the game 31-20. Blackman kept plugging away.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eady delivered a sharp 30' outlet chest pass to a slashing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1669216' first='Christian' last='Johnson']</strong>. His ensuing and-1 made the game 31-25 LaVergne, a wild swing from the early blowout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Throughout the game, whether close or trailing mightily, Blackman wing <strong>Trey McGaffee</strong> was active and important.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Late in the third, Eady hit the LaVergne frontline with an up-and-under move, resulting in a needed layup. Seconds later he floated a 20' outlet pass to a streaking teammate. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>LaVergne narrowly clung to a 36-32 lead entering the fourth quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1578726' first='Xialin' last='Lenoir']</strong> (LaVergne) slipped a pass between flailing arms to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1563745' first='Daunte' last='White'] </strong>midway through the fourth. With the two, LHS hopped up to 43-35.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Maybe the most impressive defensive moment of the game occurred with just under 3 left. Blackman tried to trap LHS in the corner following an extended 4-corners session. LaVergne attempted to swing the ball away from the trouble, found themselves in the corner, and then passed it back to the top of arc, but <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1830667' first='Garrison' last='Eady']</strong> jumped the pass like a cornerback and locked up the intended recipient. Jumpball to LaVergne. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1947172' first='Landon' last='Bryant']</strong> stood his ground and accepted a charge from a mammoth of a man, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1669216' first='Christian' last='Johnson']</strong>, as LHS led 45-39. Johnson was bounding to the lane after retrieving his own three-pointer miss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What do we make of the complete first half offensive no-show by Blackman? This is a team that defeated decent to good teams already this year: Stewarts Creek, Brentwood, Centennial, TN Heat. Perhaps LaVergne really just is that good?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two weeks ago I picked LaVergne to just miss out on winning their district to Cookeville. This performance, though imperfect, suggests that intuition was good. LaVergne is very good. They play a connected unit. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1947172' first='Landon' last='Bryant']</strong> is an elite high school scorer. If <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1563745' first='Daunte' last='White']</strong> can score more and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1578726' first='Xialin' last='Lenoir']</strong> keeps hold of the ball, then they are an extremely difficult opponent.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Adjacent Coverage</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/2023/12/what-we-know-now-d7-4a/">What We Know Now: D7-4A</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/2023/11/team-preview-blackman/">Team Preview: Blackman</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Blackman Starters</span>*<br>#0 [player_tooltip player_id='2367338' first='Braden' last='Flowers']* (2026)<br>#3 Trey Saffold*<br>#4 [player_tooltip player_id='1830667' first='Garrison' last='Eady']*<br>#12 Quintin Bass*<br>#33 [player_tooltip player_id='1669216' first='Christian' last='Johnson']* (2025)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#2 Trey McGaffee (2025)<br>#5 [player_tooltip player_id='2237638' first='Dyson' last='Elam'] (2025)<br>#13 Brayden Sanford</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">LaVergne Starters</span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">LaVergne</span><br>#1 [player_tooltip player_id='1947172' first='Landon' last='Bryant']* (2025)<br>#12 [player_tooltip player_id='1578726' first='Xialin' last='Lenoir']*<br>#20<br>#24 Jason Amill* (2025)<br>#25 [player_tooltip player_id='1563745' first='Daunte' last='White']*<br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->