4A District 16 Tourney Final: Whitehaven takes care of Central
Whitehaven defeated Memphis Central, 72-62, to capture this season’s TSSAA Division I Class 4A District 16 Tournament Championship. The Tigers locked up a No. 1 seed in the 4A Region 8 Tournament. Whitehaven will host No. 4 Houston this Saturday…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingWhitehaven defeated Memphis Central, 72-62, to capture this season’s TSSAA Division I Class 4A District 16 Tournament Championship.
The Tigers locked up a No. 1 seed in the 4A Region 8 Tournament. Whitehaven will host No. 4 Houston this Saturday in the first round. The Warriors will host No. 3 Southwind.
Here are 3 observations from Whitehaven’s title win:
Feeling it
Senior Kody Hickerson was feeling it Wednesday night. The 6-foot-0 point guard got into a nice offensive flow early in the first quarter. Hickerson, who led his team with a game-high 25 points, connected on two 3-pointers and finished well at the rim when the lane was open. The Tigers got down 21-17 early in the second quarter after Memphis Central went on a quick 8-0 run. Hickerson scored five straight points to cool off the Warriors.
In the fourth quarter, Hickerson delivered the final blow by making back-to-back 3s to give Whitehaven a comfortable 58-44 lead with 5:52 to go.
”They believe in me,” Hickerson said about his teammates. “I tell them every time ‘You pass me the ball, I’m going to knock down shots. If I pass y’all the ball, I believe y’all can knock down shots every time.‘“ “We all believe in each other. We all just want to win at the end of the day.
”It don’t matter who scores the most points. We are a brotherhood.”
No answer for Dickson
Memphis Central didn’t have an answer for junior forward Bob Dickson. He was all over the boards. Dickson, who had 17 points, altered shots at the rim, even came away with a handful of blocks. Each time Dickson was on the block, he used his solid footwork to get in great position for a score. Hickerson was already in a nice rhythm. Once Dickson got into a nice flow, the Warriors didn’t have enough offense to keep up.
”It’s been great to get to know him, seeing how he plays, and he’s getting to know me, seeing how I play,” Hickerson said. “We are just moving. We are keeping it going. The tempo is just moving right now for the whole team.”
Home court advantage
Whitehaven is the site for the 4A Region 8 Tournament. The Tigers will be in their own backyard, playing in front of their supporters. Whitehaven’s path to Murfreesboro, Tennessee can be home cooking. Winning the region tournament will grant the Tigers a home sectional game.
“We just have to stay locked in,” Hickerson said. “We gotta stay focused at all times. We just have to clean up some mistakes. We all want to go to state. We all want a championship ring.”
All-Tournament Team
Dorion Bowen (Whitehaven), TJ Cox (Memphis East), Damion Cox Jr. (Memphis Central), Dedric Miles (Memphis Central), Jasper Bell (White Station), Jerrod Mackey (Memphis Overton), Larry Brooks (Kingsbury), Hickerson, and Dickson (MVP) were all named to the 4A District 16 All-Tournament Team.
The other region tourney matchups
No. 1 Bartlett, this season’s 4A District 15 Tournament champions, will host No. 4 White Station. No. 2 seed and 4A District 15 Tournament runner-up Cordova will host No. 3 Memphis East.