Region 7 Tournament Players to Watch (AA)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Reigning D14-3A Tournament Champions Ripley (22-7) claimed another District Tournament Title Monday night, this time at the 2A level. Last year Ripley defeated a quality Haywood team to capture the District 14AAA Championship, before losing to them in the Regional Tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The opponent, Peabody Golden Tide (16-11), earned the #2 seed, but they are a distant second to Ripley in ability this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/ChastainAJ">Austin Chastain</a>, <a href="https://www.jacksonsun.com/sports/">The Jackson Sun</a>, ranks Ripley #5 of all west Tennessee teams behind #1 Dyer County, #2 Union City, #3 Dyersburg and #4 McKenzie. That ranking excludes all of Memphis and Memphis-suburbs. No argument on Ripley against those top 3 teams, but RHS could play with, and possibly beat McKenzie on any given night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From District 13-2A there could be some competition for Ripley High.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/GoldenTideBBall/status/1758730770821058963?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/GoldenTideBBall/status/1758730770821058963?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":1} --> <h1 class="wp-block-heading">#1 Scotts Hill</h1> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":1} --> <h1 class="wp-block-heading">#4 Milan</h1> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"></h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":1} --> <h1 class="wp-block-heading">#3 Decatur County-Riverside @ #2 Peabody</h1> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The beneficiaries of a weakened district, DCR (12-17) would be a surprise victor, if they toppled Peabody Saturday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2357053' first='Jack' last='Cupples']</strong> (2027) leads DCR in scoring at 14.9 ppg. Teammate<strong> Jagger Cupples </strong>puts up 8.5 ppg with 4.7 rpg.<strong> Jamarcus Haynes </strong>(Peabody) is the go-to scorer for Peabody.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":1} --> <h1 class="wp-block-heading">#4 Jackson Central-Mercy @ #1 Ripley</h1> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ja'Marion Whitelow</strong> (Ripley), the lefty, reminds of Puff Johnson (UNC-now Penn State) in that he shoots a smooth mid-range jumper without hesitation effectively. Clean hips. With <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2356771' first='Ja'Marcus' last='Whitelow']</strong> and teammates, he crushed Peabody, 67-30, in the District Tournament Championship game. It was Ripley's ninth victory in a row, and third over Peabody this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In that blowout win, Ja'Marion scored 25 points. Ja'Marcus gave 7 points. <strong>Mahki Maben</strong> put up 17 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A senior, Ja'Marcus is a burly point guard, in the mold of Bruce Thornton (Ohio State University sophomore). Strong. Can shoot from the outside. Handles in traffic. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nobody's regular season more thoroughly explored both poles, the "south pole" of perpetual losing and the "north pole" of unending victories. JCM lost their first 13 games only to win all 10 district games, a perfect 10-0 District Record! <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2356978' first='BJ' last='Ballard']</strong> (JCM) is a key player.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":1} --> <h1 class="wp-block-heading">#3 Westview @ #2 Liberty Tech </h1> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>THE FAVORITE - Ripley (22-7)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Ripley Tigers are the easy favorite on paper. Scoring balance, rebounding prowess. Defensive commitment.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>TOP CONTENDER -</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>None.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DARK HORSE - Jackson Central Merry (11-17)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>JCM Cougars won their district. Defeating Ripley Saturday night is unlikely, but the Regional Tournament opens up to JCM if they accomplish that feat.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Head Coach Kendall Dancy took over in August 2022. Coach Dancy began his career in Haywood and coached the Tomcat program for seven seasons. His tenure included several appearances in the region and state semifinals before capturing the TSSAA Class AA championship in 2015. Stars on that Haywood team included Dedric Boyd, Kyler Douglas, and Detarion Boyd. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last year the JCM program reached the Region 7A semifinals for the first time since 2016.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong><br>#25 Ja'Marion Whitelow - Ripley<br>#1 [player_tooltip player_id='2356771' first='Ja'Marcus' last='Whitelow'] - Ripley<br>Kennen Robinson - Liberty Tech<br>Makhi Maben - Ripley<br>Jeremiah Greer - Liberty Tech<br>Kameron Myles - Jackson Central-Merry<br>Brennan Ballard - Jackson Central-Merry<br>Jamarcus Haynes - Peabody<br>[player_tooltip player_id='2357053' first='Jack' last='Cupples'] - Decatur County - Riverside<br>#15 James Harralston - Decatur County - Riverside<br>#1 Jagger Cupples - Decatur County - Riverside<br>#22 Camden Eason - Decatur County - Riverside<br>[player_tooltip player_id='2881545' first='Tayshun' last='Walker'] - Westview<br>Brett McGuffin - Westview<br>Damarion Pearson - Westview<br>Jashun Ward - Westview<br>Emmanuel Cannon - Peabody</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 13 Standings</span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1st Jackson Central-Merry<br>T2 Decatur County Riverside<br>T2 Scotts Hill<br>4th Madison Academic<br>5th Liberty Tech<br>6th Adamsville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 14 Standings</span><br>1st Ripley<br>T2 Peabody<br>T2 Westview<br>4th Gibson County<br>5th Milan<br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Decaturville-Riverside Roster<br>#5 [player_tooltip player_id='2357053' first='Jack' last='Cupples']<br>#15 James Harralston<br>#1 Jagger Cupples<br>#22 Camden Eason<br>#23 Landon Swindle<br>#3 Timothy Harralston</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->