Three Mr. Basketball Finalists, One District Tournament Trophy

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>I was born four hundred years ago in the Highlands of Scotland. I am immortal and I am not alone. Now is the time of the Gathering, when the stroke of a sword will release the power of the Quickening. In the end, there can be only one.</em>" Highlander The Series</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>District 2-2A is loaded like a baked potato; all three Mr. Basketball Finalists populate the group. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1121414' first='Jahvin' last='Carter'] </strong>(Alcoa), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1259399' first='Ty' last='Glasper']</strong> (Gatlinburg-Pittman), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1273550' first='Shane' last='Cherry']</strong> (Austin-East) are the three finalists. Reigning State Champion Alcoa played forgettable basketball through the fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Alcoa vs. Austin-East Preview</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Reigning 2A State Champions Alcoa won both regular season games (73-67, 79-62) against Austin-East.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Earlier this winter Ryan Collins earned his 200th career win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Alcoa vs. Eagleton Academy Recap</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hosts Alcoa won easily, 90-62.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Austin-East vs. Gatlinburg-Pittman Recap</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In overtime, Austin-East defeated a senior-laden Highlander team from Gatlinburg-Pittman, 71-69.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1259399' first='Ty' last='Glasper']</strong> (Gatlinburg-Pittman) missed his first five shots. He did draw an early foul on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1273550' first='Shane' last='Cherry']</strong> (Austin-East). Maybe because of that, Coach Bertram sat Cherry for the entire second quarter to protect his best scorer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>GP's turnovers were bothersome. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2333265' first='Condis' last='Cherry']</strong> jumped the pass from the wing to top of the key twice successfully in the second quarter alone. Then, a big did the same thing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/PrepHoopsTN/status/1758994266083209289?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/1758994266083209289?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Midway through the third quarter GP shuffled [player_tooltip player_id='1140815' first='Carlos' last='Orr'] onto Shane. Two straight possessions, as Orr defended out high, the #2-seeded Roadrunners hit 13' jumpers, first <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2352726' first='Juwaan' last='Troutman']</strong> and then <strong>Marco Allen</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gatlinburg's fight earned them an extra session. They chased the Roadrunners from down 10. Hunted them down. With a big fourth quarter from Glasper and Orr, GP tied the game, forcing overtime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/PrepHoopsTN/status/1758996223942398463?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/1758996223942398463?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Without Glasper available, Head Coach Rashid Moore chose to [player_tooltip player_id='2350870' first='Roger' last='Matute'] to deliver a post-feed to Orr. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:quote --> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Terrible execution. Absolutely terrible. GP dribbled to far wing. Intended to feed [player_tooltip player_id='1140815' first='Carlos' last='Orr'], who struggled to establish on blocks. The ball was fed with about 1.0 second left. And poorly. No catch. No shot. The end. Austin-East wins in overtime, 71-69!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --><cite>@PrepHoopsTN tweet in real-time</cite></blockquote> <!-- /wp:quote --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the loss, GP fell to 24-7 on the season. The Highlander Class of 2024 is now 98-32 through their four-year varsity careers. Four of them dressed all four years (Orr, <strong>Lucas Erozan</strong>, <strong>Seth Sutton</strong>, <strong>Cam Richardson</strong>). They are not done, but no GP team prior was better equipped to make a State Tournament appearance than this bunch, when you add in '25 Glasper, 24 Charlie Yazel and '27 Matute. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For Head Coach Moore and the Class of 2024, the next 2 weeks are going to be intense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Players to Watch</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>*[player_tooltip player_id='1273550' first='Shane' last='Cherry']* - Austin-East<br>*[player_tooltip player_id='1259399' first='Ty' last='Glasper']* - Gatlinburg-Pittman<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1140815' first='Carlos' last='Orr'] - Gatlinburg-Pittman<br>*[player_tooltip player_id='1121414' first='Jahvin' last='Carter']* - Alcoa<br>[player_tooltip player_id='2624793' first='Wade' last='Whaley'] - Gatlinburg-Pittman<br>Marco Allen - Austin-East<br>[player_tooltip player_id='2260983' first='Jamir' last='Dean'] - Alcoa<br>Brady Haun - Alcoa<br>[player_tooltip player_id='2352726' first='Juwaan' last='Troutman'] - Austin-East</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/alcoasports/status/1757833244437864598?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/alcoasports/status/1757833244437864598?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mr. Basketball Finalist*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->