Three Mr. Basketball Finalists, One District Tournament Trophy
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“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.…
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Continue Reading“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.” Highlander The Series
District 2-2A is loaded like a baked potato; all three Mr. Basketball Finalists populate the group. Jahvin Carter Jahvin Carter 6'2" | PG Alcoa | 2024 State #214 Nation TN (Alcoa), Ty Glasper Ty Glasper 6'1" | PG Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2025 State TN (Gatlinburg-Pittman), and Shane Cherry Shane Cherry 5'9" | PG Austin-East | 2025 State #353 Nation TN (Austin-East) are the three finalists. Reigning State Champion Alcoa played forgettable basketball through the fall.
Alcoa vs. Austin-East Preview
Reigning 2A State Champions Alcoa won both regular season games (73-67, 79-62) against Austin-East.
Earlier this winter Ryan Collins earned his 200th career win.
Alcoa vs. Eagleton Academy Recap
Hosts Alcoa won easily, 90-62.
Austin-East vs. Gatlinburg-Pittman Recap
In overtime, Austin-East defeated a senior-laden Highlander team from Gatlinburg-Pittman, 71-69.
Ty Glasper Ty Glasper 6'1" | PG Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2025 State TN (Gatlinburg-Pittman) missed his first five shots. He did draw an early foul on Shane Cherry Shane Cherry 5'9" | PG Austin-East | 2025 State #353 Nation TN (Austin-East). Maybe because of that, Coach Bertram sat Cherry for the entire second quarter to protect his best scorer.
GP’s turnovers were bothersome. Condis Cherry Condis Cherry 5'5" | PG Ausin-East | 2027 State TN 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.
Midway through the third quarter GP shuffled Carlos Orr Carlos Orr 6'3" | SG Gatlinburg-Pittman (football) | 2024 State TN onto Shane. Two straight possessions, as Orr defended out high, the #2-seeded Roadrunners hit 13′ jumpers, first Juwaan Troutman Juwaan Troutman 6'5" | PF Austin-East | 2025 TN and then Marco Allen.
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.
Without Glasper available, Head Coach Rashid Moore chose to Roger Matute Roger Matute 5'9" | SG Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2027 State TN to deliver a post-feed to Orr.
@PrepHoopsTN tweet in real-timeTerrible execution. Absolutely terrible. GP dribbled to far wing. Intended to feed Carlos Orr Carlos Orr 6'3" | SG Gatlinburg-Pittman (football) | 2024 State TN , 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!
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, Lucas Erozan, Seth Sutton, Cam Richardson). 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.
For Head Coach Moore and the Class of 2024, the next 2 weeks are going to be intense.
Players to Watch
*
Shane Cherry
Shane
Cherry
5'9" | PG
Austin-East | 2025
State
#353
Nation
TN
* – Austin-East
*
Ty Glasper
Ty
Glasper
6'1" | PG
Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2025
State
TN
* – Gatlinburg-Pittman
Carlos Orr
Carlos
Orr
6'3" | SG
Gatlinburg-Pittman (football) | 2024
State
TN
– Gatlinburg-Pittman
*
Jahvin Carter
Jahvin
Carter
6'2" | PG
Alcoa | 2024
State
#214
Nation
TN
* – Alcoa
Wade Whaley – Gatlinburg-Pittman
Marco Allen – Austin-East
Jamir Dean
Jamir
Dean
6'2" | PG
Alcoa (football) | 2027
State
TN
– Alcoa
Brady Haun – Alcoa
Juwaan Troutman
Juwaan
Troutman
6'5" | PF
Austin-East | 2025
TN
– Austin-East
Mr. Basketball Finalist*