Top Performers (Postseason edition)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The postseason is here. Teams were eliminated. Teams advanced. Players stepped up. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is the best time of the year for high school basketball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are the top performers from the early portions of the postseason:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ty</strong> <strong>Glasper</strong>, Gatlinburg-Pittman: Glasper had 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists in a regular season win over McMinn County. <strong>Wade</strong> <strong>Whaley</strong> added 14 points and 5 steals. <strong>Carlos</strong> <strong>Orr</strong> pitched in 10 points and 6 rebounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Issac</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, Page: Power had 17 points in a win over Franklin to close out the regular season. <strong>Seamus</strong> <strong>Stephenson</strong> added 12. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Gunnar</strong> <strong>Lewis</strong>, CPA: Lewis had 22 points in a win over Father Ryan in the TSSAA Division II-AA Middle Region Tournament. <strong>Jason</strong> <strong>Taylor</strong> <strong>Jr</strong>. and <strong>William</strong> <strong>Carroll</strong> both had 15.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Elijah</strong> <strong>Lussier</strong>, Collierville: Lussier had 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, and 2 assists in a win over Arlington in the play-in game of the TSSAA Division I Class 4A District 15 Tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mason</strong> <strong>Brown</strong>, Central Magnet: Brown had 16 points in a win over Giles County in the opening round of the 3A District 8 Tournament. <strong>Owen Zubkus</strong> also finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds. <strong>Jake</strong> <strong>Maddox</strong> added 10 points and 10 rebounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ta'Khyian</strong> <strong>Whitset</strong>, Antioch: Whitset and Cedric Lewis had 17 points in a first round win over Hunters Lane in the 4A District 11 Tournament. <strong>Jaiden</strong> <strong>Claybrook</strong> finished with 15. <strong>Chris</strong> <strong>Avery</strong> added 12. <strong>Maddux</strong> <strong>Bodenhamer</strong> provided 10 points, 10 assists, and 12 rebounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>AJ</strong> <strong>Morman</strong>, Sacred Heart: Morman had 18 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and a steal in a win over St. George's in the first round of the DII-A West Region Tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Larry</strong> <strong>Benson</strong>, Memphis Business Academy: Benson had 22 points and 7 assists in a win over Trezevant in the semifinals round of the 2A District 15 Tournament. <strong>Teryck</strong> <strong>White</strong> finished with 18. <strong>RJ</strong> <strong>White</strong> added 13. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rocco</strong> <strong>Lamuno</strong>, Ravenwood: Lamuno had 24 points in a win over Nolensville in the quarterfinals round of the 4A District 10 Tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Carson</strong> <strong>Boyle</strong>, Lausanne: Boyle had 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in a second round loss to the University School of Jackson in the DII-A West Region Tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Julius</strong> <strong>Thedford</strong>: Thedford had 36 points in a win over Houston in the semifinals round of the 4A District 15 Tournament. <strong>Emerson</strong> <strong>Tenner</strong> added 14. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Justin</strong> <strong>Frison</strong>, Houston: Frison had 21 points against Cordova. <strong>Jordan</strong> <strong>Myles</strong> added 17. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kevin</strong> <strong>Sacas</strong>, Baylor: Sacas had 19 points in a win over Knoxville Catholic in the semifinals round of the DII-AA East Region Tournament. <strong>Nyziah</strong> <strong>Whaley</strong> added 17. <strong>Zane</strong> <strong>Restelli</strong> provided 13.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kaleb</strong> <strong>Walker</strong>, Powell: Walker reached 1,000 points in the 4A District 3 Tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tyler</strong> <strong>Tanner</strong>, Brentwood Academy: Tanner had 34 points in a win over CPA in the DII-AA Middle Region Tournament. <strong>George</strong> <strong>MacIntyre</strong> added 20.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Maguire</strong> <strong>Evans</strong>, Cleveland: Evans had 20 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and a block in a loss to Rhea County in the 4A District 5 Tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jeremy</strong> <strong>Jackson</strong> <strong>Jr</strong>., Columbia Academy: Jackson had 30 points in a double overtime win over Goodpasture to finish third place in the DII-A Middle Region Tournament. <strong>Gabe</strong> <strong>Davenport</strong> added 20. <strong>Andre</strong> <strong>McClellan</strong> provided 12.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tylan</strong> <strong>Lewis</strong>, Independence: Lewis reached 1,000 points this week. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Brady</strong> <strong>Haun</strong>, Alcoa: Haun had 27 points in a win over Eagleton in the semifinals round of the 2A District 2 Tournament. <strong>Jahvin</strong> <strong>Carter</strong> finished with 21. <strong>Jamir</strong> <strong>Dean</strong> added 11. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Daniel</strong> <strong>Cochran</strong>, Brentwood: Cochran had 11 points in a win over Franklin in the semifinals round of the 4A District 10 Tournament. <strong>Jacob</strong> <strong>Purifoy</strong> added 10.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jackson</strong> <strong>Nichols</strong>, Eagleville: Nichols had 23 points in the team's win over Fayetteville City to capture the 1A District 9 Tournament Championship. <strong>Grey</strong> <strong>Barker</strong> added 17.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nichols, Barker (MVP), and <strong>Camden</strong> <strong>Cole</strong> were named to the All-Tournament Team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Xialin</strong> <strong>Lenoir</strong>, LaVergne: Lenior had 19 points in a win over Lebanon in the semifinals round of the 4A District 7 Tournament. <strong>Daunte</strong> <strong>White</strong> added 13. <strong>Landon</strong> <strong>Bryant</strong> provided 10.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cello</strong> <strong>Jackson</strong>, FACS: Jackson had 24 points and 11 rebounds in a win over ECS in the DII-A West Region Tournament Championship game. <strong>MJ</strong> <strong>Hayes</strong> added 17 points and 6 rebounds <strong>Jacob</strong> <strong>Walker</strong> provided 11 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. <strong>Antonio</strong> <strong>McGaughey</strong> pitched in 10 points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jackson, Walker and Hayes (MVP) were named to the All-Region Tournament Team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ty</strong> <strong>Cobb</strong>, Upperman: Cobb had 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks in a win over White County in the semifinals round of the 3A District 7 Tournament. <strong>Bronzden</strong> <strong>Chaffin</strong> added 12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. <strong>Brayden</strong> <strong>Roberts</strong> provided 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cooper</strong> <strong>Abner</strong>, Westmoreland: Abner had 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 steals in a win over Trousdale County in the semifinals round of the 2A District 6 Tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Trey</strong> <strong>Pearson</strong>, Pope John Paul II: Pearson had 20 points in a win over Brentwood Academy to help the team secure this season's DII-AA Middle Region Championship. <strong>Fred</strong> <strong>Bailey</strong> led the team with 26. <strong>Osby</strong> <strong>Cavin</strong> provided 16 points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bailey (MVP), Pearson, [player_tooltip player_id='1145719' first='Tyler' last='Tanner'] (Brentwood Academy), [player_tooltip player_id='1277264' first='George' last='MacIntyre'] (Brentwood Academy), <strong>Leroy</strong> <strong>Harris</strong> <strong>III</strong> (CPA), and <strong>Antonio</strong> <strong>Wilkerson</strong> were named to the All-Tournament Team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center"} --> <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>Herron's off the board</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"center","id":2353998,"width":"273px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Untitled_Artwork_b7cccb.jpeg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Untitled_Artwork_b7cccb.jpeg?w=698" alt="" class="wp-image-2353998" style="width:273px;height:auto" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hillcrest's senior guard <strong>Xavier</strong> <strong>Herron</strong> announced his commitment to Philander Smith College on Sunday. Herron, a 6-foot-0 guard, helped the Vikings defeat City University on Saturday to capture this season's 1A District 16 Tournament Championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Herron, who averaged 20.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.6 steals, and 4.3 assists per game in the regular season, was also named to the 1A District 16 First-Team. It's his third time getting the first-team nod. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>100 percent effort</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"left","id":2353999,"width":"304px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2252-rotated.jpeg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2252-rotated.jpeg?w=768" alt="" class="wp-image-2353999" style="width:304px;height:auto" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior <strong>KJ</strong> <strong>Neville</strong> is the ideal player Bartlett head coach Dion Real looks to coach year in and year out. The 6-foot-0 point guard is a tough, hardworking, coachable, and a high-energy guy. In Friday's semifinals win over Southwind in the TSSAA 4A District 15 Tournament, Neville's physicality bothered sophomore guard <strong>Ronald</strong> <strong>Towns</strong> in the second half as he was held scoreless. Neville likes to use his upper body strength in man-to-man defense situations. His effort is always there. Neville is never going to short-change his teammates on effort. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He has an attribute that Real likes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>”It is so easy to coach [player_tooltip player_id='1330881' first='KJ' last='Neville'], and in today's climate, it's hard to say that,” Real said. “He's a good basketball player. If we, kind of, took the reins off of him a little bit, he would be really, really good offensively. That's what everyone looks at, the offensive end of it. But, it's so easy, because I can yell at him; I can scream; I do whatever I want to do to [player_tooltip player_id='1330881' first='KJ' last='Neville'], he's not changing. He's the same kid day after day after day, no matter how hard we coach him.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>”So, that's been really, really fun to watch his development.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Spark plug</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dion Real tweaked his backcourt Friday night, inserting sophomore guard <strong>Jayden</strong> <strong>Mitchell</strong> late in the third quarter while the Panthers were trailing by five. Mitchell, who hasn't seen much playing time this season, provided a much-needed spark. Neville and senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='2147208' first='R'Chaun' last='King'] made four free throws to get Bartlett within one. Moments later, Mitchell made a corner 3 to put the Panthers up 33-31 heading into the fourth quarter. An uncontested basket underneath the rim by King put Bartlett up for good. But, Mitchell's 3 was a spark plug, a lightning rod the Panthers needed after struggling to generate offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was just one game, but Mitchell, in limited minutes, showed he's capable of knocking down shots in a tight contest. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->