Class A State Tournament Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PICTURED: Union City</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Class A's eight teams are all angling for a State Championship. Read about key players on all eight teams below.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Matchups:</strong><br>North Greene (21-15) vs. Santa Fe (25-5)<br>Chattanooga Prep (24-6) vs. Union City (29-5)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jellico (20-11) vs. Frank Hughes (24-9)<br>Gordonsville (23-10) vs. Middle College (20-8)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">North Greene (21-15)</span></strong><br>Repping D1<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline"><br></span>About the Huskies: </strong>When North Greene lost to University High in the Regional Championship, the future appeared bleak. A road game at Harriman against [player_tooltip player_id='1143251' first='Jordan' last='McCullum'] and Friends is not the smoothest path to the promised land. And yet North Greene knocked off Harriman in the biggest upset of the Class A sectionals to make their 6th State Tournament appearance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: </strong>The headliner for North Greene is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1570572' first='Jason' last='Britton']</strong>. Last year Jason earned Mr. Basketball Finalist. He did not make the final three this year despite playing just as well. Britton scores from all three levels and uses his nice guard height to get the cleanest looks possible. <strong>Lawson Davenport</strong> and <strong>Bennett McClain</strong> are important contributors. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Santa Fe (25-5)</span></strong><br>Repping D10<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline"><br></span>About the Wildcats: </strong>Santa Fe was ranked #1 for much of the season by statewide sportswriters. Their regional final loss to Eagleville was only their 5th loss all season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Santa Fe is making their State Tournament debut.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='1406306' first='Auden' last='Slaughter']</strong> ranks among the greatest scorers in the state, regardless of class. The dude puts up around 35 points per game. He surpassed 2000 career points back in December. Teammate <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1406307' first='Macon' last='Adkison']</strong> consistently scores and rebounds too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Chattanooga Prep (24-6)</span></strong><br>Repping D5<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline"><br></span>About the Sentinels: </strong>Chattanooga Prep is back in Murfreesboro. With a team of freshmen and sophomores they qualified last season. The relatively new charter school did not even have seniors in attendance until this fall. It all started with sixth-graders in 2018 as a charter school. Together they moved up each year and the school's enrollment expanded with them. The young men are now mostly sophomores and juniors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: </strong>Chattanooga Prep is balanced offensively with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1838577' first='Ta'Suade' last='Williams']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2238576' first='Derrick' last='Roberson']</strong>, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1548922' first='Eli' last='Gaines']</strong>. All three earned All-District. All three started last year for that extremely successful team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1548922' first='Eli' last='Gaines'] is a physical shooter/slasher. Roberson dribbles and drives as well as anybody in Class A.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Union City (29-5)</span></strong><br>Repping D14<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline"><br></span>About the Golden Tornadoes:</strong> Union City is returning to the State Tournament for the 20th time. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2318087' first='Malaki' last='Brooks']</strong> is the eighth Union City player to be a Mr. Basketball Finalist: Stanley Caldwell twice, Marquis Weddle, M.J. Brown twice, Marcus DeBerry, Parker Stewart.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: </strong>Union City's superstar<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='2318087' first='Malaki' last='Brooks']</strong> is fantastic. College coaches, and we at PrepHoopsTN, finally realized it this last couple of months.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Union City Starters</span><br>#11 [player_tooltip player_id='2318087' first='Malaki' last='Brooks']<br>#4 C.J. Davis<br>#15 SF Joseph Lattus<br>#13 F Jack Tully<br>#2 Ben Kail (2025)<br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Jellico (20-11)</span></strong><br>Repping D3<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline"><br></span>About the Blue Devils: </strong>Winners of 13 of their last 16 games, Jellico is one of four road A teams to win Monday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Justin Bowlin was an All-time great Blue Devil. He served up 905 career assists, second in Tennessee history.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jellico is making their State Tournament debut!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Scorers: Carson Bolton</strong> won the District MVP. Both<strong> Isaac McNealy </strong>and J<strong>ohn Zecchini</strong> made the All-District Team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Jellico Starters</span><br>#1 Caleb Rose (2027)<br>#2 Isaac McNealy<br>#3 Trey Vann (2026)<br>#13 John Zecchini<br>#22 Carson Bolton</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Frank Hughes (24-9)</span></strong><br>Repping D11<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline"><br></span>About the Lions: </strong>Last game, Frank Hughes overcame a 14-point third quarter deficit. Hughes amassed a 7-game winning streak from January 29th to February 15th.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: </strong>Sophomore guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2370779' first='Devin' last='Dicus']</strong> is an active defender, a long-armed guard. Against Eagleville he was able to get his hands on passes and disrupt. Like an eager shot-blocker Dicus can be vulnerable to pump fakes and head fakes. Good agility. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2370782' first='Aiden' last='Dicus'] </strong>is invaluable to Frank Hughes High. The big man is limber for a Class A post player and surprisingly light on his feet. Rebound wars require toughness in the playoffs and Dicus provides that edge. Junior point guard <strong>Weston Lineberry</strong> made multiple big shots in the thrilling comeback Monday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Frank Hughes Starters</span><br>#1 Weston Lineberry<br>#5 G [player_tooltip player_id='2370779' first='Devin' last='Dicus']<br>#10 Konnor Lineberry<br>#23 PF [player_tooltip player_id='2370782' first='Aiden' last='Dicus']<br>#34 Alex Ronchetti</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Gordonsville Tigers (23-10)</span></strong><br>Repping D7<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline"><br></span>About the Tigers: </strong>Gordonsville was not the District 7 team expected to advance to the state tournament. Pickett County won the regular season and the District Tournament. Further, Pickett County defeated these Tigers three times in a row prior to the Regional Championship Game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gordonsville knocked off Pickett County and then handled South Pittsburg in a sectional contest.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: </strong>Both <strong>Brodie Sykes</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2366591' first='J' last='Foster']</strong> produce for GHS. Brodie is a big man with range out to 10-12', while Foster is a do-everything guard. Foster found a flaming hand incapable of missing shots in the riveting 61-51 win over Pickett County for the Region 4 Championship. Pickett County, a strong team, was unable to slow Foster in that game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Gordonsville Starters</span><br>#3 [player_tooltip player_id='2366591' first='J' last='Foster']<br>#5 Tucker Smith (2025)<br>#10 Brodie Sykes (2025)<br>#23 Eli Adams<br>Tristan Woods</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:quote --> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Punishing the Bobcats under the basket was clearly a priority for Sykes and the entire Tiger team Thursday night. Despite their feisty play, Pickett County had no answer for Brodie on the blocks. Brodie played with confidence and toughness around swarming defenders. Sykes also shared a tremendous outlet pass in the second quarter that ultimately set up a Tiger fastbreak basket. Sykes earned All-District First Team after his regular season success.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --><cite>Sectional Preview by PrepHoopsTN</cite></blockquote> <!-- /wp:quote --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Middle College Bulldogs (24-9)</span></strong><br>Repping D15<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline"><br></span>About the Bulldogs: </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2370908,"width":"339px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Gordonsville.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Gordonsville.jpg?w=975" alt="" class="wp-image-2370908" style="width:339px;height:auto" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Gordonsville High</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->