Coaches, Players Reflect on the Friday Tennessee Classic Games

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tennessee Classic postgame interviews enabled the media to get inside the heads of the coaches and players.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Calvary Christian 79, Knox Webb 59</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach Ricky Norris:</strong> We knew we needed to make about 15 3's to be in the ballpark. We missed a bunch early and then hit ours later. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MEDIA:</strong> How does that team compare to the other best teams you have played at this event in the past?<br><strong>Head Coach Ricky Norris: </strong>We haven't played a team like that up here. And we have played a lot of good teams [here].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach Ricky Norris: </strong>We don't have to beat them to reach our goals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Webb Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1299479' first='Jaylen' last='Pompey']:</strong> It felt like anything we did someone was there. We are going to be used to that kind of physicality. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Webb Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1299479' first='Jaylen' last='Pompey']:</strong> You can just look at them and know that once you got down there it was going to be hard to get a shot up. So, you look for the kick out. Wilson [Luton] was not hitting today, but he usually makes a lot of those.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1299479' first='Jaylen' last='Pompey'] finished with three points, four assists, and four rebounds. [player_tooltip player_id='1277259' first='Cam' last='Swearengen'] scored 17 points on 6-9 FG (2-5 3's).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">St. Michael's Catholic 82, Bartlett 74</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MEDIA: </strong>They seemed to have an answer often. <br><strong>Head Coach Dion Real:</strong> Extremely frustrating. You get to a certain point, you are fighting, fighting. You fight your way back in and you have a missed assignment here and a missed assignment there.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach Dion Real:</strong> It is one of those things that they are really disciplined team. They only had seven turnovers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MEDIA:</strong> Not as many assists as you would like?<br><strong>Head Coach Dion Real:</strong> They made a lot of basketball plays moving the ball. We made a lot of tough individual plays. When you have individual trying to go against team plays in a game like this. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MEDIA: </strong>How has your role increased this year?<strong><br>[player_tooltip player_id='2291122' first='Dylan' last='Jones']:</strong> I have had to step up and be a leader, Be more vocal. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MEDIA:</strong> Talk about Dylan's ability to create his own shots at such a young age.<br><strong>Head Coach Dion Real:</strong> He is getting there. We cut out half of those misses from the 2 or he goes 10-15 that is 5 more attempts for somebody else. Late he made some tough baskets over two or three people. He is an extreme talent. Plays the right way. Plays hard. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MEDIA:</strong> What do you need to work on?<br><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2291122' first='Dylan' last='Jones']:</strong> Definitely got to be more disciplined. We have to get our transition game going. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MEDIA:</strong> How do you decide who is going to play when? Is it gut instinct in the moment? Planned in advance?<br><strong>Head Coach Dion Real:</strong> It is hard for me to explain. It is corny a little bit. Guys that are working hard [will play]. Not just on the court, but also in the classroom. One thing we hold high are character. That is the baseboard. If you are not getting that, then you are not playing as much. We are still trying to fix all of the intangibles. We have a talented roster. A talented group. Our thing is not about just getting to the next level is how do you stick at the next level. If you don't know how to act, don't know how to keep the grades, then you will get sent back quickly. The corny answer is 'high character.' If you don't want to be here, you are free to go. There are things that are going to help us win, some help us lose...but we are going to prioritize character. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MEDIA:</strong> What did you think of the game?<br><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2194475' first='Braylon' last='Williams']:</strong> We did not get many free throws. We just didn't keep attacking [like we can].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St. Mike's Head Coach: </strong>Physically, they were one of the toughest teams we have played. I don't think we had a defensive rebound in the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->