4A District 16 Tournament: Whitehaven snags No. 1 seed in region

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Whitehaven, under head coach Willie Kemp, won its second straight 4A District 16 Tournament title, defeating White Station, 65-51, on Wednesday night. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The win guarantees the Tigers a No. 1 seed in the 4A Region 8 Tournament. Whitehaven will host No. 4 Germantown this Saturday in the first round.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are 3 quick notes from the win:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Living in transition</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tigers held a 32-22 lead at halftime. Whitehaven flexed its muscles in the third quarter, going on a 19-0 run that spilled into the fourth quarter. Junior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1760994' first='Dorion' last='Bowen'] started the run with back-to-back scores. Senior forward <strong>Bob Dickson</strong> converted on a 3-point play. Senior guard <strong>KJ Smith</strong> converted on a 3-point play as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1852698' first='Taquez' last='Butler'] made back-to-back 3s that ignited the crowd and crushed any hopes of a Spartans comeback.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tigers like to play fast. That's the way this team is built. Whitehaven likes to speed teams up and make them take bad shots. The Tigers are at their best when they're able to force turnovers and score points in transition.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When Whitehaven is able to get dunks, transition 3s, and layups, the Tigers can run any team out of the gym.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Butler led Whitehaven with 16 points. Bowen finished with 13.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>A good sign</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bowen came out in the first quarter and made two 3s. It was a good sign to see Bowen get going early in a meaningful game. The 6-foot-6 wing played with high energy, communicated on both ends of the court, and his rhythm shots early seemed to spread amongst his teammates. The team as a whole had 8 players in the scoring column.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>A roster of everything</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tigers have enough pieces to make a deep postseason run. The length is definitely there with Dickson (6-5), Bowen (6-6), [player_tooltip player_id='1599938' first='Rashad' last='Bryant'] (6-6), and senior wing [player_tooltip player_id='2111745' first='Cameron' last='Brown'] (6-5). Butler has proven to be Whitehaven's best guard and No. 1 offensive option. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1852774' first='Jarmon' last='Brittman'] is a dog that's going to do the dirty work. These pieces are enough to make it to Murfreesboro, TN. The Tigers just can't lose focus at this point of the season. One loss in either of the first two rounds of the region tournament, and their season will be over.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>All-Tournament Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jaylon Evans</strong> (Memphis Central),<strong> Kobe Bryant</strong> (White Station), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2864959' first='Jaxon' last='Hardaway']</strong> (White Station), [player_tooltip player_id='1591000' first='TJ' last='Cox'] (Memphis East), <strong>Devion</strong> <strong>Murray</strong> (Memphis Overton),<strong> Deandre Merriweather</strong> (Kingsbury), Brittman, Bowen, and Dickson were named to the 4A District 16 All-Tournament Team. Butler was crowned the regular season MVP.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rest of the bracket</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>No. 2 Bartlett will host No. 3 Memphis Central. The winner of that contest will meet the winner of Whitehaven/Germantown in the semifinals round.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>No. 1 Houston will host No. 4 Memphis East. No. 2 White Station will host No. 3 Southwind.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->