Who will win the “DII A East” District 2 Tournament Championship?

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PICTURED: [player_tooltip player_id='2765352' first='Asa' last='Fortune']</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <p>Seeds are set and the Division II A East District 2 Tournament is ready to go.</p> <ol> <li>Boyd-Buchanan</li> <li>Notre Dame</li> <li>Silverdale Baptist</li> <li>Collegedale Academy</li> <li>St. Andrew's Sewanee</li> <li>Grace Baptist</li> </ol> <p><strong>The favorite:</strong> Boyd-Buchanan is a program on the rise under Head Coach Matt Hoppe. Between dynamic sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2765352' first='Asa' last='Fortune']</strong> and lane-lurker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2765371' first='Caleb' last='Hardaway']</strong> the Buccaneers capably matchup with almost any DII-A team in the state. Eleven opponents this season failed to score 40 points against this juggernaut.</p> <p><strong>The biggest threat: </strong>Notre Dame stars a potential Mr. Basketball in [player_tooltip player_id='1830608' first='Gaas' last='Herman']. Gaas just committed to Carson-Newman University this month.</p> <p><strong>The dark horse: </strong>Silverdale Baptist is the #3 seed, and they will likely get a rematch with their Tuesday opponent Notre Dame in the District Tournament semifinals. The Seahakws suffered a dastardly loss to #1 seed Boyd-Buchanan earlier this year, 62-22.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">Players to watch</span><br />2025 [player_tooltip player_id='1830608' first='Gaas' last='Herman'], Notre Dame<br />2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2765352' first='Asa' last='Fortune'], Boyd-Buchanan<br />2026 [player_tooltip player_id='2765371' first='Caleb' last='Hardaway'], Boyd-Buchanan<br />2026 Hudson Jones, Boyd-Buchanan<br />2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2765358' first='Parker' last='Holland'], Silverdale Baptist<br />2027 Luke Burger, Silverdale Baptist<br />2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2743998' first='Aidan' last='Redner'], Notre Dame</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">District Tournament History<br /></span>2024: Silverdale Academy<br />2023: Notre Dame</p> <p>In 2024, Silverdale upset the Regular Season Champions Boyd-Buchanan in the District Tournament Championship.  The two met again in the Regional Tournament Championship with Silverdale winning, 51-36. Silverdale lost to eventual champions FACS in the State Semifinal, 66-59.</p> <p>In 2023, Notre Dame finished runners-up in the Regional Tournament and Boyd-Buchanan captured the #3 seed coming out of that same tournament.  Notre Dame advanced to the State Tournament in 2023, ultimately losing in the State Championship to Goodpasture.</p> <h4 style="text-align: center">DISTRICT FINAL PREDICTION</h4> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Boyd-Buchanan vs. Notre Dame</strong></p> <p>While Notre Dame plays exceptional halfcourt defense, Boyd-Buchanan plays quite good fullcourt pressure.  The two teams are both strong, but the Buccaneers boast the better big by far in [player_tooltip player_id='2765371' first='Caleb' last='Hardaway']. [player_tooltip player_id='1830608' first='Gaas' last='Herman'] can play heroic, and Notre Dame could still lose. If Caleb and teammate [player_tooltip player_id='2765352' first='Asa' last='Fortune'] play up to their best the game will easily go Boyd-Buchanan's way.</p> <p>The top four teams from the District Tournament advance to the Regional Tournament.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>#1 Boyd-Buchanan (BYE)</p> <p>#4 Collegedale vs. #5 St. Andrew's Sewanee</p> <p> </p> <p>#2 Notre Dame (BYE)</p> <p>#3 Silverdale Academy vs. #6 Grace Baptist</p>