District 4 Notebook (4A)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PICTURED: [player_tooltip player_id='1305604' first='Caden' last='Windle']</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who will win District 4-4A?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"textAlign":"center"} --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center"><strong>District </strong>4</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Farragut<br>William Blount<br>Bearden<br>Knoxville West</strong><br><strong>Maryville</strong><br><strong>Hardin Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>District 4-4A is a district of change. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ascending: Bearden</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bulldogs of Bearden endured a down year in 2023. For a program that owns 10 State Tournament appearances this century alone, 13-loss seasons are rare. Expect a quick bounce-back for Bearden and Coach Jeremy Parrott.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1214940' first='Drew' last='Brillhart']</strong> is dependable and active. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1519805' first='King' last='Hubbard']</strong> is a star in the making. Maybe he is a star now. The upside is tantalizing. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Descending: William Blount</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>William Blount will be both good and not as exceptional as they were a year ago because they lost some steady, strong, dependable seniors: Reese Pride, Riley Everett, Bryson Stewart, Braden Mayfield, Luke Click, Ryder Jones. The talent (<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1305604' first='Caden' last='Windle']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1659744' first='Grady' last='Robertson']</strong>) and skill remains high, but the defensive soul moved on. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last year [player_tooltip player_id='1305604' first='Caden' last='Windle'] averaged 22.6 ppg (57% FG) with 8.8 rpg. Few statewide lived at that elevation. Teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1659744' first='Grady' last='Robertson'] averaged 15.1 ppg with 7.9 rpg.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To be clear the Governors might still win the challenging district, but they are not touching 30 wins again.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Players on the Rise:</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Alex Walker</strong>, William Blount<br>Walker shot up to 6-foot-5. He is a little awkward physically, but agile and a little springy. Rangy, long arms. Walker barely played last year (9 games, 0.8 ppg), but he will play a bunch and possibly score a decent amount. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2358333' first='Justin' last='Nordin']</strong>, Bearden<br>Bearden can score from multiple points on the floor, but without Nordin making sound choices their offense would be muddy. Nordin can shoot, but primarily drives the team through changing the point of attack and putting guys in positions to succeed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Rosters</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Farragut</strong></span> <span style="text-decoration: underline">(</span>Presumed starters*)<br><strong>Head Coach </strong>J.P. Burris<br>#1 Berkley Naro<br>#2 Brevin Swartzentruber<br>#3 Dominic Vanacker* (2025)<br>#4 Tony Spadafora<br>#5 Aiden Vanacker*<br>#10 Claudio Song<br>#11 Britton Lewis (2026)<br>#12 Daniel Lanning (2026)<br>#13 Trey Slagle (2025)<br>#14 Ethan Farhat (2027)<br>#15 Kent Carbaugh (2025)<br>#20 [player_tooltip player_id='2677251' first='Bryce' last='Howard'] (2025)<br>#23 [player_tooltip player_id='1683902' first='Parker' last='Lane']* (2026)<br>#32 Carson Mactavish (2025)<br>#34 Brody Appling (2025)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As a sophomore, <strong>Dominic Vanacker</strong> (Farragut) scored 14.8 ppg with 191 made shots. He also made 117 free throws! Teammate <strong>Aiden Vanacker </strong>scored 8.2 ppg with 61 made 3-pointers. Look for both to improve upon their 2022-2023 seasons. Senior <strong>Berkley Naro</strong> averaged 3.7 ppg with 3.5 rpg.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">William Blount</span> </strong>(Presumed starters*)<br><strong>Head Coach </strong>Kevin Windle<br>#0 Alex Walker (2025)<br>#1 Karson Hard (2026)<br>#4 Trevor Scarlett<br>#5 Brett Cortez*<br>#11 [player_tooltip player_id='1659744' first='Grady' last='Robertson']*<br>#20 [player_tooltip player_id='1305604' first='Caden' last='Windle']*<br>#21 Lukas Henson<br>#22 [player_tooltip player_id='2621673' first='Jaxon' last='Dabrowski'] (2026)<br>#24 Alan Hughes<br>#32 Brooks Bird<br>Seth Breeding (2025)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1305604' first='Caden' last='Windle'] </strong>shoots at an elite level. The volume scorer will compete for District MVP.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Bearden</span> </strong>(Presumed starters*)<br><strong>Head Coach </strong>Jeremy Parrott<br>#0 Dalton Siva<br>#2 [player_tooltip player_id='2358333' first='Justin' last='Nordin']* (2026)<br>#4 [player_tooltip player_id='1519805' first='King' last='Hubbard']* (2025)<br>#5 [player_tooltip player_id='2674328' first='Drew' last='Parrott'] (2025)<br>#12 Andrew Baker (2025)<br>#23 [player_tooltip player_id='1214940' first='Drew' last='Brillhart']*<br>#24 Jamichael Blair* (2025)<br>#31 Sam Tummins<br>#32 [player_tooltip player_id='2708787' first='Domenic' last='Mahoney'] (2025)<br>#44 [player_tooltip player_id='1465842' first='Jacob' last='Phillips']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Knoxville West</span> </strong>(Presumed starters*)<br><strong>Head Coach </strong>Aubin Goporo</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aubin coached Florida Air Academy prior to accepting a job with U Tennessee. Goporo finished 355-52 as a head coach with FAA. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Hardin Valley</span> </strong>(Presumed starters*)<br><strong>Head Coach </strong>Andy Arendt</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Maryville</span> </strong>(Presumed starters*)<br><strong>Head Coach </strong>Wes Lambert</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2022 DISTRICT STANDINGS</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:table --> <figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>William Blount</td><td>8-2</td><td>30-6</td></tr><tr><td>Farragut</td><td>7-3</td><td>18-14</td></tr><tr><td>Hardin Valley</td><td>6-4</td><td>23-10</td></tr><tr><td>Maryville</td><td>5-5</td><td>17-13</td></tr><tr><td>Bearden</td><td>4-6</td><td>19-13</td></tr><tr><td>Heritage</td><td>0-10</td><td>13-16</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> <!-- /wp:table --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">2023 Postseason Recapture</span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#1 seed <strong>WIlliam Blount </strong>(64) vs. #5 seed Bearden (41)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#2 seed<strong> </strong>Farragut<strong> </strong>(48) vs. #3 seed <strong>Hardin Valley</strong> (56)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>District Tournament Championship</em><br>#1 seed <strong>William Blount</strong> (63) vs. #4 seed Hardin Valley (49)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">2022 Postseason Recapture</span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#1 seed <strong>Farragut</strong> (70) vs. #4 seed William Blount (52)<br>#2 seed<strong> Bearden </strong>(67) vs. #3 seed Hardin Valley (65)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>District Tournament Championship</em><br>#1 seed<strong> Farragut </strong>(73) vs. #2 seed Bearden (62)<br><br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center"} --> <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>Prediction</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:table --> <figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>(1st) </strong>Bearden</td></tr><tr><td><strong>(2nd)</strong> William Blount</td></tr><tr><td><strong>(3rd)</strong> Maryville</td></tr><tr><td><strong>(4th)</strong> Farragut</td></tr><tr><td><strong>(5th)</strong> Hardin Valley</td></tr><tr><td><strong>(6th)</strong> Knox West</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> <!-- /wp:table -->