12A Off-Season Diary: Can three teams reach the 20-win plateau?

<p>With five months remaining until the 2020-2021 season commences, District 12-A is full of off-season intrigue.  Player movement, graduation, ascending youth.  Plenty food is on the table.  Time to digest.</p> <p>Few districts in the state are as contentious. The intensity and familiarity between teams is relevant.  </p> <p>"It really doesn’t matter who you play," said Perry County Head Coach Larry Helton.  "Every single team is a rival. </p> <h2>2019-2020 D12A Standings</h2> <table style="height: 210px; width: 33.5789%; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: ridge; border-color: #fa7305;"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 8.51676%; height: 21px;">Loretto</td> <td style="width: 3.92347%; height: 21px;">10-0</td> <td style="width: 3.52585%; height: 21px;">27-5</td> <td style="width: 8.71425%; height: 21px;"> </td> <td style="width: 8.71425%;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 8.51676%; height: 21px;">Summertown</td> <td style="width: 3.92347%; height: 21px;">8-2</td> <td style="width: 3.52585%; height: 21px;">17-10</td> <td style="width: 8.71425%; height: 21px;"> </td> <td style="width: 8.71425%;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 8.51676%; height: 21px;">Perry County</td> <td style="width: 3.92347%; height: 21px;">6-4</td> <td style="width: 3.52585%; height: 21px;">13-14</td> <td style="width: 8.71425%; height: 21px;"> </td> <td style="width: 8.71425%;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 8.51676%; height: 21px;">Collinwood</td> <td style="width: 3.92347%; height: 21px;">2-7</td> <td style="width: 3.52585%; height: 21px;">7-19</td> <td style="width: 8.71425%; height: 21px;"> </td> <td style="width: 8.71425%;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 8.51676%; height: 21px;">Frank Hughes</td> <td style="width: 3.92347%; height: 21px;">2-7</td> <td style="width: 3.52585%; height: 21px;">7-19</td> <td style="width: 8.71425%; height: 21px;"> </td> <td style="width: 8.71425%;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 8.51676%; height: 21px;">Wayne County</td> <td style="width: 3.92347%; height: 21px;">1-9</td> <td style="width: 3.52585%; height: 21px;">5-19</td> <td style="width: 8.71425%; height: 21px;"> </td> <td style="width: 8.71425%;"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Blood Transfusion, Talent Infusion </strong></span></p> <p>The Loretto Mustangs seem to reload with every single freshman class.  More young bloods arrive.  Now that 2022’s ascend into the the upper class, there comes yet another stable of Mustangs: <strong>Kamauri Young</strong>, <strong>Clint Seymore</strong>, <strong>Omar Joyner</strong>.</p> <p>Kamauri Young is the younger cousin of LHS legend, Amauri Young.  "He’s 5-foot-10, 155-pound freshman point guard," said Loretto High School Greg Tipps.  Young is "fast with a shot.  Really good baseball player, as well."</p> <p>Seymore stands 6-foot-1.  Like most athletes at LHS, Seymore also excels as baseball.  Joyner is "already dunking" and plays football.  Summertown will run out 2025 <strong>Grayson Burleson</strong> in 2020-2021. </p> <p>"<strong>Linden Brown</strong> has got to put on some more weight and develop his perimeter skills," said Coach Larry Helton. "He was a ’5’, but I need him to become more of a ’4.’"</p> <p><strong style="font-size: 24px;">Summertown</strong></p> <p>"We return 4 of our 5 starters from last year," said Summertown Head Coach Wes Long.  "We were a really young team.  We lost all five starters a year ago and that was a big blow, but I was really pleased with how the young guys stepped up."</p> <p>Expect yet another monster season for Gavin Burleson.  "He is our leading scorer," said Coach Long.  "He averaged almost 24 points per game the entire season.  That was really huge for us.  He replaced basically two guys by himself."  </p> <p>Grant Burleson, Skyler Trousdale, and <strong>Zane Akins</strong> will all likely start with Akins being the lone newcomer in the starting lineup.  All three are seniors this upcoming academic year.</p> <p>Brother to former star Trey Trotter, Kaden, "is more of a stretch-4," observed Coach Long.  "Undersized post.  He is skilled.  He just doesn’t have the quickness that Trey has, but he is still really skilled."</p> <p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Perry County</strong></span></p> <p>With the insertion of then-freshman Lachlan Matthews, Dudley actually increased his scoring output.</p> <p>"We return our starting point guard," shared Perry County Head Coach Larry Helton.  "He was our starting point guard last year.  Our 4-man will be back again.  At the end of the year we were starting a freshman, two sophomores, and two juniors.  We have everybody back.  We have a lot of depth coming back.."</p> <blockquote> <p>Tyler Dudley will be back (leading scorer).  Strong player. Good scorer. First bucket of the year will be his 1,000 career point to start his senior year.  Jackson Tatum will be back.  Those two will be the driving force.  They are the only two seniors returning.  Lachlan Matthews will be a sophomore returning.  He started at the end of the year for us.  Jeremiah Donalson will probably be starting for us this year if he starts as well as he finished last year.  Gunner Bradford will be a junior for us this year. Probably starting at the 3. -- Coach Helton</p> </blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Players to Watch<br /> </span></strong>2023 Lachlan Matthews, Perry County<br /> 2021 Shaler Hankins, Loretto<br /> 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="1018118" first="Tabias" last="Sirmones"], Loretto<br /> 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="1018124" first="Brendon" last="Tipps"], Loretto<br /> 2022 Caleb Davis, Loretto<br /> 2022 Joseph Garretson, Loretto<br /> 2021 Skyler Trousdale, Summertown<br /> 2022 Gavin Burleson, Summertown<br /> 2021 Grant Burleson, Summertown<br /> 2022 Kaden Trotter, Summertown<br /> 2022 Kenneth Garretson, Loretto<br /> 2021 Jackson Tatum, Perry County<br /> 2021 Tyler Dudley, Perry County<br /> 2022 Tyler Moser, Wayne County<br /> 2021 Clay Baugus, Wayne County</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Ascension?</strong></span></p> <p>Collinwood, Frank Hughes, and Wayne County each missed the district’s top tier in 2020.  Despite introducing a new head coach, Perry County won an impressive 6 district games.  The feeling around the league is that they will improve significantly from in Coach Helton’s second year. </p> <p>What preceded Coach Helton’s acceptance of the Perry County job just last season?</p> <p>"I have been coaching.  This will be my 35th year.  They called me last year.  This school has won six state championships in the state of Tennessee. We are a small school, but basketball is what Perry County is known for.  That is immediately what you see, is our basketball history.  We have a board policy on what it takes to get your jersey retired.  We have 19 retired numbers.  You have to be All-State or MVP in the State Tournament or All-State Tournament team to get your number retired."</p> <p><em>For the best statewide coverage follow @PrepHoopsTN.</em></p>