2015 DII-A West Regional Tournament Team

Harding 1^st Place

 Northpoint 2^nd Place

All-Region

Princess Stark – Lausanne

Emily Lytle – Evangelical Christian

Ashtyn Baker – Northpoint

Lauren Gross – Northpoint

Kelsi Elkins – Harding

Anna Horner – Harding

Antoinette Lewis – Harding – Regional MVP

Ask Po Po #6: How to Get D1 Schools to look at you? Part II

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Alicia Payne (White Station) Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Jasmine Joyner (Southaven) All Conference First Team

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Arlington edges past Ridgeway in AAA sub-state

image and article from Commercial Appeal

Arlington standout Tori Sewell has a message for the rest of the girls basketball teams in the state.

“We’re coming.”

And the Tigers are bringing Bartlett and Craigmont with them.

Three area teams advanced to the girls state tournament Monday night, led by Arlington’s 52-49 victory over a Ridgeway team that spent the entire season ranked first in The Commercial Appeal’s Dandy Dozen and also was ranked as high as fourth nationally.

The Tigers — the champions of Region 7 — will be joined in the AAA tournament by Bartlett, which knocked off Region 8 winner Overton, 46-42. Craigmont will represent AA this week after a 69-55 victory over Crockett County.

Sewell scored 19 points to lead the giant-killing Tigers, who will be playing in the state tournament for the first time in school history. Their win over Ridgeway follows a victory over previously undefeated Dyer County in the semifinals of last week’s Region 7 tournament.

“We just kept our composure,” said Sewell. “It didn’t matter if we were up or down, we just kept our composure.”


Added Raegyn Branch, “We played with a lot of heart.”

Arlington, which will take a 26-9 record into Wednesday’s 2:45 p.m. game against Morristown West at MTSU’s Murphy Center, had an outstanding defensive game while keeping the tempo right where they wanted it.

Ridgeway — which was led by 20 points from Brandi Beasley — hung tough, though, and pulled to within 51-49 after a putback by Elizabeth Dixon with 10.3 seconds left. Cheiyanne Norton then hit 1 of 2 free throws and Breouanna Humphrey’s 3 at the buzzer was off the mark.

Branch added 11 for the Tigers while Eryn Foster scored 12 for Ridgeway, which ends the year with two straight losses after winning its first 28.

At Overton, Charity Savage poured in 29 points to send the Panthers (21-10) to state for the first time since 2008. Bartlett will open against Murfreesboro Oakland on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.

“We switched from a 2-3 zone to a soft man to try and take away their guard penetration,” said Panthers coach Lynn Whitfield. “Overton does a great job with their pressure defense, but we did a great job of handling their pressure.”

Few teams anywhere will enter the state tournament on as good a roll as Craigmont. The Chiefs will take a 15-game winning streak into Thursday’s 2:15 p.m. quarterfinal against McMinn Central.
Daja Scurlock had 18 to lead the Chiefs (27-6). Kiara Caswell had 15 and Danielle Conley chipped in with 14.

“Kiara Caswell and Danielle Conley really stepped their games up,” said Chiefs coach Tim Anderson. “They made some runs, but we did a great job of answering them.”

CLASS AAA SUB-STATE
Ridgeway (49) — Brandi Beasley 20, Oreonna Brown 2, Alexus Bryson 2, Elizabeth Dixon 2, Eryn Foster 12, Breouanna Humphrey 9, Tierney Paylor 2.
Arlington (52) — Raegyn Branch 11, Mirrakohl Johnson 9, Ashley Lee 2, Callie McMorran 6, Cheiyanne Norton 5, Tori Sewell 19.
Ridgeway 6 12 15 16—49
Arlington 7 16 11 18—52
Records — Ridgeway 28-2, Arlington 26-9.

Bartlett (46) — Madelyn Anguiano 13, Ashley Payne 2, Charity Savage 29, Dee Dee Williams 2.
Overton (42) — Rodrea Echols 12, Marquesha Fennell 4, Kyla Green 6, Dontrecia Johnson 3, Jalisa Jones 8, Ciera Pettis 4, Kayla Williams 5.
Bartlett 5 11 19 11—46
Overton 10 13 9 10—42
Records — Bartlett 21-10, Overton 24-5.

CLASS AA SUB-STATE
Crockett Co. (55) — Hart 21, Pratt 9, K. Robertson 6, Patterson 16, Taylor 3.
Craigmont (69) — Kiara Caswell 15, Danielle Conley 14, Keveana Fayne 6, Alexis McFarland 7, Morgan Morris 9, Daja Scurlock 18.
Crockett Co. 10 12 16 17—55
Craigmont 17 12 17 23—69
Records — Crockett Co. 22-10, Craigmont 27-6.

Jasmine Joyner (Southaven) Named SoCon Player of the Week

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2015 TCCAA/NJCAA REGION VII BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

March 3-8 at Southwest TN Community College

Tournament Info

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Briarcrest's Thomas, St. Mary's Kaylan Pugh voted state's best at basketball

image and story from Commercial Appeal

Don’t get him wrong; Micah Thomas has no intention of returning the Mr. Basketball trophy he won Saturday. But he knows there’s still work to do.

The Briarcrest standout captured the award Saturday, finishing ahead of Ensworth’s Jordan Bone and Darius Garland of state champion Brentwood Academy.

Despite battling a foot injury for a good portion of the season, the 6-7 junior averaged 14 points and four rebounds per game, while shooting 49 percent from the floor and 41 percent from 3-point range.
His efforts helped Briarcrest to a 25-9 season that ended with a loss to Brentwood Academy in the semifinals.

“I still wish we had won,” said Thomas. “I am surprised a little bit. I could have played a lot better and now I’m going to have to work a lot harder.”

Thomas — who has offers from the University of Memphis and several other schools — is the third Briarcrest player to win Mr. Basketball. Leslie McDonald was the winner in 2008 and 2009 while U of M standout Austin Nichols was honored in 2012 and 2013.

St. Mary’s senior Kaylan Pugh won the D2-A girls award, beating out last year’s winner Micah Sheetz of Knoxville Webb and University School of Jackson standout Anna Jones.

A prolific scorer since her eighth-grade year, Pugh saved her best for last, averaging 29.2 points while shooting 70 percent from the floor. The 5-9 Ohio State signee also averaged six boards, three assists and four steals per contest. She leaves St. Mary’s with over 2,700 career points, a total that places her in the top 10 all-time in Shelby County.

Pugh was unable to attend Saturday due to a family emergency, but Turkeys coach Emily Owens had plenty of praise for her star.

“She’s made our program,” she said. “She’s been the face of St. Mary’s basketball; her impact has been immeasurable. And she’s a lot of fun to be around and when you think of the academic rigor at St. Mary’s ... she’s special.”

Briarcrest girls fall in title game

Image and story from Commercial Appeal

Brentwood Academy's India Hall, center, grabs a rebound in front of Briarcrest Christian's Tatianna Love (10) and Morgan Hunt (30) in the first half of the Tennessee Division II AA girls high school basketball championship game Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. 

Brentwood Academy took control of the game early and went on to defeat cold-shooting Briarcrest, 63-41 Saturday in the BlueCross Division 2-AA girls state championship game at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena.

The Eagles used a 10-0 run late in the first quarter to built a double-digit lead and extended their advantage to 32-16 at halftime. The Saints, meanwhile, were struggling from the field, shooting just 28 percent in the first two quarters.

Brentwood Academy finishes 29-1 and will take a 27-game winning streak into next season. Briarcrest, which was making its fourth straight appearance in the final four, ends the year 23-7.

Briarcrest (41) — Brynn Holden 10, Elise Holden 11, Morgan Hunt 2, Tatiana Love 4, Kathryn Newman 4, Savanna Owens 6, Alyiah Wells 4.
Brentwood Aca. (63) — S. Harvey 17, C. Mallory 3, K. Stockhoff 6, M. Wilson 10, L. McAvoy 19, A. Billington 6, M. Bussard 2.
Briarcrest 6 10 10 15—41
Brentwood 18 14 14 17—63
Records — Briarcrest 22-7, Brentwood Aca. 29-1.

Girls Basketball Scores - February 27, 2015

From Commercial Appeal

TSSAA DIVISION 2-A STATE TOURNAMENT
SEMIFINALS
Northpoint (35) — Ashtyn Baker 4, Lauren Decembrino 6, Allie Enders 1, Lauren Gross 6, Karlie Hughes 12, Andrea Sparkman 4, Jade Wells 2.
Knoxville Webb (57) — M. Scheetz 18, D. Maxwell 4, K. Collier 8, D. Vance 3, E. Wyrick 3, E. Satterfield 6, C. Collier 15.
Northpoint 12 7 4 12—35
Knoxville Webb 7 16 18 16—57
Records — Northpoint 24-7.

Harding (33) — Zaria Christy 2, Kelsi Elkins 2, Anna Horner 7, Antoinette Lewis 17, Callie Stubbs 5.
Franklin Road Aca. (46) — J. Heldman 5, C. Sawyers 9, K. Bell 2, R. Casey 15, T. Casey 15.
Harding 7 13 6 7—33
FRA 16 7 12 11—46
Records — Harding 26-7.

REGION 8-AAA TOURNAMENT
LATE THURSDAY CHAMPIONSHIP
Overton (65) — Lyric Douglas 1, Rodrea Echols 11, Marquesha Fennell 2, Kyla Green 9, Jalisa Jones 8, Ciera Pettis 19, Kayla Williams 15.
Ridgeway (64) — Brandi Beasley 16, Oreonna Brown 18, Elizabeth Dixon 6, Eryn Foster 18, Breouanna Humphrey 2, Tierney Paylor 4.
Overton 15 12 8 19 11— 65
Ridgeway 18 5 14 17 10— 64
Records — Overton 25-4, Ridgeway 28-1.

Girls Basketball Scores - February 26, 2015

From Commercial Appeal

REGION 7-AAA TOURNAMENT
CHAMPIONSHIP
Arlington (48) — Raegyn Branch 8, Mirrakohl Johnson 11, Ashley Lee 7, Callie McMorran 5, Cheiyanne Norton 12, Tori Sewell 5.
Bartlett (44) — Madison Carroll 5, Stella Gill 6, Jessica Jackson 10, Charity Savage 18, Nyla Smith 2, Dee Dee Williams 3.
Arlington 16 11 6 15—48
Bartlett 18 4 17 5—44
Records — Arlington 25-9.

REGION 8-AA TOURNAMENT
CHAMPIONSHIP
Haywood (44) — Flagg 12, Shutes 19, Smith 8, Young 5.
Craigmont (47) — Kiara Caswell 9, Danielle Conley 12, Keveana Fayne 2, Morgan Morris 6, Daja Scurlock 18.
Haywood 12 3 17 12—44
Craigmont 8 14 11 14—47
Records — Haywood 22-9, Craigmont 26-6.

TSSAA DIVISION 2-AA STATE TOURNAMENT
SEMIFINALS
Briarcrest (57) — Brynn Holden 7, Elise Holden 26, Morgan Hunt 8, Tatiana Love 6, Kathryn Newman 5, Savanna Owens 4, Alyiah Wells 1.
Harpeth Hall (50) — LeeLee Johnson 8, Shelby Nutter 5, Anna Owens 3, Raleigh Potts 15, Mary Triplett 3, Lauren Bars 16.
Briarcrest 9 17 15 16—57
Harpeth Hall 16 3 14 17—50
Records — Briarcrest 23-6.