WarEagles Looking For State Title

Just about 2 weeks ago, Team Penny and the Memphis WarEagles (Hayden) played a good game at Lemoyne Owen College,their second meeting in about 7 days and now another possible meeting between the two could happen but first they must battle other teams from surrounding areas of Tennessee in the AAU State tournament. In their pool stands another WarEagles team coached by Larry Bray and Lang Wiseman and a nice mix of players including the rising Jaylen Reed but they will need big boost from Marico Tate and company if they expect to pull of the win against them in pool play. Team Penny is in Pool B and the Memphis Tigers are in Pool C but all eyes will be on another possible match-up of the two best 7th grade teams in the city.  See the 7th Grade Schedules further down the page.

Can Bray's WarEagles Pull Of The Upset In Pool Play?

2012 SEAAU BOY’S BASKETBALL

7th Grade State Championship

Pool A                                                                                   Pool B                                                                                                    Pool C

1A – (#1 Central) -Team 147                                    1B – (#1 East) – Middle TN Magic                                             1C – (#1 Central South) – Music City Players

2A – (#1 West) -War Eagles-Hayden                2B – (#2 West) – Team Penny                                                     2C – (#2 East) – Tennessee Legends

3A – (#3 West) -War Eagles-Bray                      3B – (#2 Central South) – Team MMTN                                 3C – (#2 Central) – Memphis Tigers

Games played at:

1.LeMoyneOwenCollege(LOC):807 Walker Ave,Memphis,TN38126

2.NeighborhoodChristianCenter(NCC):785 Jackson Ave,Memphis,TN,38107

3. FACS (FACS 1):8650 Walnut Grove Road,Cordova,TN38018

4. FACS (FACS 2):8650 Walnut Grove Road,Cordova,TN38018

2012 SEAAU BOY’S BASKETBALL

9^th Grade State Championship

Pool A                                                                                            Pool B

1A – (1^st Central) – Tennessee Edge                                                 1B – (1^st West) – Team Penny

2A – (1^st South) – Brentwood Bandits                                            2B – (1^st East) –Tennessee Racers

                       3A – (2^nd West) – Memphis Hornets                                                            3B – (2^nd South) – Southern Impact Ballerz

4A – (2^nd East) – Tennessee Elite                                                     4B – (3^rd West) –Memphis Sonics

Games played at:

1.LeMoyneOwenCollege(LOC):807 Walker Ave,Memphis,TN38126

2.NeighborhoodChristianCenter(NCC):785 Jackson Ave,Memphis,TN,38107

3. FACS (FACS 1):8650 Walnut Grove Road,Cordova,TN38018

4. FACS (FACS 2):8650 Walnut Grove Road,Cordova,TN38018

Memphis Teams Shine In The Roc

Leron Black Continues To Impress

Team Penny (2016)

Teams from all around the country all converged on Little Rock for the “Real Deal In The Rock” From Texas to Florida even California,the talent was prettty good and spread out in all age groups but so were the gyms. From Memphis own Josh Pastner to Coach Paul Hewitt of George Mason, to another Memphis alum,Jamie Rosser of SouthEast Missouri,the coaches were out and in full recruit mode and hoping to see a player that might fit their program. I loved the tournament and a chance to see some of the better players around the country but it was so spread out across the city that I couldn’t see everyone,including the 20 teams that Memphis had in it but who I did see showed why Memphis is still regarded nationally as a top 5 city in the country for talent. Team Thad’s 16s coached b Norton Hurd showed why they have been getting acclaim across the region as one of the nations best teams. I would thoroughly impressed by this group of players and it all starts with Leron Black. He looks bigger physically but his game hasn’t changed much and that’s no knock to him though. At 6’8,he showed he’s been working to improve putting it on the floor and increasing athleticism as if he wasn’t athletic enough already. I didn’t see all the 16s again but you would be hard pressed to show me any 10th grader that was better in the tournament. Another player who I have always liked is Marcanvius Hymon but I think some are seeing what I saw in him a few years,the ability to control the glass,block shots and get put backs. He around 6’7 6’8 but he’s so long with his arms outstretched,he looks 6’9 but he still has work to do offensively. Make no mistakes though,he is a D-1 player,on what level is what he chooses to be. Chris Chiozza is takes over the role next year as the best point guard in Memphis for probably the next two years. He’s everything I thought he would be when I saw him as a 6th grader at my first ever camp. Team Thad’s 16s are the real deal and should rule this age group this summer with guard play and nice mix of size.

Marcanvis Hymon Is Becoming A Known Name

Team Penny’s 14s rolled through the competition beating Athletes First in a close game in their first game on Friday,the Atlanta Celtics in blow out fashion,NEA,DFW Defenders and WITT Elite before their game with the #1 team in the country,Dunk Dog Elite aka Louisiana Primetime,last years 13 and under national champions. Several college coaches were on hand for this 8th grade game including Coach Pastner, Tennessee head coach, Cuonzo Martin and a coach from Baylor to see #1 player in the country in 6’8 Khalea Turner,and the two highly regarded wings including an Arkansas product,Adrian Moore who runs with Dunk Dog. It was a matchup that I wanted to see how Team Penny would fare in and for the most part,I thought they should have won that ball game but to say you played the supposed #1 team in the country to 6 points and Penny’s team was up late in the game,says a lot for the team who has been together for only close to 2 months or so. I thought a few players put their names out their even as 8th graders including 6’5 Isaiah Stokes who played well in spurts but must continue to work hard to get in basketball shape,Maxwell Omili,who dominated the Defenders on Saturday night and Dedric Lawson who should be regarded as a top 5 player in the country in that class. He didn’t play the way Dedric is capable of but ended the game with 21 points and 13 rebounds after fouling out at the 2:38 mark of the game. I thought that proved costly because they had the lead by 1 and Team Penny simply just couldn’t find another to fill the scoring void. They will get better though,I have no doubts about it and be in their at the end as possible national championship contender come nationals.

Team Thad also represented well in the 15s age group winning the consolation championship and 14 and under Team Thad also won the consolation game championship . In the 13s,Team Penny vs the WarEagles from what I heard was a tight game until the 4th quarter and thats when the WarEagles took control of the game. They won the championship of the Real Deal as well I think in blowout fashion later on that afternoon. Their 13s are loaded with lots of pieces to hurt you and they have chemisty and probably the best player in 2017,Blake Williams who is regarded by some services including DunkDog.com as a top 15 player in the country. They will be the favorites heading into this weekends sub-state. Congratulations to all the teams that repped Memphis to the fullest this past weekend.

Memphis WarEagles Win AAU Sub-State

I  hear that maybe some people  shouldn’t look at players so young and say that this player or that player will be good however as I always state,it’s always good to look into what could be. The Memphis WarEagles young squad maybe and example of that and they have some young players who could become standouts in the next couple of years as they enter middle school. Dallon Coleman is a shooter who can get hot and fill it up in a hurry. Known as “Debo” you will be hearing his name,I guarantee you. Their is also a familiar name on the team,Rodney Newsome who’s father is a coach within the organization and a former U of M player. His name sake,little Rodney Newsome is also on the squad playing in the post right now but as he gets older will probably turn into what his father was,a shooter and he already has a pretty shot. Kennedy Chandler, the coaches son does a great job of running the show and is only a 3rd grader but looked more than comfortable in last week’s sub-state. Remember this young guy,Kyree Walker out of Atlanta Georgia. He will be running with the WarEagles this summer and should be looked as probably one of the best young players in the country in this age group. I know that’s saying a lot but this young guy can play. Put it on the floor,loves to drive baseline and lay it and plays with confidence unseen in kids so young. This young man will be special,I can almost guarantee it. Other key contributors on their team include Omari Thomas and Jabari Small. Be on the look out for this young group of ball players.

Team Penny 2016 Captures Memphis Tip Off Classic Title

In their first tournament as the newly formed Team Penny (2016) many would not have said wow if they had a stumble in the 3 day tournament but it was evident early Friday that this team would be a force to be reckoned with in the Memphis Tip Off Classic.  After a lopsided win on Friday afternoon at Southwest Tn Community College,2 wins came by forfeit in their early game and their 7:00 pm game but in came Athletes First. Many who follow AAU know that Athletes First is a power on the AAU circuit boasting several D-1 prospects over the last few years including Blake Griffin. They jumped out on Team Penny early but Dedric Lawson scored 15 first half points as they looked to create some distance between themselves in the second half. Lucky Cheatham who looked like he was thinking a little too much early in the game, got two straight buckets and pushed the lead to 44-36  with less than 8 minutes remaining in the ball game. Lawson would later hit a dagger trey in the face of his defender to end the night with 29 and 10 rebounds as they defeated a pretty tough team, 66-49.

Next up for them after their win early Sunday morning was the championship against another really ggod team Louisiana Sports Academy who finished in the top 5 last year at the nationals here in Memphis. After another slow start and by 1 at the half, 13-12,it was pretty simple to me and some others around,they simply had to make shots and defend their guards from penetration. Romero Hill’s lay in and 3 ball put up Team Penny 2017 and soon after Cheatham hit back to back back breaking 3 pointers as they went up 27-17 with 8:20 left in regulation and after 6’8 Nnamdi Collins tip in to make it 32-17 and pretty much end their opponents hopes of trying to get back in the ball game. Romero Hill had 17 points to lead Team Penny in the 53-32 win and the Memphis Tip Off Classic Championship.

Dedric Lawson 6'7 Forward - Huge Night On Saturday

Romero Hill Paced Team Penny With 17 Points On Sunday

Recap of the TSSAA State Championship Tournament

East Captures TSSAA Triple A State Championship

If you hadn’t heard by now,East High School won the Triple A State Championship over the weekend in Murfreesboro over Central, 71-61 but I wanted to do a recap of the weekend leading up to Saturday and all the teams that represented Memphis. I didn’t make it till Friday afternoon however I did get a chance to see Mitchell High take on perennial power Liberty Tech who won the state tournament last year in Double A and knock them out to advance to the state championship game. My second game that day was Central versus a tough Clarksville team who came out of tunnel not looking very imposing but then I remembered this same team gave White Station a fit last year but then they had Monte Burney who was a lights out shooter but they returned Daijon Williams who was pretty good in his own right. After the first half,Central was up 7, 28-21 and Clarksville waso n the verge on being down double digits but a late run including at one point 10 straight points by Williams and the Clarksville was in business with 1:21 left in the 4th quarter as Central got into survival mode, 62-60 however Central limited Williams by putting  much bigger Andre Applewhite on him and only allowed them to score 2 more points as Central advanced to Saturday’s title game, 68-62. Applewhite had 29 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Williams led Clarksville with 34 points.

East took on  Science Hill in the last Triple A game of the day after defeating Murfreesboro home town team Blackman but Science Hill early on looked like they wouldn’t let the Mustangs advance. I thought I had seen some great shooting when Bartlett played East in the sub-state game and I said to myself,no team will shoot the ball like that East will play but I was wrong in a big way. East shot a remarkable 72 percent from the field and 66 percent from the 3 line in the first half against Science Hill and you would have thought they would be up double digits but it was the opposite. The difference was Science Hill’s 7 trey balls, 4 by CJ Goods who was 4-5 in the 1st half and oh by the way,a 13 point lead for Science Hill. In order to get back in,it was simple East had to defend the 3 right? Well before they knew it, Goods hit 2 more deep ones and Zach Howard added one more as Science Hill increased their lead to 18 with a little over 5 minutes left in the 3rd, 55-36. I heard the radio announcer say that it looks like it might be a done deal for East but East didn’t go away so easily.Science Hill looked like they wanted to stall it a little bit,wrong idea and East went a big run (21-3) to end the quarter, 58-57 with Science Hill clinging to a once seemingly insurmountable lead. With 2:33 left in the 4th,Nick King who had a huge game with 31 points and 10 rebounds tied it with 2 free throws to make it 69-69. You just kind of had the feeling that East would win and they did, 81-71 outscoring Science Hill 45-16 in the second half. There you had it, Central vs East and Mitchell vs CPA,both in the state championship games on Saturday

Maybe you don’t know the story,maybe you didn’t hear right but Mitchell won 3 games last year!! To  make it to the state was an accomplishment in itself,let alone making it to the state title game. CPA was strong all around with excellent guard play from Mr Basketball winner,Craig Bradshaw,Mr Basketball finalist,sophmore Jalen Lindsey and two sophmores,Braxton Bond and Vic Wharton. Being honest,I knew it would be a hard game for Mitchell but I thought if they defended out of their minds that they would have a chance but at the half,they were down 14 and they just didn’t get some shots to fall for them but the CPA team was really good as I stated. At the final buzzer,the score was 78-64 but Mitchell wasn’t embarrassed or blown out instead they kept fighting all the way till the time ran off the clock. Mario Mcneil lead them with 17 points followed by Jalen Blackwell who scored 12 points. I can’t say enough about the job that Coach Phillips did along with Andre Turner. To turn around the program after a few bad years and do it so quickly shows that it can happen with belief and pride and a winning attitude that a coach instills in his players. He preached discipline and defense and his players bought in and they made a run at the end of the year all the way to the title game. There is no shame in losing particularly when many said that Mitchell wasn’t even possibly capable of making it to the title game. Congratulations Mitchell High School and to Coach Phillips,he’s my Coach of the year regardless of classification.

From L-R(Jalen Blackwell,Aquarious Stevenson,Nate Cole-All Tournament)

East vs Central,the final game of the 2012 season,the TSSAA Triple A state championship game was held at 4:00 pm with both teams having nice crowds show up for their season finale. Did I say that both these teams are from the same district? Did I mention that both teams didn’t finish #1 in district? Needless to say,it just shows you how strong Memphis basketball is in Triple A. East got off to a much better start than they did against Science Hill and Central came out a little sluggish as they found themselves in a hole early. Without  Andre Applewhite’s 11 points in the first half and Frank Herron’s 10,this game would have been lopsided but you just knew that this game would not end up being decided early only. Central went up after a 7-0 run,including a 3 pointer by D’airrius Sorrell for a 1 point lead late in the 3rd but East took command in the 4th. Central went on a drought of scoring and it cost them and by the time the game was under 2 minutes,Alex Anderson delivered a pretty dish to Earvin Morris to seal the game. The final score, 71-61,your state champions,the East Mustangs. Junior Matthew Butler hit 20 points including some clutch 3 pointers (4-7) and Tournament MVP,Nick King had 19 and 9 rebounds. Earvin Morris had 16 points to go along with 10 boards as well. Andre Applewhite had 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead Central. He along with Sorrell,Myron Johnson,Earvin Morris,Nick King and Matthew Butler were named to the all-tournament team. Another person who I thought should have been added was Jalen Selmon of East. He was great in all the game particularly the last two games. He was relentless on defense and he made a few key plays down the stretch in the title game. He made plays all weekend for East and to me was snubbed but in my book he was all tournament. For Central,their season ended in a loss but it was a victory t o me. Coach Applewhite’s team did something that I thought they couldn’t do and I will admit that,make it this far. Losing a player like they loss,losing 2 other starters and you thought it’s going to be a long season for the Warriors but yet they rose to the occasion. For,Andre Applewhite was their unquestioned leader,he scored 31 in their sub-state game to defeat Craigmont, and was huge the rest of the way. In fact I think he could have got some votes for Mr.Basketball in my opinion. He was everything I thought he would be and had a great high school career. Myron Johnson,Sorrell and Josh Jones all played key roles as well. To guys like Alex Anderson,it’s special,to the entire team it’s special and for the community,it’s that Binghampton pride restored. Congratulations East on a great season and a record 6th state title. Your 2011-2012 state champions,East High Mustangs.

East High (2011-2012 State Champions)

State Champs

From L-R(D.Sorrell,M.Johnson,M.Butler,N.King,A.Applewhite,E.Morris)

Mitchell Advances To The State Title Game

Mitchell High isn’t supposed to be here right? All they have done is make it to the state championship game under first year head coach,Faragi Phillips with 42-39 victory over Liberty Tech, last years Double A champions. Aquarious Stevenson led all scorers with 17 points for the Tigers with Nate Cole scoring 11 points. Jalen Blackwell had 10 rebounds for Mitchell who are making their first state tournament appearance since 2008. “All we gone is keep fighting and fighting said Coach Phillips,same thing we’ve done all year long. One more win and they will have fought themselves into a state title.