Lester Middle - 2012 Small Schools City Champions

On Wednesday evening, Lester Middle School and MAHS went to the wood to find out who would become the Small Schools City Champions at Colonial Middle and as kind of expected,captured the crown by the score of 58-27. Robert Washington was huge for Lester with 31 points, 19 rebounds and 7 blocks over MAHS who was a little undersized inside which allow multiple putback opportunities on virtually every missed shot for  Lester. Give MAHS credit though,they showed a lot f fight in the 3rd quarter but the size advantage clearly went Lester and they made the most of it. Both teams move on to the state where Lester will have a bye on Saturday and play Tuesday and MAHS will play on Saturday at Geeter Middle School in what I think maybe their first appearance in the state sectional. Lester is in the state tournament for the second time in 2 years so it won’t be new to them however,they have a tough road with Fayette East,Martin Westview and Union City all lurking. East and Martin Westview play Saturday,so 1 will automaticallly be gone. I expect at the end of next week that you will be saying congratulations Lester on the state title.

In the Large School Championship,Ridgeway took on Snowden,the upset kings who took down both the #1 and #2 seeds on their side and made it to the championship game when honestly,no one thought they could. Ridgeway was the favorite but Snowden as usual make it difficult down to the very end. Down8 , 39-31 after a 7th grader Kendrick Hearn rebound and stickback with 4:30 left,things kind of looked a little bleak for Snowden but this teams just would not quit. Rashad Haynes drove it down the middle for a tough lay-up with his left hand to make the score 41-38 with 1:22 left but Ridgeway’s Kevin Cheatham made a crossover move going right to left and scoring on what was probably Ridgeway’s biggest possession of the game and their final basket for a 43-38 win. Let me say something about two players from Snowden,actually 3,Rashad Haynes,Jamerson Washington and Jaylen Harvey. These young guys played their heart out the entire tournament and must be commended on their effort. All 3 really proved that they are players to watch as they continue to develop as players. I thought the knock on Lucky was that he couldn’t shoot? Well you can’t say that this year or could you say it Wednesday night. He hit five  3 pointers on his way to 19 points in the game to lead all scorers. I was impressed by the play of Javion Hamlet in the tournament as well. I think some forget that just a season or so ago,Hamlet was considered a top 5-6 players in the 2016 class. Hamlet and G/F Romero Hill will have to be big in the state if they are to repeat but they can.

Ridgeway Midddle - 2012 Large Schools City Champions

Large School Girls

Snowden won their 3rd straight city championship in a row,65-34 after a kind of slow start versus Hickory Ridge Middle. I thought that it would be a little bit more of a game but Snowden’s girls are good ladies and gentlemen. Very well coached by Coach Haynes,his players play hard and did I mention that they were talented!! Barnes,Green,Echols and Williams make a great four some and 6th grader Jireh Taylor while small is really very entertaining to watch. Not because she’s so small but because she can play the game and Coach Haynes shows a lot of confidence in her because in the games I’ve seen,she’s been primarily first or second off the bench. Snowden will be tough to beat once again on the Large Schools side and I expect another state title which would make two in a row.

Craigmont Trio Combines For42 Points

I’ve been hearing a lot of things this season and one of those is that Craigmont is no longer an upper tier team in Middle School. Some even said that Craigmont wasn’t even the best team in their league and coming out of regular season play,the record showed that they were not but on Saturday,a new season begin.  Craigmont proved they are still a team to beat on the Large Schools side with an impressive victory of a scrappy team They jumped out to a 27-12 lead on Kingsbury who finished second on the Large Schools Area 1 side thanks to the play of Maceo Woodard in the first half and a energized Blake Williams who was a little more aggressive than I’ve seen him thus far this season but Kingsbury wouldn’t go away quietly. The Falcons cut it to 6 after a Monte Person lay-up,33-27 as they outscored Craigmont 16-6 with 1:22 left in the 3rd quarter but Craigmont’s trio was just to much for Kingsbury. Blake Williams freaked the crossover and got the bucket and I think it kind of took the sail out of the Falcons in the 4th quarter as Craigmont got the win 50-39 advancing to Tuesday. Williams and Harris scored 14 points a piece for Craigmont. Woodard had 14 points,16 rebounds and 5 blocks. Kingsbury was led by  Demonte Person’s 17 points and Daryl Shields 14 points and 12 rebounds.The demise of Craigmont looks to be a little overexaggerated.

American Way 60 Havenview 31

Dedric Lawson was the focus of Havenview clearly but showed some zone early as Lawson scored 11 points in the first quarter. Scoring 11 points apparently made Havenview change their game plan early and they put two on Lawson who on one play was told to stand behind backcourt where two other defenders followed from Havenview. What happened? A lay-up on that possession as Havenview played with 3 defenders against the Eagles, 4 players. With American Way up 28-14 at the half,Havenview got it going in the 3rd and made the game 33-26 with 2:26 in the 3rd quarter and things started to get a little chippy,with Havenview putting a very aggressive defender on Lawson who was clearly told to do one thing,be physical but the referees did some what step in what could have developed into a fray later on in the game. The Eagles got big help from 6th grade guard,Jordan Johnson who hit 2 3 pointes in the 3rd quarter on his way to 10 in the quarter along with Roman Peyton who played well and Kavion Hancock coming off the bench to score 10 points as they withstood Havenview’s run. Havenview didn’t want Lawson to beat them but that may have been their undoing in the contest. American Way advances. Lawson led them with 14 points and 10 rebounds. followed by Jordan Johnson with 12 points. American Way probably played the best that I’ve seen them all year long.

Bellevue was upset in what was probably the biggest upset in the city on Saturday,well not probably,it was the biggest upset in the city. I didn’t get a chance to see the end of the game but Snowden was down 9 at the half to a much bigger and much more talented Bellevue team but one thing that I noticed in the first half was Bellevue’s inability to convert easy lay-ups which could have put Snowden in a deficit that they couldn’t fight back from in the second half. Credit Snowden though,against all odds,they defeated the best team on their side and advanced to play Craigmont on Tuesday.

Ridgeway defeated Hickory Ridge on Saturday in the late game and move on to play American Way Tuesday at 730. This will be their 3rd matchup where Ridgeway won both games by a combined 3 points but the last was played without Romero Hill. This game he is playing but Ridgeway will be without Paris London who transferred late in the season. Some may say,it doesn’t mean anything but everything means something this time of year especially when a 6’5 is missing from that talented line-up. That should be another game that may come down to the end but could also be where there’s a blow out either way because both games have been so close this season. We find out on Tuesday night.

Small Schools

Lester got a close win over Hamilton Middle School, 63-60 and advance to Tuesday against Saturday”s upset winner Vance Middle who beat #1 seeded Sherwood Middle who was also undefeated in league play.

Can Noah Pope's St.George's Team Pull The Upset?

The 2011-2012 MAM Christmas Tournament schedule has been released and the the field is loaded with talented squads. The defending MAM Champions,Ridgeway Roadruners,runner up Lowrance Lions,my #1 ranked Germantown Red Devils led by Darrell Brown Jr,American Way Middle and Lester Middle coached by Desmond Merriwether,just to name a few. Some teams teams on the scene new to the MAM this year are Arlington led by Coach Lang Wiseman and the St.George Gryphons who feature a young but pretty good team in St.George’s with Noah Pope(up top),Jessie Neloms and Chase Hayden. There are some pretty intriguing possible matchups some as early as the second game in one being Ridgeway and possibly St.George. Can they Gryphons pulls off the upset? It’s a tall task to ask but they have the talent at guard to do so,the only thing is,I don’t think they have played the fire power that Ridgeway possesses in their guard play as well.

Germantown could possibly match up with Fayette East who has DJ Jackson and already boast a win over my then #1 Lester Middle. Fayette will bring a lot of fans but so will Germantown. That could a matchup that many will want to see. American Way could have any interesting game on Wednesday if Hamilton beats SBEC who has big James Babb and Hamilton I’m hearing has one of the better guards in Small schools. The game that everyone will want to see is a WOW game. Lester vs Ridgeway. Even though Lester must get past Appling and Ridgeway has to beat St.George’s,that is a game that most people are already predicting. If they play,that game will be on Thursday at 6:00 pm at the MAM center. That’s a big time game. I won’t look to far ahead but what a game that could be. Below are some guys who have to be key if their teams are to go far in the tournament next week.

1. Paris London Jr (Ridgeway Middle) This young post has to show why he’s getting better and better. I know they have  a big 3 but he has to play well in this tournament. He’s very key.

2. Noah Pope (St.George) Will have to rebound and score if they have any chance to beat Ridgeway on Wednesday.

3. Kavion Hancock (American Way Middle) They need someone to step up with Dedric and Jordan Johnson in this tournament.

Jacob Ivy & Jonathan Bins (L-R)

4. Darrell Brown stirs the coffee for this undefeated team but Jonathan Bins and Jacob Ivy must be the cream and the sugar if they are to win the tournament. Bins scoring ability will be needed.

5. Nathan Gool (Mt.Pisgah) Could make more of a name for himself if he plays well.

6. Kobe Freeman (Lester) Have a feeling this young guy is going to make a big shot in the biggest game of the tournament.

7. Jaylen Fisher (Arlington) Some people say Fisher is top 5 in the 2016 class? I say,let’s see.

8. DJ Jackson (Fayette East) Same for Jackson,some say he’s top 2-3 in the 2017 class?

9. James Babb (SBEC) He will have to be huge if they can defeat Hamilton with at least 20 points and 15-20 rebounds.

10.Tyler Brewer (Lowrance) Kind a of a disappointing season right now but that all can change,question is,can he lead this still very very dangerous team in the MAM.

Potential Matchups

Lowrance vs. Arlington- Thursday 7:00

Germantown vs Fayette East – Thursday 8:00

Ridgeway vs Lester – Thursday 6:00

10.

Coach Desmond Merriwether (Lester Lions)

Today in the “My Life” section on the Commerical Appeal,there was a well deserved story done on Coach Desmond Merriwether who last year went through a tough ordeal with Colon cancer.  I didn’t want to copy and paste his story from the article however I wanted to write down a few words to describe not only a great Coach but an even better person. I met Coach Dez almost two years ago and immediately was taken back by his passion for not only the game but for his community in general. I had heard through a source that Desmond was in the hosptial but I didn’t know the severity of what was taking place for him and later found out that Coach Desmond was battling cancer. Immediately,I was shocked by the news that later came out that they had given Coach Desmond 24 hours to live and the first thing that I thought was,he is going to pull through,he has too much heart the boys need him to much. God was just testing him and his  faith that he could see him through anything including a usually deadly disease. A few weeks went past and some including myself were wondering how Coach Desmond was doing so I sent Coach Cedric Franklin at American Way  a text and anyone that I knew that could tell me how Desmond was doing. I recieved a message that he was doing much better but I knew that Coach Desmond would probably would miss the season getting his strenght up and probably return this season however he had something else in mind.

I’m sitting with my cousin at the MAM Tournament and I’m wanting to see how the boys were doing. They had started the season with an undefeated record and were about to be challenged with some tough teams in the tournament. Here comes Coach Desmond,through the door and the first thought to my head,wow,this guy has been through so much but yet back on the sideline and coaching. Facing his toughest battle,Desmond fought it like a true champion,no quit and all heart like I heard he was as a player at East High School. The Lions ended up eventually losing in the tournament but I think they still won because of Desmond and now he’s  back at again this year as his Lions who started the season as my #1 Middle School are back having a great season with a 4-1 record. Through it all,Desmond is still the same guy that I met a few years ago, still the same Coach who will do just about whatever he can for anyone,still the same Desmond who loves his family and his Lester and East family, same guy who is as upbeat and positive as anyone can be. Still the same Desmond who loves Bing Hampton and still the same Desmond who I truly respect as not only a person but a true Lion.

Matt Butler (East High School)

Robert Houston (Craigmont)

Darius Gibson (Craigmont-Left Down Low)

Sam Craft (Craigmont)

Clarence Wilson (Carver)

James Rooks (Frayser)

Andre AppleWhite (Central)

Jeremy Jackson (Fairley)

Bennie Williams (Kirby)

Jerry Johnson Jr (Woodale)

Braxton Gillesspie (Whitehaven)

Markell Crawford (Melrose)

Jemerrio Jones (Melrose)

Davonte Hampton (Melrose)

Matt Butler (East)

Earvin Morris (East)

KJ Lawson (East)

Nick King (East) MLK MVP

Melrose Trio Makes All Tourney Team

A-Way Goes Back To Back For MLK Titles

6th Grader Jordan Johnson Scores 17 Points

When Hickory Ridge and American Way played about 2 weeks ago at American Way, the Eagles escaped with a 2 point lead at Hickory Ridge’s house but on a neutral floor,could they pull off the upset? Looked that way early with the score 30-26 at the half  but  as you can see from the top however,American Way got a 65-55 win with a pretty balanced effort. 6th grader Jordan Johnson had an outstanding game with 17 points followed by Dedric Lawson who also had 17 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks. 7th grader Kavion Hancock had 11 points as well.

MLK All-Tournament (Middle School)

1. Stevonte Freeman (Sherwood)                                                                                            

Dedric Lawson (MLK MVP)

2. E.Neland  (Sherwood)

3. E.Thompson (Sherwood)

4. Braxton Bush (Hickory Ridge)                                                                                                       

5. Michael Taylor (Hickory Ridge)

6. Jacob Ingram ( Hickory Ridge)

7. Kavion Hancock (American Way)

8. Jordan Johnson (American Way)

9. Dedric Lawson (American Way) MLK MVP

Note* Sorry if I left off any players names or for the mispelling of any players on the above list. Thank you.