Ten Intriguing Results from Tip-Off Tuesday
Basketball season arrives!
A week after the Mid-term Elections Tennessee’s second Tuesday of November welcomed the 2018-2019 high school basketball season. Dozens of games presented the state with the joyous bouncing ball sound, but these ten deserve added attention.
McCallie defeats Ooltewah 70-47
David Conrady takes over at the McCallie helm after John Shulman retired. Coach Conrady played for Furman years back and assisted Coach Shulman both at Chattanooga and with McCallie. Tuesday was his first regular season game as high school head coach.
Just under a year ago McCallie dismantled Ooltewah 88-66. The Blue Tornado graduated all five starters including Junior Clay, so this debut gives a tiny peak into their new team.
Eric Rivers (pictured above) scored 27 points further proving he is a top 10 sophomore in the state. Class of 2019 unsigned wing Anthony Watkins scored 13 points and Brady Ragland gave 10 points.
McMinn County over Rhea County 60-57
Landon Wilson (@PrepHoopsTN top 100) and McMinn County won in their season debut.
Dobyns-Bennett slipped past Morristown West 72-64
Dobyns-Bennett won without starter Marae Coleman (PrepHoopsTN top 200). Coleman expects to play Saturday after managing a minor injury. Starters for DBHS were: Chase Jenkins, Mello Wadsworth, Charlie Browder, Jared Strickland, and Brit Thomas.
Browder is a 6-foot-7 big man. He is tough to keep off the defensive glass.
Morristown West returned almost their entire team from 2018.
Last year Dobyns-Bennett opened with Morristown West and West won 59-56. It was the first time the two schools played boys basketball against each other since 2014 playoffs.
York Institute overwhelms Monterey 60-49
Monterey is coming off a dream year during which they earned their first state playoff victory ever. Monterey advanced to the Class A Semifinal game. This loss hints how fleeting that success of 2018 will be. Graduated are Michael Cody, Dalton Coleman, Tyrus West, Cade Painter, and Stephen Payne.
It is an enormous chunk of scoring and rebounding to lose for any high school team. MHS only houses 385ish students, so replacing that kind of talent will take years. Prior to 2018 it took 40 years for Monterey to return to the State Tournament.
Franklin outshoots East Nashville 71-68
Following up the magical 2018 season East Nashville lost narrowly to Reese Glover and Franklin. This season East Nashville lost 28 games sooner than last year.
https://twitter.com/EastNashvilleBB/status/1062545045704851456
Reese Glover (Franklin) scored 26 points. Last season Franklin played at East Nashville opening night and lost in overtime.
Brentwood downs Ensworth 61-46
Ensworth features a strong guard-driven team. They are missing a couple football players, importantly Keshawn Lawrence, who would have made it a tighter contest.
Still, Brentwood is excellent and balanced in 2018-2019. The team goes seven deep and almost everyone on the team accepts their role. Look for a special year from BHS.
Huntland destorys Riverside Christian 67-46
Huntland played in middle Tennessee both during June and early November. To be blunt, it is surprising they defeated anybody by 21 points. Last year HHS won just five basketball games. They simply lack the height and depth to compete every night. Riverside Christian Academy put up a dastardly disturbing score here.
Halls Gets First Win 62-52
Last season Halls failed to capture the seventh win until late January. Are they better this year? Hopefully. Surely the AAA Red Devils will face tougher teams, but this win over Berea Christian provides a pleasant starting point.
(MONDAY) Murfreesboro Siegel Impresses over Grace Christian
Maybe the best result of the entire night is Siegel’s win over Division IIA State Champions Grace Christian Academy.
GCA starts CJ Gettelfinger (Oakland) and Grant Ledford (Chattanooga). Both will sign Division One paperwork Wednesday.
The game took overtime to decide.
Murfreesboro Siegel Beats White County
In a game littered with EAB 15u players, Siegel knocked off Grant Slatten and White County.
Dallas Campbell-Green had 16. Ethan Jones had 12. The two sophomores (Matthew Schneider and Zion Swader) each dumped in 11 points.
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