Sells Torches Opponents with D1 Coach on Hand
With their win Friday night, Livingston Academy and starting sophomore guard Matthew Sells improved to 5-3 on the young season. “We beat Upperman last night 68-52,” shared Sells Saturday. “Coach (Head Coach Steve) Payne from Tennessee Tech was there watching…
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Continue ReadingWith their win Friday night, Livingston Academy and starting sophomore guard Matthew Sells improved to 5-3 on the young season.
“We beat Upperman last night 68-52,” shared Sells Saturday. “Coach (Head Coach Steve) Payne from Tennessee Tech was there watching me and I had 31 points and 11 rebounds.”
Sells just earned All-November Sophomore Team inclusion.
Nearly a year ago Matthew Sells and Livingston Academy defeated Upperman, 73-69. That was only the second Livingston Academy win in the last two seasons. Sells led all scorers with 18 points.
Leading scorers: Upperman: Collin Gore 11, Jace McWilliams 11. Livingston Academy: Matthew Sells 18.
Upperman High and Livingtson Academy played a galling nine times in the last two years, dating back to December of 2016 (see below).
Date | Opponent | LA Result |
12/9/16 | Upperman | L, 55-74 |
1/27/17 | @Upperman | L, 47-55 |
2/17/17 | Upperman (TTU) | L, 53-62 |
2/28/17 | Upperman (TTU) | W, 53-52 |
12/8/17 |
@Upperman | L, 70-74 |
1/26/18 | Upperman | W, 73-69 |
2/20/18 | Upperman | L, 52-53 |
3/1/18 | Upperman | W, 72-48 |
11/30/18 | Upperman | W, 68-52 |
The emergence of Sells specifically coincides with the recent Livingston Academy success. Since Sells began his freshman season the Wildcats have won 60.0% of the matchups whereas the previous four faceoffs revealed a 25.0% Livingston Academy success rate.
Friday Livingston Academy entered with a plan.
“We knew they were going to try and play us in man, so we tried to attck the rim and get some kickout 3’s during the first half and that really opened up the driving lanes in the second half for some easy layups,” said Sells.
Matthew Sells currently resides #14 in the Class of 2021 player rankings.
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