Arlington, Whitehaven miss chance at history
Wrapping up the Memphis area girl’s basketball season
Whitehaven and Arlington are the final two Memphis-area girls basketball teams standing. But with their remaining games in the TSSAA Division I girls basketball tournament postponed because of coronavirus concerns, it's time to take a look at the season in review.
Here are a few postseason superlatives and five bold predictions for next year.
Best game
Covington 59, Mitchell 53 (OT). The Chargers and the Tigers went to overtime in the Region 8-AA semifinals. Mitchell's Tashun Bryson and Markeisha Hayes combined for 43 points. Covington's Kalynn Howard scored 23. Covington fell to Melrose in the championship game.
Biggest surprise
Melrose (28-6). After falling to Covington in last year's Region 8-AA quarterfinals, the Golden Wildcats beat the Chargers in this year's Region 8-AA title game. Melrose won its sectional game against Crockett County and advanced to its first state tournament since 2003.
Cinderella team
Whitehaven (27-3). Whitehaven had been open for more than a century without a girls basketball state tournament appearance until this year. The Tigers beat Houston, last year's Class AAA runner-up, in the Region 8-AAA
title game before blowing out Hardin County in the sectional round. Whitehaven clinched its first trip to the state semifinals with a quarterfinal win over Maryville in the state tournament.
Best moments
En'dya Buford drops 40 in state title game
Memphis signee En'dya Buford of Olive Branch ended her high school career with a 40-point performance in the MHSAA Class 6A state title game. Olive Branch defeated Clinton 75-51 for its second consecutive state title.
Third time is the charm for Arlington
Arlington, which lost in the past two Class AAA state tournament quarterfinals, beat Brentwood 62-56, marking the school's first state tournament win. Local police escorted the team home during the final leg of its trip back from Murfreesboro, and students welcomed the team back at school.
Tashun Bryson scores 46 against Sheffield
Mitchell guard Tashun Bryson, the area's leading scorer, scored 46 points in an 80-21 win over Sheffield on Jan. 24. She also scored 40 in a win over Hamilton on Feb. 7.
5 bold predictions for next season
❚ Whitehaven, which has only one senior this year, will win next year's Class AAA state title. And point guard Se'quoia Allmond will be a finalist for Miss Basketball.
❚ Arlington's twin guards, Carmen and Charmen Taylor, will average a combined 30 points.
❚ Briarcrest will make it back to the DII-AA state tournament.
❚ Houston and Arlington will play each other for a trip to the state tournament in the sectional round.
❚ Olive Branch will make it back to the state tournament.