Tennessee squads enjoy All-Star Basketball Classic sweep

Even a roster containing some of the top players in Catoosa County couldn’t prevent the Volunteer State from continuing their dominance in the Tennessee-Georgia AllStar Girls’ Basketball Classic at Chattanooga’s Notre Dame High School last Tuesday night.

Team Tennessee, made up of recent graduates from the Chattanooga area plus outlying counties, such as Bradley, Marion, McMinn and Sequatchie, used a big opening quarter to win their seventh in a row in the all-time series, 70-53.

The two teams matched each other with 45 points over the final three quarters, but it was a 25-8 run in the first eight minutes that made the difference for Tennessee.

While Georgia had trouble getting the ball in the basket in the opening stanza, even from close range, Tennessee scored the game’s first seven points and later added a 12-0 run to take a commanding 19-2 lead with 1:44 left in the period. They would extend their advantage to as many as 21 points in the final minute.

The Peach State players would try to get back in the game in the second quarter. They whittled the gap down to 11 points on two occasions before going into halftime down 3725.

Tennessee opened the second half on a 10-4 run to add to their lead, only to see Georgia battle back to cut it down to 47-37 by the end of the period, thanks to an 8-0 run, including four points from Shalya Ludy (Heritage).

However, five points from Grace Wardeberg (Baylor) would highlight a 10-2 run for Tennessee to begin the fourth and they would stretch the lead back out to as many as 22 points with 4:39 to play before coasting the win.

Halle Hughes (Bradley Central) was named as the Tennessee Player of the Game as she dropped in 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and collected four steals. She becomes the fourth Lady Bear to win the award.

Her former Bradley teammate, Emma Kate Brown, scored a teamhigh 17 points and pulled down a teamhigh nine boards. Emily Harkleroad (Silverdale Baptist) scored 11 points, while Jacobi Lynn (McMinn Central) had nine points, five rebounds and three steals.

Georgia Player of the Game honors went to Jana Johns (Calhoun), whose 10 points made her the only Georgia player in double figures. She also grabbed five rebounds.

Ludy picked up eight points to go with three rebounds and three steals. Jazzmyn Elston (LFO) and Maddie Pearson (Southeast Whitfield) had seven points each. Sydney Smith (Heritage) scored six, while Ringgold’s Karoline Sholl and Rachel Thomas scored five and four points, respectively.

Bria Clemmons (Northwest Whitfield) had four points and Taylor Bethune (Trion) had two points and five rebounds to round out the scoring for Georgia.

Amaya Harrington (Ridgeland) was the only Walker County player in the game. She collected a steal and had three rebounds in the loss.

Pearson also took home the championship trophy in the 3-point shootout, beating Jordan Smith (Sequatchie County), 15-13, in a tiebreaking round after both players scored 16 points in their preliminary round.

The Tennessee girls now lead the all-time series, 10-4.

Tennessee boys 95, Georgia 67

In the nightcap, the Volunteer State led wire-to-wire as they won their third in a row and took a 10-4 lead in the

all-time series.

Tennessee ended the fist half up 41-23 and put the game away with a 17-1 run over the first 3:22 of the third quarter.

Kevin Cameron (Tyner) was named the Tennessee Player of the Game after scoring 19 points and also won the pre-game slam dunk contest. Noah Fager (East Hamilton) had 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Riley Meloncon (Bledsoe County) went for 14 points and six boards.

Drew Cummings (Armuchee) scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and ended up with seven rebounds to earn Georgia Player of the Game status. Chapin Reirson (Calhoun) not only won the 3-point shootout, but also set a new AllStar game mark with 12 rebounds to go with his 11 points.