The 5th annual Tennessee Prep Hoops Best in State tournament concluded last Saturday with action in all three of the significant age groups. Here is the breakdown of the 17 and under division.
Tennessee Bobcats 75
Free Agents 71
Grant Ledford (Grace Christian) led a five pack of double digits scorers with 18 as the Tennessee Bobcats got the ball rolling with a 75-71 win at the 5th annual Best in State event at Stone Memorial High School in Crossville.
Ledford's effort overshadowed a big game from his high school teammate C.J. Gettlefinger (Grace Christian), who netted 28 in the hard fought loss.
Joining Ledford in the score books were Kenden Reeves (Knoxville Christian) with 15, Tristan Norman (Stone Memorial) with 13, Cooper Robb (Kentucky) with 11 and Brock Jancek (Knoxville Catholic) with 10.
Club 51 62
Tennessee Tigers 52
Devan Cambridge (PJPII) dropped 18 markers as Club 51 got off to a solid start with a 62-52 victory over the Tennessee Tigers.
Will Midlick (Rossview) led the Tigers with 13 points.
Chattanooga Elite 67
EOTO 65
Jordan Starling (McCallie) scattered 16 points as Chattanooga Elite bested EOTO in what was to be one of the best games of the event 67-65 in 17 and under action at Best in State.
Xavier Bledsen (Georgia) took game scoring honors with 17 in the narrow defeat.
Joseph Norwood (Brainerd) and Justin Dozier (East Hamilton) added 14 each for the Elite while playmaking guard Junior Clay (McCallie) added 12.
Kajuan Hale (Georgia) pitched in with 13 for EOTO followed by Jarred Rosser (Georgia) and Coulter Dotson (Creek Wood) with 11 each.
EAB Tigers 73
Club 51 57
Isaac Stephens (Mt. Juliet) led a trio of double digit achievers with 14 as the EAB Tigers proved they could play with anyone in the state besting Club 51 73-57 in 17 and under action at Best in State.
Drew Weikert (MBA) and Hayden Pearson (Centennial) added 10 each for the victors.
Jordan Lockridge (Mt. Juliet) led all scorers for Club 51 with 15 markers. Cambridge pitched in with 13 and Keontai Windrow (Stratford) added 11.
Team NLP 59
Chattanooga Elite 50
K.K. Curry (Cleveland), Dionte Ware (Cleveland) and Patrick Urey (Baylor) all dropped 11 points apiece as Team NLP had to venture into overtime and overcome a splendid effort from Junior Clay (McCallie) to seize a 59-50 victory in a battle of the best from Chattanooga.
EOTO 49
EAB Tigers 47
A low scoring affair saw EOTO edge the EAB Tigers 49-47 with a balanced scoring column featuring 8 points apiece from Hale, Biffin and Dotson.
Weikert was huge for EAB scoring a game high 19 points in the narrow defeat.
Tennessee Bobcats 79
Tennessee Tigers 45
Reeves put together another outstanding game dropping 15 markers as the Tennessee Bobcats remained unblemished at Best in State with a 79-45 victory over the Tennessee Tigers.
Josh Dykes (Cumberland County) added 13 while Jancek pitched in with 12 markers in the victory.
Gray Michael (Franklin Classical) led the Tigers with 11 points.
Team NLP 69
Free Agents 61
Boris Ristanovic (Baylor) scored 13 points and led a balanced attack as Team NLP bested a tough Free Agents squad 69-61 at Best in State.
NLP had to make an early exit and they finished the event going 2-0. Ware added 12 points for the victors while Jessie Walker (Brainerd) and Jason Jitobah (Hamilton Heights) added 11 and 10 respectively.
Jordan Corvette (Knoxville Halls) led all scorers with 20 points. Gettlefinger added 16 and Myles Rasnick (Knoxville Webb) netted 15 in the close defeat.
EAB Tigers 57
Chattanooga Elite 50
Will Nutter (MBA) was the lone player with double digits for EAB with 10 but it would prove to be enough as they outlasted the Chattanooga Elite to the tune of 57-50 in 17 and under action at Best in State.
Norwood led the Elite with 15 followed by Starling with 12.
Free Agents 90
Tennessee Tigers 82
Gettlefinger scored a tournament high 32 markers as the Free Agents snagged their first win of the event with a very entertaining 90-82 triumph over the Tennessee Tigers.
Corvette added 19 for the Free Agents and Rasnick would complete a 15 point effort.
Michael led the Tigers with 18 and Midlick dropped 16 in the loss.
Tennessee Bobcats 69
Club 51 59
Robb dropped 13 as the Bobcats concluded Best in State 3-0 with a 69-59 win over Club 51.
Jaxson Baker (Kentucky) scored 12, Norman added 11 and Ledford finished with 10 for the Bobcats.
Cambridge led Club 51 with 14.
17 and Under Division Standings:
Tennessee Bobcats 3-0
Team NLP 2-0
EAB Tigers 2-1
Chattanooga Elite 1-2
Free Agents 1-2
Club 51 1-2
EOTO 1-1
Tennessee Tigers 0-3
Top Individual Scoring Efforts:
C.J. Gettlefinger (Grace Christian) 32pts
C.J. Gettlefinger (Grace Christian) 28pts
Jordan Corvette (Knoxville Halls) 20pts
Junior Clay (McCallie) 19pts
Jordan Corvette (Knoxville Halls) 19pts
Drew Weikert (MBA) 19pts
Devan Cambridge (PJPII) 18pts
Grant Ledford (Grace Christian) 18pts
Gray Michael (Franklin Classical) 18pts
