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 16 and under division.
Maze Elite 2020 72
Chattanooga Elite 54
Akeem Odusipe (Knoxville Christian) solidified his ranking as the top player in the state for the Class of 2020 dropping 18 markers as the BMaze Elite 2020 squad, playing up an age bracket, bested the Chattanooga Elite 72-54 in 16 and under action at the 5th annual Best in State.
Darlinstone Dubar (North Carolina) added 16, Joe Anderson (Maryville) pitched in with 15 and John Hardy (McCallie) added to round out the scoring for the BMaze crew.
Blake Pruitt (Baylor) led the Elite with 14 followed by Mookie Hinton (East Ridge) with 10.
EOTO 65
Chattanooga Elite 34
Drew Pember (Bearden) got hot early and often dropping 16 markers as EOTO 16U got action started with a 65-34 victory over Chattanooga Elite.
Joining Pember in the scoring column were Teahzjawon Harper-Hodge (Karns) with 14 and Sean Oglesby (Knoxville Central) with 13.
EOTO 76
EAB Tigers 2019 64
Drew Pember (Bearden) led a foursome of double digits scorers with 14, overcoming a monster 28 point effort from Class of 2020 rising star Keon Johnson (Webb School), with a 76-64 victory in 16 and under action at Best in State.
Connor Jordan (Morristown East) and Sean Oglesby (Knoxville Central) each added 11 markers while Trent Stephney (Bearden) pitched in with 10.
Luke Burnett (Heritage), another Class of 2020 player, added 11 in the loss for the EAB.
BMaze Elite 2020 74
EAB Tigers 2019 63
Joe Anderson (Maryville) drained 22 points and led a four pack of double digit scorers as the BMaze Elite 2020 bested the EAB Tigers 74-63 in 16 and under action at Best in State.
Anderson's effort overshadowed a shooting clinic from fellow Class of 2020 marksman Mason McKnatt (Grace Christian) who busted a game high 24 points in the loss.
Norance Berry (North Carolina) pitched in with 14 markers, Akeem Odusipe (Knoxville Christian) added 11 and John Hardy (McCallie) left with 10.
Tripp McEachern (Goodpasture) had his best effort of the event scoring 18 for EAB. Keon Johnson (Webb School) was limited with a leg injury and only managed 11 in the loss.
EAB Tigers 2019 83
Chattanooga Elite 78
Justin Headrick (Stone Memorial) put on a show for the home folks dropping 19 points and lifting the EAB Tigers to a hard fought 83-78 win over the Chattanooga Elite.
Headrick's effort overcame another big time effort from his high school teammate Brett Newcombe (Stone Memorial) who led all scorers with 21 in the loss.
Joining Headrick in the scoring column for the Tigers was McKnatt with 14 and Burnett with 13.
The Elite placed several players in double digits behind Newcombe including Hinton with 17, Pruitt with 12 and De'Arre McDonald (Oakland) and Amon Grace (McCallie) with 10 points each.
EOTO 2019 60
BMaze Elite 2020 50
The two unbeatens faced off for the mantle as top 16 and under team at the 5th annual Tennessee Prep Hoop Best in State event and the game proved to be everything we hoped it could be.
Drew Pember (Bearden) concluded an outstanding event scoring 21 markers and lifting the EOTO 2019 squad to a hard nosed 60-50 win over the BMaze 2020 squad and finishing the event 3-0.
Stephney added 10 points in the victory.
Anderson had another big game for BMaze the freshman phenom dropped 20 points and fellow youngster Odusipe added 12 in the loss.
16 and Under Division Standings:
EOTO 2019 3-0
BMaze Elite 2020 2-1
EAB Tigers 2019 1-2
Chattanooga Elite 0-3
Top Individual Scoring Efforts:
Keon Johnson (Webb School) 28pts
Mason McKnatt (Grace Christian) 24pts
Joe Anderson (Maryville) 22pts
Brett Newcombe (Stone Memorial) 21pts
Drew Pember (Bearden) 21pts
Joe Anderson (Maryville) 20pts
Justin Headrick (Stone Memorial) 19pts
Tripp McEachern (Goodpasture) 18pts
Akeem Odusipe (Knoxville Christian) 18pts
