December 4-9 Report
This report will cover the following games or events: Baldwyn at Saltillo on Dec 5, Coffeeville Tournament on Dec 7, Heritage Academy Shootout on Dec 8, New Hope at Tupelo on Dec 8, Doc Vandiver Classic on Dec 9 and a dvr game of Shannon at Nettleton on Dec 5. This game was broadcast by MaxxSouth Cable. MaxxSouth has a channel dedicated to high school and community sports called MaxxSouth Sports. I strongly suggest getting MaxxSouth if you are a high school sports fan. To check out the teams they cover or get additional information click on the link below.
Tuesday December 5, 2017
#45 MS Nettleton Tigers 10-2 (3A Nettleton, MS) 72
#134 MS Shannon Red Raiders 2-4 (4A Shannon, MS) 67
Nettleton got a big fourth quarter push from Shawn Pounds (6-1 ’19 G Nettleton 25 pts, 20 in the 2nd half, 3 3’s 4 reb 3 ast 2 st), Damien Ealy (6-3 ’18 F Nettleton 16 pts, 7 in the 4th, 7 reb 5 st 3 blk) and Bud Hammond (5-10 ’19 G Nettleton 11 pts, 5 in the 4th, 2 3’s 4 reb 5 ast 4 st) to get past Shannon. Shannon seems to be picking up some steam as the season goes on and Nettleton will make a big push at making it to Jackson this year.
Nettleton (home team)
’18’s
Grady Gardner 5-9 PG 13 pts 3 ast 4 st
Shannon (traveled 6 miles)
Robin Wilson 12 pts 5 reb 3 ast 2 st
’18’s
Augusta Cox 6-3 F 12 pts 6 reb 2 blk 2 charges taken
’19’s
Ty Ward F 16 pts 5-5 ft 6 reb 4 ast
Will Thompson 6-4 C 9 pts 4 reb
’20’s
Kentorius Pulliam PG 5 pts 2 reb 7 ast 2 st
Jordan White PG 5 pts 4 reb 2 ast
#33 MS Saltillo Tigers 10-1 (5A Saltillo, MS) 85
#135 MS Baldwyn Bearcats 5-3 (2A Baldwyn, MS) 44
Saltillo used pressure early and never looked back in the big win over Baldwyn. Calvin “Smurf” Harris (6-2 ’19 F Saltillo 20 pts 2 3’s) transferred from Baldwyn to Saltillo over the summer and got the better of his former team for the win. T.J. Hannah (6-4 ’20 F/C Saltillo 8 pts) is a developing presence to keep an eye on.
Saltillo (home team)
’18’s
Isaiah Hardy 6-1 SG 13 pts
’19’s
Tyson McKenize 5-8 G 10 pts
Baldwyn (traveled 11 miles)
’18’s
D’Mondrea “Mon” Doss 6-2 F 14 pts 4-6 ft
Thursday December 7, 2017
Coffeeville Tournament
#126 MS Grenada Chargers 5-5 (5A Grenada, MS) 75
#216 MS Water Valley Blue Devils 3-6 (3A Water Valley, MS) 70
Josiah “Joe” Lewis (6-5 ’18 F/C Grenada 28 pts 14 reb) played with high energy the whole game and really stepped it up down the stretch. He scored the last 5 points of the game for his team including an And1 finish and he also grabbed 5 rebounds in the last few minutes to seal the win.
Grenada (traveled 21 miles)
’19’s
Takias “TK” Hall 6-3 G/F 17 pts 3 3’s 4-4 ft 5-8 fg 10 reb 3 st
Jaquarius Watson 6-0 F 13 pts 6-8 fg 6 reb
Malik Jones 6-3 F 4 pts 4-4 ft 5 reb 2 ast
Markyell Pittman 6-3 F/C 8 pts 2-2 ft 7 reb 3 st
Water Valley (traveled 14 miles)
’18’s
Deshun Jones 6-5 C 9 pts 5 reb 2 blk
Jayvon Morgan 6-2 F 13 pts
’19’s
Marquez “Quez” Caldwell 6-6 F/C 10 pts 3 reb 2 st
Calvin Armstrong 5-10 G 12 pts 2 3’s good shooter
Quaterrius Tolbert 6-2 G 26 pts 2 3’s
#158 MS Coffeeville Pirates 5-5 (1A Coffeeville, MS) 37
#128 MS Charleston Tigers 6-4 (3A Charleston, MS) 36
A great game with a great finish. Charleston is a vastly improving team and Coffeeville looks like a team that can potentially make a trip to Jackson this season. Coffeeville senior duo of Stantavious “Stan” Spearman (5-11 ’18 G Coffeeville 12 pts 5-7 ft 8 reb 3 ast) and Zavion “Zay” Jones (6-2 ’18 PG Coffeeville 19 pts 10 reb 2 ast 4 st) were too much for Charleston. Spearman had a bad off night but is a guard that can score in bunches. Zay Jones is a very impressive, commanding guard. Both of these guards need to be seen by all the JUCO’s around.
Coffeeville (home team)
Charleston (traveled 25 miles)
’19’s
QuinDario “Skeetie” Curry 6-0 G 3 pts 5 reb 2 st
DeAndre Prince 6-2 G 13 pts 6-11 fg 14 reb 4 ast 2 st
’20’s
Bryantavious “Bryan” Steen 6-6 F/C 7 pts 7 reb 3 blk
Friday December 8, 2017
#27 MS Tupelo Golden Wave 9-2 (6A Tupelo, MS) 68
#99 MS New Hope Trojans 4-3 (4A Columbus, MS) 63
Tupelo took advantage of a little (lot-cough, cough) home cooking to get the win over a scrappy New Hope team. Andrew Junkin (7-0 ’18 C New Hope 16 pts 7-8 fg 11 reb) was off to a beastly start and couldn’t be stopped until he got in early foul trouble. Tyler Stevenson (6-7 ’18 G/F New Hope 21 pts 9-14 fg 8 reb 3 ast 3 st 3 blk) had a monster game but it wasn’t enough to offset the senior duo of Jayven Humphrey (6-4 ’18 G/F Tupelo 19 pts 2 3’s) and Tahj Crump (6-4 ’18 F Tupelo 15 pts 5-7 ft).
Tupelo (home team)
F. Branch 16 pts
New Hope (traveled 74 miles)
’18’s
Kyree Fields 6-1 G 4 reb 6 ast
Anthony Roland 5-11 G 5 pts 3 ast 2 st
Tyrece Jackson 5-9 G 4 pts 8 reb 3 ast 3 st
’20’s
RL Mattix 5-10 PG 9 pts 3 3’s 3-5 fg 2 ast
Heritage Academy Shootout
Starkville Academy Volunteers 1-0 (MAIS 3A Starkville, MS) 61
Columbus Christian Rams 0-1 (MAIS 1A Steens, MS) 39
Starkville Academy started the game out on a roll and never let up to get the victory over Columbus Christian.
Starkville Academy (traveled 28 miles)
’18’s
Raegan Richardson 6-1 17 pts (15 in 2nd half) 3 3’s
’19’s
Noah Methvin 6-3 14 pts
’20’s
Trey Tyler 6-1 12 pts 6-8 ft
Columbus Christian (traveled 6 miles)
’18’s
Stephen Russell 10 pts
’19’s
Isaiah Cooper 6-1 SG 14 pts
’20’s
Lawson Studdard 10 pts
#100 MS Desoto Central Jaguars 5-8 (6A Southaven, MS) 48
Heritage Academy Patriots 2-2 (MAIS 3A Columbus, MS) 44
Desoto Central walked away with the win but they fought every second for it. The home standing Patriots are loaded with sophomore talent. Eli Acker (6-6 ’20 F/C Heritage Academy 20 pts 13 reb 2 charges taken) leads the way with his lineman frame. He has a soft touch to be so physical and he moves very well for a big. Recent transfer, Jared Long (6-4 ’20 F Heritage Academy 9 pts 8 reb 2 blk 3-3 ft), has serious potential to develop into a great next level player. Carter Putt (5-11 ’20 PG Heritage Academy all his stats come in the second half when he adjusted to the speed of Desoto Central 3 pts 7 reb 3 ast) is as smart of a player there is. He plays way beyond his years on the court. The rock of the team is potential Navy football commit Dontae Gray (5-11 ’18 PG 4 pts). The bowling ball guard gets everything running for the Patriots. Desoto Central had a surprise for me in a good-looking junior Gabriel “Gabe” Moore (6-5 ’19 G/F 10 pts 4 reb 4 st). He has size for a wing player with a nice looking stroke.
Desoto Central (traveled 155 miles)
’18’s
Jalan Bates 6-5 F 7 pts 3 reb 2 st
Kameron Green 6-1 F 12 pts
Heritage Academy (home team)
Saturday December 9, 2017
Doc Vandiver Classic
From Baldwyn
#124 MS Booneville Blue Devils 5-5 (3A Booneville, MS) 45
#204 MS West Bolivar Eagles 5-7 (2A Rosedale, MS) 44
What a hard-fought and patient game from both teams that took overtime to decide the winner. I’m sure the fans were bored to death with all the passing, slowing the ball down and different defensive strategies in place but I loved it. West Bolivar is not a 204 ranked team. They look more like a top 70 team. Well coached, play hard on defense, execute on offense and very well coached again. I can’t stress that enough. I’m making excuses here for Coach Armstrong and blaming the bad shooting on the 6:00 AM bus ride to Baldwyn to go along with a very chilly and cold gym. They probably shot 2-30 from outside the paint. They were good looks that didn’t fall and by the Coaches facial expressions, were shot that would’ve normally fell. He wanted his guys to keep shooting so that tells me he had faith in their shots. They would’ve won by 20 if they had shot 50%. Booneville was a pleasant surprise to me as well. I was expecting a down Booneville team and for Michael Smith to break his 7 year coaching streak in Jackson. I was wrong. Booneville is not dominant but they still are a Michael Smith coached team that is junior led with some key younger players mixed in. Rosedale and Booneville both have a very good chance at making a trip to Jackson this year.
Booneville (traveled 15 miles)
’19’s
Cole McGrath 6-0 SG 13 pts 3 3’s 3 reb 2 ast
Dallas Gamble 6-1 G/F 11 pts 3 reb (missed the 1st qtr due to ACT)
’21’s
Trey McKinney 6-1 PG 8 pts 3 reb 6 ast
West Bolivar (traveled 171 miles)
’18’s
Tristian Shelton 5-10 11 pts
Kirzerrion Lewis 6-2 G 8 pts 4 ast (could’ve been 15 or more if shots fell) 2 st
#9 MS Oxford Chargers 8-0 (6A Oxford, MS) 57
#74 MS Biggersville Lions 8-2 (1A Corinth, MS) 46
Biggersville had the same problem that West Bolivar did. They couldn’t hit and it might have actually been worse for them since Oxford was daring them to shoot it. Oxford placed 6 feet inside the paint (2-3 zone where every player had at least one foot int he paint). Oxford used their football size and strength to keep the Lions from getting inside and controlled the game. Oxford is also loaded with sophomores.
Oxford (traveled 70 miles)
’18’s
Drew Bianco 6-0 F 19 pts
’20’s
J.J. Pegues 6-3 F/C 13 pts
Kylan Blackmon 6-1 G 10 pts
Biggersville (traveled 24 miles)
’18’s
Devonte “Vonte” Spears 6-3 G 10 pts
’20’s
Hunter Stacy 6-1 G 11 pts 3 3’s
#33 MS Saltillo Tigers 10-1 (5A Saltillo, MS) 61
#27 MS Tupelo Golden Wave 9-2 (6A Tupelo, MS) 60
A highly anticipated match up that took overtime to settle. Tupelo had several good looks in the last few seconds but they just didn’t fall. Calvin “Smurf” Harris (6-2 ’19 F Saltillo 26 pts 4 3’s) took advantage of his former gym and used it like his own home gym on the way to a game high 26. Saltillo also had a good-looking combination of post, T.J. Hannah (6-5 ’20 F Saltillo 13 pts) and guard, Julian “Dreek” Warren (5-11 ’18 PG Saltillo 12 pts, 9 in 2nd half).
Saltillo (traveled 11 miles)
Tupelo (traveled 24 miles)
’18’s
Jayven Humphrey 6-4 G/F 14 pts 2 3’s
Chris Gilliam 6-1 G 11 pts 3 3’s
’19’s
Anthony Nichols 6-1 F 10 pts
#28 MS Ingomar Falcons 12-1 (2A New Albany, MS) 56
#89 MS Amory Panthers 7-6 (4A Amory, MS) 44
Ingomar used a fourth quarter push to get past the much improved Panthers.
Ingomar (traveled 33 miles)
’18’s
Jay Pickens 6-2 G 18 pts
Kelton Hall 6-3 G 16 pts 3 3’s
’20’s
Clayton Stanford 6-2 G/F 12 pts 6-7 ft
Amory (traveled 46 miles)
’18’s
Terry “TJ” Wallace 6-3 G 15 pts
Jeremiah Wallace 5-8 G 11 pts
#87 MS Pontotoc Warriors 6-4 (4A Ponototc, MS) 62
#135 MS Baldwyn Bearcats 5-3 (2A Baldwyn, MS) 42
Pontotoc started out to an early lead and never looked back for the victory.
Pontotoc (traveled 39 miles)
’18’s
Cortavius Shelton 5-11 G 16 pts 9 reb 5 ast 3 st
John Fleming 6-3 G/F 15 pts 8 reb 2 ast 2 st
’20’s
Caleb Hobson 6-0 G 4 pts 6 reb
’21’s
Rock Robinson 6-4 SG 15 pts 4-6 fg 2 3’s 5-6 ft 5 reb
Baldwyn (home team)
’18’s
Dequantrae “Money” Welch 5-10 PG 10 pts
D’Mondrea “Mon” Doss 6-0 F 10 pts
Magnolia Hoops 