Levon Tate

Tennessee YOMCA Tigers gather 6th and the Franklin Rage finish 12th.

It's great to be alive and be from the Volunteer state. Our representatives at the 16 and under nationals in Clarksville made us proud garnering 3th, 6th and 12th place finishes earning them an automatic berth in next years tourney when they advance up an age group.

Not to be outdone many other squads had solid finishes to make this national classic a very successful Tennessee prep venture.

One of the surprises of the event was the emergence of the "other" Memphis YOMCA squad and their rush to finish 3rd. The Y stumbled against eventual champion Team Royal/Team Melo before defeating the New Jersey Roadrunners 65-57 for the bronze. Leading the charge for the Y was unhearalded rising junior Ian Clark (Germantown). The 6-4 combo was dynamic from deep and showed he belongs among the state's elite with this performance. Another solid contributor who has not gotten alot of ink was Reggie Fondren (Oakhaven). The heart and soul of the squad, Fondren was a sticky defender able to guard anyone from the point to the post and showed good range knocking down several jumpers. His future is limitless as well.

Also providing solid support was 6-5 wing Zach Jones (Craigmont).

A host of contributors made this a special effort for the boys from the Bluff City including Ben Norfleet (Raleigh-Egypt), Stedman Hurdle (Craigmont), Jeremy Harris (Raleigh-Egypt), Chris House (Hamilton) and Jeremy Holmes (Raliegh-Egypt).

The Tennessee YOMCA Tigers rolled through pool play and fought out a tough 3 point victory over the Yakima Elite to grab themselves a sixth place finish. They pulled out their frustrations after the semi-final loss hammering a very good Jackson Tigers squad 72-56. Many in attendance said it was one of the most dominating performances of the event. Like a broken record the leaders of the Tigers pack contiue to perform at accelerated rates including Taverus Jefferson (Ensworth), Zaccheus Mason (CPA) and John Jenkins (Station Camp).

One of the great stories of the event was the continued improvement of the Franklin Rage. A squad of rising juniors made up from the student body at Franklin High, this group has risen to height with solid coaching and hard nosed effort and teamwork. They took a huge step defeating the likes of the LA Stars, South Carolina Kings and a big sweet sixteen victory over the Mid-State Ballerz Blue.

Mnay players contributed to the success but 6-2 shooting guard Michael Young (Franklin) used this event as a stepping stone for himself. Many observers marveled at his basketball IQ and ability to knock down not only the open jumper but the tough jumper as well. His 18 points against Mid-State helped lead their cause.  Kevin Kegarise (Franklin) made himself known here as well. The slight baller hit for 26 against eventual runner-up Connecticut Select and was consitent the entire event. Other Ragers who had solid efforts include Jamal Starnes (Franklin), James Haddix (Franklin) and Peyton Henry (Franklin).

Not to be outdone the Nashville Celtics 2010 used this event as springboard for many events to come. The youngsters playing up let all three pool games slip away from them before going on a mini-run culminating with a loss in the championship game of the Classic bracket. Levon Tate (Cookeville) was huge in the title game scoring 20 and grabbing double digit boards. The Celtics had good effort all weekend from Tate and Meiko Lyles (NCA). Other Celts who had good weekends included Telvin James (Clarksville Northeast), Jeremy Purvis (Clarksville Northeast) and Brandon Evans (NCA).

Many other squads did a little damage as written in some previous posts those include Tennessee Fire, who lost to the Celtics in the Classic division Final Four. Tennessee Thunder 2010 had a nice run with their up and coming young stars. The Mid-State Ballerz program had three teams compete in the event with the 16 Blue advancing to the championship brackey before falling to Franklin Rage.