We are less than a week away from the start of the high school basketball season. Can you feel it? Are you ready to eat the stale popcorn and the old chips they serve you with the cheese that taste like yellow lotion? Sorry, I had to get those in but in all seriousness, it’s almost time.
If you haven’t seen the 2 parts to my 4 burning questions series, make sure you check those out because they give you a look into Whitehaven High School and Bartlett High School.
4 Burning Questions Before High School Begins | Is This Whitehaven’s Year?
4 Burning Questions Before High School Begins | Will Talented Freshmen Make or Break Bartlett?
Both of those teams have been heavily talked about since June but besides those 2, who are the others? What other schools will be contenders in their classes? Let’s take a look at 2A and 3A. Ridgeway finished last season as the state runner up in 3A but that was a senior laden team. Can they make it back with their new program arrivals? Could it be Kirby in 3A? No, you didn’t read that wrong, Kirby, the Cougars. CJ Mcclain and Kendall Simms makes them viable as a contender. Memphis Business Academy led by Tavaris Boga was a few moments away from maybe the biggest upset of last season. They played Douglass, who was at the time undefeated and almost came away with a program changing win. Is this a team you can say is a contender to go to state out of Memphis in 2A?
Is There a Chance? (Ridgeway)
I can’t say enough about the job that Curtis Wooten has done at Ridgeway in his few years there. After the departure of Coach Wes Henning, many thought Ridgeway would fall off. The Roadrunners have always been a mainstay in basketball in the city and with Coach Wooten, that hasn’t changed. This year is different because they did lose a lot. Brian Carter, their best player on most nights, graduated. Emmanuel Allen graduated and several others who contributed to last season’s state runner up year are gone. I don’t think people understand how hard it is, to make it to the state, let alone win it. A state runner up is truly an accomplishment. To get back, they need their new arrivals to be big time quickly. Enter in Marjavis Chandler, a 6’1 2025 combo guard and crafty point guard, Demario Johnson. Both have winning traits and come from winning having played at Douglass for 3 years. Their impacts must be felt right away. Chandler can really score, and I think people will see that this season. Kayin Mitchell returns from last year’s team as a returning starter and his responsibilities have gone through the roof because of his development. He has the dribble pull ups, gets to the rim, handles with a shiftiness and he has the ability to defend both guard spots. He’s key for them more than ever this year.
Can Kirby Make Some Noise?
I don’t know if many people know or not, but CJ Mcclain was really good all last season and particularly in district play. He averaged between 20-25 ppg and was called upon to score a lot for the Cougars. I mentioned during the summer how he had to be more responsible as a ball handle and defending. He’s matured and it’s really helped him blossom into a nice player. I think you could see him put up some serious numbers. He shoots it well and is a capable of being one of those “binge” scorers. He can put numbers up in bunches and score 30 in games where the jumper is really falling. He’s one of the best players that you don’t hear a lot of people talking about. It’s not just him though as they have another guard in Kendall Simms who will be relied on all year. Simms was coming off a knee injury last year, so I don’t think he was fully 100 percent until maybe the end but that’s behind him now. He’s one of the faster guards in the city with the ball in his hands and he does a great job of drawing attention when he gets in the paint for kick outs and easy scoring opportunities. His importance to them is undervalued but appreciated if you watch him play. Watch out for 6’3 Aaron Hines and Jarvis Glenn. Both will give Coach Glenn good minutes this year.
And The Best 2A Team Is?
There are a few teams that many have spoken on in this classification. One is Memphis Business Academy and the other is Fairley High School. MBA I would say is the favorite in 2A but that’s not concrete. I like their makeup in a year that feels very guard trio oriented. Trey Benson had a 40-point game last year and is considered by some as the top player in the city in this amongst juniors. He can really score, pushes pace, has iso scoring ability, knocks down the 3 ball and is golden at the pg spot. Tyreke White is a shooter who can really stretch out defenses and be some go to offense for them. He can carry the load if he has to on occasion. Add in Ethan Caswell, a 6’2 guard who was Bolton’s best player last season, and you can see why a lot of people around that program are excited.
First year head coach Steve Terrell isn’t new to the basketball scene in Memphis. He coached Lester Prep to 2 middle school state titles and knows how to win but this will be his first high school job. He will have them playing hard and he does have some talent there: AJ Polk, Issac Wright and Brandon Chatman. For them, getting off to a good start is big early in the season. The more they play together, the better they should be in the middle of the season. Defensively is where they must hang their hats and offensively, consistent scoring from Chatman and Polk are must.
