A few weeks ago, I did 2 stories on teams I thought from 1A and 2A, who had a chance to get out of Memphis for the state tournament. With the regional semi-finals for 1A-4a happening tomorrow, I decided, I would start with 2A and 3A previews especially since I didn’t get a chance to speak much on 3A basketball and their contenders.
Fairley vs Douglass (2A)
The Bulldogs are looking like the most dominant team in their class so far and maybe the most dominant of anyone playing right now. Now, that doesn’t mean they are the best team playing right now. I’m not saying that, but they certainly have maintained their position as the best team in 2A. They have only had 3 games within 10 points in their last 15 games, the others they won by 15 points or better and they continued that on Saturday beating Lakeland Prep, 80-46.
Now they are on to the final 4 against an experienced coach in Greg Williams, who took Douglass to the state tournament the last 2 years. He’s been there and knows the challenges of these games. Now, those teams the last 2 years at Douglass were different than this one this year but you have to give credit where it’s due, he’s here and that says a lot given what he lost in the off season. Can they pull off the biggest upset in the playoffs this year up to the date?
Honestly, it’s going to be really tough, this is a good Fairley team who seems to be clicking on all cylinders right now. They shoot it well from 3 and they do what they have done all year, turn you over and turn those into points. Brandon Chatman has been their leader all year long with a few others but when they need to settle down or get 2 points, they rely on him. AJ Polk is maybe their most versatile guy in terms of what he an do defensively but Chatman is without a doubt their leader. Junior guard I’zahvien Perkins has really shot it well for them. It’s been pretty much a team effort they are riding the success of that.
The Red Devils have one thing going for them that I alluded to up top, experience, not with the players necessarily but with the head coach. I don’t know if that’s enough to beat Fairley because they just find ways to cause you to cough up the ball and if they can do that (I think they will) it’s going to be really hard on Douglass.
You simply can’t turn the ball over against the Bulldogs. If Douglass can have great ball security and make shots, it could be interesting, but they have to do it over the course of the game, not 1 or 2 quarters, the whole game. They can’t let Fairley hit those 8-10 spurts, or it could get out of hand fast. They also must find a way to limit Chatman and his ability to score. It is the post season so you never know, and Fairley can’t go in with the mindset of, this should be easy for us. They have to keep doing what they have been doing and if they do that, it will be hard for Douglass to win this game tomorrow.
Memphis Business Academy vs Wooddale
The Execs won in huge fashion Saturday against Freedom Prep as to be expected and now are on to play the Wooddale Cardinals led by Coach Keelon Lawson. The Execs have the edge in this game with their guard group, district 15AA player of the year, Trey Benson, Ethan Caswell and Teryck White. Jaylon Hopson and Caleb Carpenter are 2 others that Coach Boga relies on as well in big games. This team goes as Trey Benson goes. If he’s playing well for them and gets it going early on, it makes it a little bit easier for Caswell and White. If White sees one go through the net, he can run off 5-6 in a row from the 3-ball line. He’s one of the area’s best shooters. Caswell thrives as a slasher/transition guy but can make plays for himself in the half court. I think he’s going to have to be pretty good down the stretch for them if they want to get down the road to Murfreesboro. This isn’t necessarily a deep team though especially at the guard spot so those 3 being who they are, really have to shoulder a lot of the load, scoring, defending, rebounding as well.
The Cardinals are a different kind of team but one that has a player who can go off for 30 in game in Dominic Taylor. He’s averaged over 20 points a game all year for Wooddale and he’s so important to their success. He can’t have a 10–15-point night, it has to be between 15-30 points for them to have a shot in all of their games… but in this one, 20-30 is needed. Sophomore Mashad Griffin has picked it up as of late scoring 15 or more in 3 out of the last 5 games. The newfound confidence in his ability has helped the Cardinals and he will be just as important for Wooddale as Taylor tomorrow night. It also helps to have a 6’10 in Kaleb “KD” Davis who to me is the best shot blocker in the state of Tennessee. He’s gotten so much better offensively but defensively is where he wears his hat and his ability to affect and block shots in this game will weigh heavy for Coach Lawson.
Much like Greg Williams of Douglass, Lawson has been around this block a few times and won 2 state titles so there isn’t anything that he hasn’t seen before at this time of year. I think this is a dangerous group especially if Brandon Mitchell plays solid along with Jarico Hawkins who can give them scoring as well. He’s had multiple games this year with 10 or more points himself. 6’6 Keontre Steward and 6’2 freshman Demarius Jones could see a key role in this game well.
Can Wooddale beat this really talented MBA team? I think the first 2 quarters will have a lot to say about this game and whoever wins the turnover margin, should win. Wooddale has to do a good job of limiting their turnovers, if they can’t, MBA can turn it into a track meet.
For MBA, they have to play at their pace and try to force mistakes, but should they allow Wooddale to dictate tempo, and Wooddale gets some scoring from Davis to go along with the defensive effort and rebounding, this game could be close late. Again, I think with his length, he’s going to be a player who will have some say so in this game. MBA will be a tough out though because they have the best guard trio in 2A locally. Davis could be the neutralizer to that though and that’s what makes it interesting. Depth and perimeter shooting will be key in this game as well for both teams.
