TSWA all-state basketball teams include 14 area players

Seven boys and seven girls from the Chattanooga area have been named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association all-state basketball teams.

Brainerd's Kentrell Evans and Dajuonta Ross and Central's Ryan Montgomery earned spots on the Class AA boys' team. McCallie's Junior Clay (Division II), Bradley Central's Cole Copeland (Class AAA) and Meigs County's Zy Moore and Van Buren County's Caden Mills (A) also were honored in their respective classifications.

Baylor's Kaleigh Clemons and teammate Mya Long were named to the Division II girls' team, while Signal Mountain's Aryn Sanders and McMinn Central's Jacobi Lynn made the list in Class AA. Bradley Central's Rhyne Howard earned a spot on the AAA team and Meigs County's Taylor Boggess and Van Buren's Lakelyn Bouldin are Class A all-staters.

Ross and Evans led Brainerd to the state championship game, and Montgomery helped Central reach the state tournament each of the past two seasons as well. Only a sophomore, Clay led McCallie to the state semifinals, and Copeland, a junior, averaged a double-double (21 points, 11 rebounds).

Clemons is a two-time D-II Miss Basketball award winner and a Vanderbilt signee, and Long, a junior wing, helped the Lady Red Raiders reach the state title game. Sanders ranked among the area's scoring leaders each of the past two seasons, while Lynn was a Miss Basketball finalist as a junior.

Although only a sophomore, the 6-foot-1 Howard already is one of the nation's top college prospects, with scholarship offers from South Carolina, Florida, Ole Miss and Middle Tennessee State among others.

Bouldin, a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga signee, was also a Miss Basketball award winner.

Russo to Reinhardt

Soddy-Daisy standouto Tucker Russo has committed to Reinhardt University, a NAIA school that will be fielding its first wrestling team beginning with the 2016-17 season.

Reinhardt is coached by Jeff Bedard, most recently an assistant coach for Heath Eslinger at UTC.

"When I first started my tour, I wasn't really thinking seriously about going there, but it grew on me," said Russo, a two-time state champion, four-time state medalist and three-time region champion. "It's a great opportunity, and I think I will grow up there over the next few years there. I don't think I'll be disappointed."

Russo had been talking with Appalachian State when he began visiting with Bedard, who knew of the 160-pounder through his days at UTC.

"I like him and I think it's a better opportunity for me than Appalachian," Russo said of Bedard. "I think he'll be a good coach for me and a good fit for me."

Russo, who will graduate from Soddy-Daisy with at least a 3.0 grade point average, was pleased with what he found on the Waleska, Ga., campus.

"It's a smaller school and the class sizes are smaller," he said. "The average class is 15-17 students, and I'll be more comfortable with that. When I went on my visit I was told that most professors know each of their students by name."

Russo went through the 2015-16 season undefeated until the state tournament. He lost on a disqualification when he was whistled for an illegal slam and his opponent's coach said his wrestler was unable to continue. Russo rebounded to finish third, and he went through the season without giving up a single offensive point.

TSWA all-state basketball teams

Class AAAJazz Bond (Blackman), Raegyn Branch (Arlington), Jasmine Carson (Memphis Central), Lea Lea Carter (Dickson County), Crystal Dangerfield (Blackman), Karen Donehew (South-Doyle), Rodrea Echols (Overton), Shelby Gibson (Oakland), Jada Guinn (Oak Ridge), Anastasia Hayes (Riverdale), Jayla Hemingway (Houston), Rhyne Howard (Bradley Central), Sydney Newsome (Morristown West), Kendall Spray (Wilson Central), Courtney Whitson (Dobyns-Bennett).Class AAMadison Brantley (Union County), Ashli Chew (DeKalb County), Karli Combs (Grainger), Kenedi Hambrick (CPA), Erica Haynes-Overton (East Nashville), Kalee Johnson (Happy Valley), Savannah LeGate (CPA), Akira Levy (Upperman), Jacobi Lynn (McMinn Central), Kayla Marosites (Elizabethton), Keke McKinney (Fulton), Hope Neyman (South Gibson), Paige Pipkin (Chester County), Aryn Sanders (Signal Mountain), Janiah Sandifer (Pearl-Cohn), Jamirah Shutes (Haywood).Class AAbby Bertram (Midway), Taylor Boggess (Meigs County), Breanna Boggs (Houston County), Lakelyn Bouldin (Van Buren), Danielle Conley (Craigmont), Madison Duncan (Harriman), Briana Fields (Gibson County), Taylor Lamb (South Greene), Maddie Long (McEwen), Brynne Lytle (TCA), Morgan Martin (Bradford), Tristan McClellan (Pickett County), Chelsey Perry (Middleton), Sarah Pierce (Community), Ashlynd Wilkerson (MTCS), Braelyn Wykle (South Greene).Division IIAshtyn Baker (Northpoint), Taylor Barnes (St. Benedict), Jordyn Cambridge (Ensworth), Riley Casey (FRA), Kaleigh Clemons (Baylor), Bria Dial (Brentwood Academy), Sydni Harvey (Brentwood Academy), Windee Johnson (Pope John Paul II), Anna Jones (Univ. School of Jackson), Antoinette Lewis (Harding), Mya Long (Baylor), Selena Pruitt (Lausanne), Micah Scheetz (Knoxville Webb), Marci Sneed (Ezell-Harding), Lindsey Whiteside (Northpoint).Class AAADarrell Brown (Germantown), Cole Copeland (Bradley Central), Christian DeWitt (Blackman), Keaton Dotson (Station Camp), Jaylen Fisher (Bolton), Patrick Good (David Crockett), Tyler Harris (Cordova), Tee Higgins (Oak Ridge), Nathan Hoover (Arlington), Chandler Lawson (Memphis East), Alex Lomax (Memphis East), Carlos Marshall (Southwind), T.J. Moss (Memphis East), Thomas Smith (Hillsboro), Miles Thomas (South-Doyle).Class AAIsaiah Crawley (Ripley), Austin Douglas (Cheatham County), Bo Hodges (Maplewood), D.J. Jackson (Fayette-Ware), Kentrell Evans (Brainerd), Da’juonta Ross (Brainerd), Ryan Montgomery (Chatt. Central), Ruot Monyvong (Whites Creek), Mikkel Norment (Fayette-Ware), Antonio Reed (Douglass), Hunter Reynolds (CAK), Malek Sain (Marshall County), Garrett Sams (Westview), Hunter Vick (Camden), Kentel Williams (Knoxville Fulton).Class AConnor Arnold (Knoxville Grace Christian), Tyree Beason (B.T. Washington), Chauncey Blakely (B.T. Washington), Tyran Davis (Memphis Mitchell), Nick Hopkins (Fayetteville), Austin Fisher (Clarksville Academy), Kobe Foster (Huntland), Demarco Jackson (LEAD Academy), Tyreke Key (Clay County), Tavon King (Knox Halls), Zy Moore (Meigs County), Caden Mills (Van Buren), Taylor Murray (Oliver Springs), Tevin Olison (Memphis Mitchell), Darian Pride (Community).Division IICalvin Austin (Harding Academy), Jordan Bone (Ensworth), Jason Cambridge (Pope John Paul II), Junior Clay (McCallie), Kenny Cooper (Franklin Road Acad.), William Douglas (Christian Brothers), Darius Garland (Brentwood Academy), Chase Hayden (St. George’s), Will Hrubes (Briarcrest Christian), Jeremiah Oatsvall (Brentwood Academy), Chase Ridenour (Knoxville Webb), Isaiah Stokes (Lausanne), Undra Wilson (Christian Brothers), Anthony Yarbrough (Harding Academy).

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