CLEVELAND, Tenn. – There is no doubt in JaCobi Wood’s teammates’ minds that their senior point guard is the best high school basketball player in the state.
Cleveland remained undefeated with Wood in the starting lineup as the TSSAA’s top-ranked Class AAA team created history with Monday night’s dominant 81-66 sectional victory over Siegel at Raider Arena. That sends the Blue Raiders (33-1) to the state tournament in Murfreesboro for the second season in a row.
“JaCobi is a great point guard and the best player I have seen in the state this year,” fellow senior Mo Schramm said after leading the Blue Raiders with 24 points and 11 rebounds. “I love playing with him. He is a great guy and one of the most unselfish players I have ever seen. He doesn’t (just) deserve it – he’s earned Mr. Basketball. I love him.”
Wood and Schramm dazzled from the start as both hit a pair of opening-quarter 3s and had a sixth sense for where each other would be on the offensive end.
Cleveland (33-1) controlled the game from start to finish, taking a 23-12 lead when Michael Dale scored his sixth point with a putback at the first-quarter buzzer.