For the second season in a row, the Chattanooga area has five total candidates for Tennessee’s Mr. and Miss Basketball awards.
It’s the 40th year of the TSSAA honoring the best high school hoopers in the Volunteer State, and three girls and two boys from the area made the list when the 36 total finalists for the 2025 awards (which are based solely on regular-season accomplishments) were announced Thursday.
There are three Mr. Basketball finalists and three Miss Basketball finalists in each of the TSSAA’s six classifications, and all 12 winners will be announced in Murfreesboro on Tuesday, March 18, at Middle Tennessee State University’s Tucker Theatre. MTSU hosts the TSSAA state tournaments for public schools, with girls playing at the Murphy Center on March 12-15 and boys playing there March 19-22.
McMinn Central senior Karina Bystry (Class 2A), Bradley Central junior Kimora Fields (Class 4A) and Chattanooga Christian School freshman Kamora “Momo” Moore (Division II-AA) are finalists for Miss Basketball, while Tyner senior Rodney Henderson (Class 2A) and Chattanooga Prep junior Derrick Roberson (Class 1A) are finalists for Mr. Basketball.
Henderson, already a three-time all-state selection, has scored more than 2,000 points for the Rams during his prep career and is rated as the No. 8 college prospect in the state for the class of 2025 by Prep Hoops.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard has averaged 20 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.8 steals per game this season for third-ranked Tyner (21-6), which has won 14 of its past 15 games. The left-hander has made 60% of his shots from the field, 33% of his 3-point attempts and 76% of his free throws this season.
Henderson’s highlights include a triple-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a 75-64 home win over Chatt Prep on Jan. 17. The Freed-Hardeman signee also scored a season-high 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in an overtime win against Atlanta’s Maynard-Jackson on Dec. 14 in the Tennessee vs. Georgia Border Wars at Chatt Prep.
“Rodney has rejuvenated basketball in the inner city while influencing the next generation and has become the face of the phrase ‘Hard work pays off,'” Tyner coach E’Jay Ward said. “He is a prime example that with a little sunlight on the darkest days, just enough water during the driest seasons and soil that stands the test of time, one can be the basketball rose that blossoms from concrete into one of Tennessee’s finest.
“Through timeless training and unwavering support, Rodney is undeniably worthy of such recognition and honor, representing our state as one of the best to do it.”
Roberson, who’s 6-6, helped Chatt Prep win the Class 1A title last March, which was impressive both because it came in just the third year of varsity competition for the Sentinels (who had no seniors) and because they were the city’s first boys’ basketball program to win a state championship since 2007. He was named MVP of the title game after compiling 25 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks, three steals and three assists in just 19 minutes as the Sentinels beat Frank Hughes 64-41.
This season, Roberson has per-game averages of nearly 17 points, seven rebounds and more than one assist, steal and block for the second-ranked Sentinels (21-8). He has made 67% of his two-point shots and 33% of his tries outside the arc, recently going 5-for-9 from 3-point range against Baylor.
Bradley Central’s Fields and Chattanooga Christian’s Moore are both Miss Basketball finalists for the second year in a row.
The 6-foot Fields is trying to help this year’s Bearettes (24-1), who have a No. 12 national ranking, give the storied program with eight state championships its first run of three consecutive titles. Rated by espnW as the No. 32 college prospect in the class of 2026, she has dominated this season by scoring as many or more points than minutes played in 14 of 24 games in which she has appeared.
Fields has per-game averages of 19.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.3 steals, 1.8 assists and half a block while shooting nearly 65% from the field in just 21 minutes per game. She has scored 30-plus points on three occasions.
Moore, who already made an impression in eighth grade by starring for CCS on the varsity level a year ago, is the leading scorer in TSSAA girls’ basketball this season, when the Lady Chargers phenom has averaged 30 points per game and is rated as one of espnW’s top 25 freshmen in the country.
For the second straight season, Moore was awarded the Times Free Press Best of Preps tournament MVP, and she has multiple 40-point games and one with 12 assists this winter.
McMinn Central’s Bystry has been a rock star on the court for Class 2A’s second-ranked Chargerettes (27-1), and she will soon hold their all-time scoring record with more than 2,500 career points.
The Northern Kentucky signee has per-game averages of 27.5 points, nine rebounds, 4.5 assists, four steals and 1.1 blocks this season, when she has scored at least 20 points in 27 of 28 games.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.