Prep Players Spotlight: Five area athletes who stood out with recent performances

Hixson senior Devotis McCurdy was one of the most dominant wrestlers this past weekend at the TSSAA state duals in Franklin, Tennessee. / Staff file photo by Patrick MacCoon
Hixson senior Devotis McCurdy was one of the most dominant wrestlers this past weekend at the TSSAA state duals in Franklin, Tennessee. / Staff file photo by Patrick MacCoon

The Prep Players Spotlight is a weekly feature of the Times Free Press that highlights five area high school athletes whose performances since the previous Thursday stood out.

Devotis McCurdy, Hixson

photo Hixson senior Devotis McCurdy was one of the most dominant wrestlers this past weekend at the TSSAA state duals in Franklin, Tennessee. / Staff file photo by Patrick MacCoon

The senior heavyweight and gridiron standout was an absolute force on the wrestling mat this past weekend in Franklin, helping the Wildcats to a third-place finish in the TSSAA Class A-AA state duals. McCurdy wasted little time in winning his four heavyweight matches by pin in a total of one minute, 49 seconds. In the final two matches he tied a state record by pinning an opponent in six seconds, followed by an 11-second pin.

Will Jackson, McCallie

photo McCallie senior swimmer and Tennessee signee Will Jackson helped his team to a second straight state championship this past weekend in Knoxville. / McCallie athletics photo

Jackson helped the Blue Tornado aquatics program capture its 21st state championship by swimming to All-America standards. The Tennessee signee blazed through the water winning all four of his races this weekend at the state championship meet. Jackson defended his 500-yard freestyle title (4:24.29) and also won the 200 free (1:35.76) and helped capture first-place for his 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams.

Kara Williams, Cleveland

photo Cleveland junior Kara Williams nailed 6 3-pointers in Tuesday's impressive win over Oak Ridge at Raider Arena. / Staff file photo by Robin Rudd

Williams has become a lethal sharpshooter for the Lady Raiders in her junior season. A 24-win Oak Ridge team had no answer for her as she drained four 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes to lead a signature home victory on Tuesday. Williams scored 21 points in the first three quarters to help build a significant lead. She has been drawing college interest and is a key contributor on an 18-win team.

Connor Duffy, Baylor

photo Baylor senior wrestler Connor Duffy helped his team win its second straight TSSAA Division II state duals in Franklin this past weekend. / Staff file photo by Robin Rudd

A nationally ranked wrestling program steamrolled its way to a second straight Division II state duals title last weekend. Baylor outscored its competition 184-35 and once again received stellar leadership from its 182-pound senior. Duffy won all three of his matches by first round pin (1:07, 0:34, 1:00). He has been a leader to look up to for freshman standout Omaury Alvarez, who won two matches at state with third-round pins.

Jacob King, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe

photo Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe senior Jacob King has been a crucial part to a 23-win region championship basketball team this season. / Staff file photo by Erin Smith

Despite dealing with several injury scares throughout the season, the Warriors have made for an unforgettable season. Honoring the late and long-time LFO coach Jerry Jones, King helped a program which had not had a winning season since 2013-14 win the Region 6-AAA title. King scored 18 points to lead LFO (23-4) past North Murray and into the state tournament.

Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.

Upcoming Events