Boarder Wars

The 15U Southside Warriors of Sharpsburg, GA pulled away late from Hueytown, AL’s Team GAB. RaKiyan Moss sparked the Warriors off the bench with 13 points and five rebounds as the smallest man on the floor and Jabian Lynch added 13 points and five rebounds, but it was Braden Burnett who impressed me the most. The 6-foot-4 stretch forward has a great skillset. He has soft touch from the mid-range and gets to the basket well, finishing with both hands. Burnett can handle the ball. His spin moves in the lane frees him up for good looks in traffic. He had a team-high 15 points.

Quen’dez Jackson was explosive for Team GAB, scoring a game-high 28 points. He is a big strong playmaking guard that powered his way in the paint when he wanted to. The downhill attacker was at his best going to the rim with his aggressive style of play. In the second half he drained two quick threes and got a little trigger happy from the outside at times. When he doesn’t force the issue and plays within himself, Jackson is tough to stop.  

Rankings = Motivation

The 2019 Rebels beat the Atlanta Celtics 48-45 on a late Isaiah Scott three-pointer. Scott scored a team-high 18 in the win. The 6-foot-4 wing out of First Presbyterian Christian Academy in Hinesville, GA says not making HoopSeen’s 2019 player rankings is only motivation for him to get better. The hunger to improve separates good players from great players and the fact that Scott has a chip on his shoulder can only bode well for his future.

Tift County’s New Guard

The 2017 GHSA Class 7A state champs have a lot to replace. Luckily for Tift County, that same junkyard dog mentality that got them their second title in four years is still in Tifton in the form of Montavious Terrell (pictured) and Marquavious Johnson.

Playing with the 17U South Georgia Hawks, the backcourt duo paved the way to a 75-56 victory over the Gametime Ballers. Only standing around 5-foot-10, Terrell has shades of outgoing Alabama State point guard Micah Johnson: a tough-nosed glue guard that mixes it up on the boards. Terrell pounded the glass, finishing with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds while adding four assists and two steals while playing in-your-face denial defense on the opposing team’s point guard.

Johnson netted a game-high 17 points and displayed Tift County’s prototypical toughness, snatching seven rebounds and handing out five assists. Terrell, a rising senior, and Johnson, a rising junior, will see increased roles this upcoming season. Tift County went 6-deep throughout their playoff run with Terrell the lone man to get off the bench in the championship game. Terrell averaged 5.7 points and 2.1 assists while Johnson, a starter in the title game, averaged 2.6 points.