Thursday, December 26, 2019
by Cody Guinn
While Christmas may be over, local basketball players, coaches and fans will feel like the holidays are just getting started as the 2019 Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies’ Classic officially begins from Hal Henard Gymnasium today at 1:00 p.m.
Six games will be played on day one of this year’s tournament including four of the five local Greeneville-Greene County teams, but the day will begin where the last Ladies’ Classic ended and that’s with the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats.
While Jada Guinn may have graduated, the Lady Wildcats return many standouts from last year’s championship team including All-Tournament selection Bri Dunbar. Oak Ridge will begin play in this season’s tournament as the Lady Wildcats will play Cocke County.
Cocke County returns to the Ladies’ Classic for the first time since the 2014-15 season and will look to make an early impression against the defending champions. Oak Ridge and Cocke County will begin play with tip-off at 1:00 p.m.
The second game of the day will feature the West Greene Lady Buffaloes as they’ll play Dobyns-Bennett who makes the short trip from Kingsport to return to the Classic after two years away.
The Lady Buffs will look to earn a victory in their hometown tournament for the first time since 2012 while the Lady Indians will look to recreate the success they had in the Bahamas earlier this season winning five games in four days. West Greene and Dobyns-Bennett will tip-off this afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
Last year’s runner-up in the Ladies’ Classic Jefferson County returns to the tournament and they’ll match-up on day one with East Hamilton. The Lady Patriots return two All-Tournament selections from last season with MaKayla Alvey and Cayla Smith both back for their senior seasons looking to build off last year’s 2nd place finish. East Hamilton, out of Chattanooga, makes their Ladies’ Classic debut with a 6-8 record on the season. Jeff County against East Hamilton begins at 4:00 p.m. today.
Two teams out of Georgia enter this year’s tournament with plenty of attention. First, Lanier from Sugar Hill, GA will match-up with the Chuckey-Doak Lady Knights.
The season has been tough for the Chuckey-Doak Lady Knights so far, but entering the Ladies’ Classic, Chuckey-Doak is as close to full strength as they’ve been all season with players getting healthy and Earendia Davis eligible to play following sitting out a semester after transfering in last season. The Lady Longhorns of Lanier feature a mix of speed and power led by seniors Zuriyah Davis at guard and Christabel Ezumah at center. Tip-off between Lanier and Chuckey-Doak begins this evening at 5:30 p.m.
Upperman makes the trip from Baxter, Tennessee for a match-up with the Greeneville Lady Devils on day one of the classic. The Lady Bees return to the Ladies’ Classic for the first time since 2007 where they finished the tournament in 4th place.
The young Lady Devils will be playing on their home floor and look to use that “advantage” against an Upperman team that won state titles in 2017 and 2018 and is led by an outstanding shooter Torie Brooks. Greeneville and Upperman will clash tonight with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
The day one finale tonight will feature the second Georgia team as Archer from Lawrenceville, GA will meet the North Greene Lady Huskies. Archer and North Greene are similar with exciting talent all over the floor, but the majority are underclassmen.
Archer is led by juniors Maya Jackson, Cazia Nelson and Thailand Smith plus a highly touted freshman Taniya McGowan. The Lady Huskies will counter with 6’0″ sophomore center Brooklyn Anderson who’s avering a double-double this season and is surrounded by playmakers and scorers including junior Breana Savage and sophomore Shelby Davenport. The nightcap between Archer and North Greene is scheduled to begin tonight at 8:30 p.m.
Catch all the action from Hal Henard Gymnasium in Greeneville today beginning at 1:00 p.m.
