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geewiz
03-12-2007, 01:45 AM
Allen's Oakland H.S. team is playing this Thursday in the state quarterfinals vs. Powell H.S.

This was in Sunday's Tennesseean about Chaisson Allen as one of the state's top guards ...

http://preps.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 0&game_id= (http://preps.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...50&game_id=)

Midstate guards to star in boys' tournament
By JEFF LOCKRIDGE
Staff Writer



MURFREESBORO — Great guard play.

It is the common thread running through the Midstate’s three Class AAA representatives set to compete in the TSSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament this week at Middle Tennessee State.

“I don’t think it’s any coincidence that each team has a star at that position because they have the ball in their hands the majority of the game,” Clarksville Coach Ted Young said. “If you get that element in it — a teenager making good decisions in pressure ballgames — it can rally the team around him.”

That is exactly what Oakland senior Chaisson Allen, Whites Creek senior Jamie Graham and Clarksville junior Tyrone Caldwell are capable of doing. Rallying a team. Taking over a game.

In conversations about the state’s top all-around guards, Allen (20.2 points per game), Graham (19.7) and Caldwell (18.1) are part of the discussion.

All led their teams in scoring, steered their teams to 30-win seasons and have their schools three wins from their first basketball state championship.

Whites Creek (30-3) opens with Craigmont (27-7); Clarksville (31-2) gets Ridgeway (25-8); Oakland (30-3) gets Powell (25-9) in Thursday’s quarterfinal evening session.

“I guess I can create, get my shot off the dribble, and also penetrate and kick,” said Allen, a 6-foot-5 Northeastern signee who regularly creates match-up dilemmas playing the wing or point. “Iââ⠀šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ve been dreaming of coming to state every year. I’ve been watching it, wishing I were in it and having come so close with all the defeats.”

Graham, a 5-11 point guard, led Whites Creek here a year ago and was an all-tournament team selection when the Cobras reached the semifinals, losing to Hamilton. The Vanderbilt football signee often gets the box-and-one treatment from opposing defenses.

“Itââ €šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s great to have a big man, but if don’t have a point guard, then your big man might not get the ball,” Whites Creek Coach Jim Nollner said. “I think point guard is the most important position on the team. I’ve been lucky enough to have Jamie starting for four years.

“He takes care of the ball, gets it to other people, scores and guards the other team’s best guard,” Nollner said. “Itââ €šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s not just about scoring with him. He shares the ball, almost six assists a game.”

Caldwell is just now beginning to garner big-time attention. Austin Peay has been recruiting him from the start, but coaches from Mississippi State, Virginia and Clemson have taken notice.

The 6-foot point guard has Clarksville in the midst of 21 consecutive wins — thought to be the longest win streak in school history.

“Tyrone is quick as lightning,” Graham said. “I think if he and I played against each other, it would be a great game. He has a great pull-up and he can drive.

“Chaisson, I played against in AAU. And when I say he’s a beast, he’s a beast. You don’t see many 6-5 kids able to handle the rock like he can.”

Graham was accompanied by outstanding guards from Midstate teams that reached state a year ago: Siegel’s Jimmy Oden and Hunters Lane’s Jeremiah Crutcher.

A star in the backcourt seems to be the formula for a deep postseason run.

Perhaps it will also spell the end of a drought.

No Midstate boys team has won a Class AAA title since White County won back to back in 1998-99, and no Metro team has won since Pearl in 1981.

“I really think we’ve got a chance,” Oakland Coach Randy King said. “Whites Creek has what it takes, and I think Clarksville has it. The last four games we’ve played really well, at another level. That’s what it’s going to take to win it.”


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geewiz
03-18-2007, 10:45 PM
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Clarksville beats Oakland in 3OT
By STEVE HEATH
Gannett Tennessee



MURFREESBORO - Fans at Murphy Center went to a basketball game Friday and a marathon broke out.

No. 3 Clarksville knocked off No. 2 Oakland 70-63 in a triple overtime classic TSSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament Class AAA semifinal game.

Clarksville (33-2) will play Maryville, a 65-55 winner over Whites Creek, 7 p.m, today for the state championship.

“I think all the honor also goes to Oakland. What a worthy opponent to meet in the state semifinals!” Clarksville Coach Ted Young.

“We came to the state tournament with a purpose, but really you come to the state tournament with a dream, not a purpose. Whichever team lost this game was going to go down a hero, and Oakland went down in heroic fashion.”

Clarksville, celebrating its 100th anniversary, is in the championship game for only the second time. In 1964, it lost to Donelson.

Oakland (31-4) was bidding for its first trip to the championship since 1984 and hoping to get Murfreesboro’ s first championship since Central High won in 1965.

“You work hard to get to the state championship, and it’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever had in my life to get to do it,” said Clarksville senior guard Ryne Harper, who led the Wildcats with 20 points.

Oakland led 16-9 after the first quarter and was up 34-23 at the half. The lead changed hands five times in the third quarter, but Oakland emerged from that period with a 36-35 advantage; however, Clarksville took a 38-36 lead on Harper’s 3-pointer at the 7:47 mark of the final quarter, and the Wildcats did not trail after that.

However, Oakland, which fell behind by as many as 10 points (48-38) with 5:19 remaining in regulation, roared back with 6-5 senior guard Chassion Allen hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to key the comeback. His back-to-back free throws with 6.4 seconds remaining evened the game at 52-all, forcing overtime. Allen finished with a game-best 36 points.

In the first overtime, a Harper trey gave the Wildcats a 57-54 lead but Oakland tied it at 57 on a Shane Blissard 3-pointer with 1:41 to go. The Patriots got the ball back with a chance to take the lead but turned it over with 6.2 seconds to go. Harper’s 3-point attempt right before the horn was blocked by Blissard.

“Defense wins championships. We were both playing good defense, and it kept coming out even,” Blissard said. “There was a lot of emotion and it kept getting greater and greater in each overtime.”

In the second overtime, Lavonte Henderson, Shaun Merriweather and Harper helped get their team a four-point advantage, but Allen hit a 3-pointer and was fouled with 31.5 seconds to go. He added the free throw to tie the game.

“Someone penetrated and kicked it out, I just put it up and wasn’t paying attention and got knocked down,” Allen said.

“That was the best team and the best player we’ve seen all year,” said Harper of the Patriots and Allen.

Clarksville held Oakland scoreless in the final overtime, outscoring the Patriots 7-0 for the win.