Area hoopsters receive all-district honors

By Ken Lay

 

The 2022-23 boys basketball season ended recently with one local team culminating its campaign with a state championship.

The Fulton Falcons were crowned Class 3A State Champions after defeating Haywood 82-52 in Murfreesboro on Saturday, March 18.

Area players were honored with all-district honors by their respective league coaches.

In District 5-3A: Fulton’s Tyler Lee and Denaj Kimber were named Co-Players of the Year and the Falcons’ longtime coach Jody Wright was named Coach of the Year,

Fulton’s Dexter Lewis and Marcellus Jackson joined Lee and Kimber on the all-district team.

Austin-East was represented on the team by Shane Cherry and Zeus Sanders. South-Doyle had three all-league selections, including Tai Cates, Nate Thompson and Silas Webster.

In District 3-3A: Carter’s Tyler Cate was named Coach of the Year and Dalton McNew of the Hornets was named Player of the Year.

Area first-team selections included: Nick Ellis (Carter); Connor Hilton (Seymour) and Zack Turner (Gibbs).

Second-team honorees were: Zane Brown (Carter); Chandler Wilson (Carter) and Brandon Graves (Gibbs).

In District 4-3A: Halls High’s Caleb Shaffer was named Player of the Year while the Red Devils’ Clint Sharp earned Coach of the Year honors.

Joining Shaffer on the all-district team were his teammates Gabe Holmes, Elijah Elliott and Chandler Gamble.

In District 3-4A: Karns High’s J.J. Faulkner was Player of the Year.

He was joined on the all-district team by Jaylen Roberts (Karns); Aiden Goins (Karns); Bubba Faulkner (Karns); Kevin Jack (West); Devyn Martin (West); Kaleb Walker (Powell); Bryce Jardret (Powell) and Chris Bowman (Central).

In District 4-4A: Farragut had three all-district selections in Dom VanAcker, Parker Lee and Dallas Carbaugh.

Hardin Valley Academy also had three players honored including Jack Smith, Hakeem Rashid and Ben Brophy.

Bearden was represented on the team by Nelson Karnsowaki and Tyson Pirtle.

In the Division II-A East Region District 1: The King’s Academy’s Sean Jones was named Coach of the Year and Harrison Rollins (TKA) was named Player of the Year.

Rollins, Zeke Conatser Ella Bongiorno and Damajian Simun were named to the team from the Lions.

Christian Academy of Knoxville was represented on the squad by Luke Carter, Evan Coffman and Bennett Simerlein.

Concord Christian School’s Noah Gilder was named to the team along with Berean Christian’s Connor Copeland and First Baptist Academy’s Aiden Alexander.