November 16, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County High School Basketball Teams will be ready to hit the court running Tuesday and Friday night with Hall of Fame action.
Whitehouse comes to town Tuesday night, November 17 with the girls game at 6 p.m. followed by the boys showdown at DCHS. The Tigers and Lady Tigers will then travel to Pickett County on Saturday night, November 21 starting with girls play at 5 p.m. followed by the boys.
Attendance will be limited in the gym due to COVID-19.
In a WJLE Tiger Talk video interview Friday , Tiger Coach John Sanders talked about the upcoming season. (View video of Lady Tiger Coach Danny Fish in earlier post)
DCHS Tiger Basketball Coach John Sanders from dwayne page on Vimeo.
“The preparation has gone well. It was a little different for a while but the team has worked really hard in the off season and I have been proud of them. We have tried to follow all of the guidelines and do the best we can to make sure that we get to play as long as we can,” said Coach Sanders.
The Tigers are hoping to improve on last year’s 7-22 finish but will have to do it without the senior leadership of Dakota White, Dallas Cook, Michael Elswick, and Alan Munoz who have graduated.
Three seniors make up the Tiger roster this year in Luke Jenkins, Evan Jones, and Aidan Curtis.
“Luke and Evan are three year players who have played a lot the last couple of years so we are looking for them to be our anchors this year and give us a lot on both ends of the floor. Aidan is new but he brings athleticism and good size. He has a lot to learn but we are hoping he can come in and make a quick impact right away”.
“We have three juniors, Nathaniel Crook, Brayden Antoniak, and Jordan Young. Brayden and Jordan played a lot last year. We look for all three of them to play a lot this year. Jordan and Brayden will be starters and Nathaniel will come in off the bench. All three of them bring something different to the table and they will be big pieces to the puzzle,” Coach Sanders continued.
“Sophomores who we look to get playing time are Elishah Ramos who was Freshman of the Year in our district last year. He got to play a lot as a freshman so we will depend on him to get the ball up and down the floor for us as well as Jordan Young. We really look for him and Jordan to do some scoring for us and be playmakers. Robert Wheeler, another sophomore, didn’t get to play any last year due to a knee surgery he had in November so he hasn’t played since the summer of his freshman year but has made really good progress and is working hard. We are looking for big things out of him. Isaac Brown is another big sophomore. He got to play a lot of Junior Varsity last year. He is long and athletic. Both of those guys (Wheeler and Brown) have worked really hard all of the off season knowing they are going to get an opportunity to play this year so they are trying to be ready to make the most of it. Zack Birmingham is another sophomore and so is Stetson Agee. We expect them to come off the bench and get some playing time along with Conner Close, a freshman. He has had some really good practices early on and shown some signs of promise as well,” said Coach Sanders.
As for the district race, Coach Sanders said there are several contenders including Upperman.
“Upperman is projected to probably be number one again. They lost two seniors and they had one who left and went to Cookeville so they probably are not as deep as in the past but they will still be really good. They have four starters back and they will be tough. York Institute should be pretty good again. They lost three good players but they still have two good ones back from a team that won the region and went to state. Livingston Academy will be tough with Matthew Sells who is a really good scorer. Watertown lost quite a bit but they have some athletes coming back. Watertown has been near the top of the district the last three or four years since they have been in it so you can’t count them out. Cannon County lost a lot. They had a really good team last year but a lot of them graduated although Gus Davenport is coming back and he will be pretty tough. He is a long, athletic guard. Smith County, who finished 8th last year, should be better. They had a lot of young guys playing. I think they will contend in the middle as well as Macon County, who was also pretty young last year. They graduated one. It will be a tough district like it always is,” said Coach Sanders.
Although COVID-19 is still a concern, Coach Sanders said he is hopeful the season can be played out with few if any interruptions
“Our girls team has been quarantined twice. We have been fortunate not to have to quarantine our whole team yet. We have had a few players who have had to quarantine and we are missing a few right now but we are hoping we can make it through the whole season without having to miss any games. Hopefully if we do miss some we can reschedule them but its so uncertain”.
As for game night attendance, “Unfortunately attendance will have to be limited. Based on our gym size I think we are going to allow and TSSAA recommends one third capacity so we will allow about 325 to 350 people in at the max. Tickets will go on sale the day of the games but they will not be sold at the gate so get your tickets early and come support us,” Coach Sanders concluded.
The 2020-21 DCHS Basketball Schedule is as follows:
(*) denotes District 8 AA games.
(^) denotes Region 4 AA games
Game times listed start with girls game followed by boys contest
Tuesday, November 17: White House (Hall of Fame)- Home- 6 p.m.
Saturday, November 21: Pickett County (Hall of Fame)-Away- 5 p.m.
Monday, November 23: Warren County-Away- 6 p.m.
Tuesday, November 24: Red Boiling Springs- Home- 6 p.m.
Saturday, November 28: ^Grundy County-Away- 6 p.m.
Monday, November 30: ^Sequatchie County-Home- 6 p.m.
Friday, December 4: *York Institute- Away- 6 p.m.
Tuesday, December 8: *Livingston Academy- Away- 6 p.m.
Friday, December 11: *Watertown- Home- 6 p.m.
Thursday, December 17-Saturday, December 19: Sonic Shootout (boys and girls)- Sparta- TBA
Tuesday, January 5: Warren County-Home- 6 p.m.
Friday, January 8: *Cannon County-Away- 6 p.m.
Saturday, January 9: ^Sequatchie County-Away- 6 p.m.
Tuesday, January 12: *Upperman-Home- 6 p.m.
Friday, January 15: *Macon County-Away- 6 p.m.
Tuesday, January 19: *Smith County-Home- 6 p.m.
Friday, January 22: *York Institute- Home- 6 p.m.
Tuesday, January 26: *Livingston Academy- Home-6 p.m.
Friday, January 29: *Watertown- Away- 6 p.m.
Saturday, January 30: ^Grundy County-Home- 6 p.m.
Tuesday, February 2: *Cannon County-Home- 6 p.m.
Friday, February 5: *Upperman- Away- 6 p.m.
Tuesday, February 9: *Macon County- Home- 6 p.m. (Senior Night)
Thursday, February 11: *Smith County- Away- 6 p.m.
Friday, February 12: Red Boiling Springs-Away-6 p.m.
Lady Tiger Roster:
Megan Cantrell- Guard- Senior
Ellie Cripps-Guard-Senior
Hannah Willingham-Guard-Senior
Grace Griffin-Forward-Senior
Kadee Ferrell-Forward-Junior
Kennedy Agee-Guard-Junior
Summer Crook-Forward-Junior
Natalie Snipes-Guard-Junior
Madison Martin-Forward-Sophomore
Xharia Lyons-Guard-Sophomore
Ella VanVranken-Guard-Freshman
Cadee Griffith-Guard-Freshman
Ella Hendrixson-Guard-Freshman
Tess Barton-Center-Freshman
Alyssa Crook-Center-Freshman
Camryn Branin-Forward-Freshman
Ally Fuller-Forward-Freshman
Makayla Scales-Forward-Freshman
Managers: Elisabeth Seber, Jenna Wright, Zoe Cripps, and Maleah Ruch. Assistant Coaches, Maddison Parsley and Hanah Panter. Head Coach Danny Fish.
Tiger Roster:
Luke Jenkins-Senior
Aidan Curtis-Senior
Evan Jones-Senior
Jordan Young-Junior
Nathaniel Crook-Junior
Brayden Antoniak-Junior
Robert Wheeler-Sophomore
Elishah Ramos-Sophomore
Isaac Brown-Sophomore
Zack Birmingham-Sophomore
Stetson Agee-Sophomore
Conner Vance-Sophomore
Connor Paladino-Sophomore
Andrew Tramel-Sophomore
Ian Colwell-Freshman
Conner Close-Freshman
Kaleb Spears-Freshman
Alex Antoniak-Freshman
Jacob Hendrix-Freshman
Marquez Chalfant-Freshman
Managers- Aiden Whitman, Brayden Summers, Courtney London, and Summer Pedigo. Head Coach John Sanders. Assistant Coaches Logan Vance and Seth Hackett.
DCHS Basketball Cheerleaders
Presley Agee-Senior Captain
Makayla Cook-Junior Co-Captain
Evie Day-Junior
Chloe Hale-Junior
Kyleigh Hill-Junior
McKenzie Pack-Junior Co-Captain
Hannah Lohorn-Sophomore
Katherine Gassaway-Sophomore
Katie Patterson-Sophomore
Kortnee Skeen-Sophomore
Kenlee Taylor-Sophomore
Morgan Walker-Sophomore
Carlee West-Sophomore
Amelia Atnip-Sophomore
Hope Bain-Freshman
Zoi Hale-Freshman
Elaina Turner-Freshman