Petree Dishes The Goods

Shooting guard rescues Rebels; district races heat up

William Blount’s Reed Daniels, front, and Derek Delaney go for the tie up with an unidentified Rebel on Friday. Photos by Brandon Shinn

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

The hanging, scooped layup at the baseline was bananas.

Really liked that one.

It was part of nine-point burst from Maryville sophomore Andrew Petree the last two minutes of the third quarter last Friday night at William Blount.

The Governors were spoiling for the upset. Coming off a real battle in a win over Sevier County the night before, the Rebels were winded.

Petree’s tastefully done spree – which included a 3 at the third-quarter horn – got Maryville the lead back and the Rebels hung on from there for a 49-43 win.

“(Maryville) coach (Mark Eldridge) keeps telling me, ‘You can’t make it if you don’t shoot,'” Petree said.

It’s likely to be that kind of stretch run for all concerned as the high school basketball season hits the home stretch the next two weeks.

The race to next month’s district tournaments finds the Rebels and Alcoa’s Tornadoes at the top of the league standings in districts 4AAA and 4AA, respectively. Here’s a quick look at the leaders of the pack.

Rebels
Paced by senior point guard John Garrett, the Rebels are a uniquely balanced team with scoring available from all sides. Senior center Isaac Edmiston doubles as a lethal shooter from 3-point range. Shooters Tyler Vaught, Grant Wilson and Petree can each go for big numbers. The Rebels are getting increasing production from recent Tennessee football commitment Dylan Jackson on the glass. Freshman T.D. Blackman is beginning to have the same impact with the basketball Rebels as he did with the school’s championship football team.

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Tornadoes
The Tornadoes, with junior center Brenden Teeter turning more and more heads with every game, host Christian Academy of Knoxville on Thursday. After a visit to Fulton on Friday and a trip to McMinn Central on Monday, Alcoa is on the road at Catholic next Wednesday. If the Tornadoes emerge winners at Scott County tonight and against the Warriors later this week, the showdown with the Irish could prove the district decider.

A solid backcourt of Malik Love and Niko White and forwards Nick Miller and Peyton Wall provide the Tornadoes with a consistent and formidable scoring punch. Shooting guard Garrett Anderson has one of the purest strokes from 3-point range you’re ever going to see. Ignore the record at this point, a deep postseason run is very much a doable thing for these Tornadoes.

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Lady Rebels
The Lady Rebles trail Farragut’s Lady Admirals by a game in the chase for the top seed in 4AAA girls. Maryville visits Farragut tonight, the Lady Rebels looking to move into a tie for the top spot after suffering a lone district loss to the Lady Admirals earlier this season.

Junior forward Leila Bangash is an unstoppable scorer, providing the Lady Rebels with a comfort zone around which they’ve built a punishing 3-point attack. Freshman Madison Coulter, junior Kayla Tillie and senior Dee Cook have been blazing from downtown of late. Freshman guard Preston Robinette has been a real find. The Lady Rebels can legitimately go 10 deep into their bench.

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Lady Tornadoes
The Lady Tornadoes trail rival Christian Academy of Knoxville by a game in the race for the No. 1 seeding in next month’s 4AA tournament. The Lady Warriors visit Alcoa on Thursday.

Senior point guard Kayla Newman is a do-it-all performer, the Carson-Newman signee possessing the rare ability to switch from scorer to rebounder to facilitator to shutdown defender at a moment’s notice. Off guard Hannah Troutt has significantly raised her point production this season. Center Hannah Tate is one of the district’s most undervalued and underrated players. All of 5-foot-5, the way the indomitable junior rebounds and gets to the glass is amazing.

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