GHSA Tournament of Champions: No. 1 Westlake vs. No. 8 Wheeler County

There are a lot of items on GHSA basketball fans’ wish lists. One that we may never see is a tournament of champions. All eight classification champs grouped together and seeded or even paired at random to set up a bracket to determine the overall champion of the state. With no basketball being played currently, why not breakdown some hypothetical matchups in this new series and let the fan vote determine who will advance to the next round? We will provide a preview, a thoughtful prediction and let you – the fans – decide the fate of each game. <hr /> <h3><strong>No. 1 <span style="font-size: 12pt">7A</span>Westlake (30-2) vs. No. 8 <span style="font-size: 12pt">A-Public</span>Wheeler County (31-1)</strong></h3> National powerhouse and back-to-back-to-back state champs Westlake play first-time champion Wheeler County in what looks like a lopsided game on paper. Westlake is too big, too talented and too athletic for the scrappy senior-laden Bulldogs. [player_tooltip player_id="118095" first="Raven" last="Johnson"] (15.9 ppg) and Ta’Niya Latson (16.3 ppg) compose an electrifying backcourt with ETSU-signee Carlyse Hooks as the third option (9.3 ppg). 6-foot-5 post [player_tooltip player_id="118057" first="Lydia" last="Freeman"] is heading to Georgia Southern and will be too much to handle on the glass. [player_tooltip player_id="118121" first="Brianna" last="Turnage"] at 6-foot-2, could flirt with a triple-double in this game. Wheeler County will need heroic efforts from senior guards Keonya Mincey (18.3 ppg, 5.2 apg, 3.5 spg) and Samerria Bryant (17.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.7 apg, 5.4 spg) to keep it from getting ugly. Mincey scored 23 points in Wheeler County’s 55-50 win over Central-Talbotton while Bryant added 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Bulldogs’ best chance at hanging around is limiting possessions and holding the ball for as long as possible before finding clean looks. 5-foot-11 Lela Wright (13.5 ppg, 10 rpg, 5.6 apg, 3.4 spg) will need to earn second chance opportunities and put a body on Freeman when she crashes the glass. Wheeler County has never seen a team like Westlake before as no Class A-Public team has either. If the Bulldogs pull off a miracle, it will be one of the biggest upsets in GHSA history Line: Westlake -44 <em>Vote below to decide who advances to the next round of the GHSA Tournament of Champions Voting ends on 4/9</em> https://poll.fm/10531800