Best Defenders from Class of 2A State Tournament

The TSSAA 2A State Tournament featured some of the best hoopers TN has to offer. Within these talented players' skillsets, many of them displayed elite defense. Here are some of the standout defenders in the Class of 2A from the tourney that took place in Murfreesboro.    Senior small forward for Loretto High School, Jessie Cjhance, logged two great defensive performances at the state tournament.   In the first and second rounds, Chance had a combined steals and blocks total of seven. Six of the following were blocks.   Chance as a player does a great job at reading the movement of opposing guards. As soon as she sees them make a move to drive to the basket, she has already rotated over. When Chance compromises their drives, she does an outstanding job of contesting their next move, whether it is a pass out or shot, without fouling.     Wylie Kee is a name to know moving forward. As long as Huntingdon has her on their team, they will likely be competitive.   Although it was Kee's first time at the state tournament, she showed little to no nerves. Through three games in Huntingdon's championship run, she had 19 combined blocks and steals. Through these deflections and turnovers, Key can act as a fastbreak starter, as she has above-average dribble moves for her height. Key can guard both perimeter and interior players. Having a defensive weapon like this, many teams have no game plan to limit her abilities.   Kee's talent as a player continues on the offensive side in spades. She can score at all three levels and playmake extremely effectively. In three games, she dished out a total of 15 assists, with eight of them coming in the first round. Kee's impressive all-around game led her to be selected as the 2A state tournament MVP.     Senior [player_tooltip player_id='636392' first='Sania' last='Reaves'] and her Gibson County team had an early exit, but the senior logged an extremely impressive outing in her final high school game.   Against Gatlinburg-Pittman High School in the first round, Reaves recorded a game-high three blocks, and she also logged a steal. Reaves ' experience at the high school level came up routinely in this matchup. At nearly 6'0", Reaves gets into position to block shots a ton. The same thing applied to her getting a ton of steals in games outside of the state tournament. Her ability to see the game led her to be in positions to jump passing lanes a notable amount, which generated steals.       Senior for the York Institute, [player_tooltip player_id='1230579' first='Cali' last='Franklin'], was, without a doubt, one of the best defenders at the 2A state tournament.   Franklin, through the two games she played, logged six steals, four of which came in the semifinals. She can generate steal numbers like the following with her quickness, IQ, and her ability to never give up on a play. Franklin has no issue with diving on the floor if it means her team gets the possession. In the regular season, the following playstyle led Franklin to have four or more steals in multiple games.     [player_tooltip player_id='821721' first='Malea' last='Masingale'] and her McMinn Central team also only played one game in the state tournament. But even with the short time she was on the floor, her talent as a player was clear.   Masingale, against Loretto in the first round, had three steals. Her ability to act as a perimeter defender at nearly 6'0" makes her a high-level steal threat.   Masingale also has a dynamic offensive game. She can create off the dribble and is more than capable of taking games over with her scoring from beyond the perimeter or just by attacking the basket.

The TSSAA 2A State Tournament featured some of the best hoopers TN has to offer. Within these talented players' skillsets, many of them displayed elite defense. Here are some of the standout defenders in the Class of 2A from the tourney that took place in Murfreesboro.