State Tournament Bound: Collierville

Collierville (25-9) is a state tournament qualifier for only the second time. In just his second year at the school, Coach Kendrick Watkins, has guided Collierville to the state tournament. The first time the school went to the state was in 1989.   Collierville defeated Henry County on Saturday 67-50 in the sectional game at Henry County. They will open the state tournament against Blackman (28-3) on Thursday at 2:15pm.    Collierville is a team of versatility, speed and toughness. Their tallest player is 6'0, however, they average over 30 rebounds a game. That means everybody goes to the board for rebounds. They have 5 players that average over 4 per game.     Scoring Guard and Leading Scorer. The Austin Peay signee missed almost a third of the season. She returned during the regional tournament and recently scored her 2,000th career point. Game conditioning did not look like a problem. As she came off the bench in the Regional Championship game and drained 5 buckets in the a row including 2 three pointers. She is averaging 14.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.       Attacking Scoring Guard. The second leading scorer came off the bench for most of the season. She became a starter when her sister, Fran, was out. In 5 of those games, she averaged 19 points a game. Jaliyah plays with a lot of passion offensively, defensively and emotionally. Her game is getting to the basket. However, she will drain a deep 3 when left open.  Defensively, she is aggressive, doesn't mind giving up her body and has the athleticism to block shots.  She is averaging 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.       Long Versatile Forward. The junior is the tallest player on the team listed at 6'0. She does whatever the team needs her to do. She can get the ball up the court as a ball handler. She can use her height to defend in the paint. She rebounds the ball as the leading rebounder with 6 per game. She can knock down the trey. She can also attack if she is guarded too tight. She is the third leading scorer with 9.6 points per game and recently scored her 1,000th career point.        Attacking Point Guard. The Dyersburg State signee leads the team in free throw attempts with 119. That's because of her relentlessness to get to the basket with her left and right hand. When she isn't attacking the basket, she is setting up her teammates. She leads the team in assists with 4.1 and averaging 9.3 points per game.       Versatile Scoring Guard/Forward. The Chattanooga State signee is another player that can play several roles for her team. She can use her strong frame to defend in the paint. She can use her size to guard on the perimeter. She also rebounds the ball as the second leading rebounder with 5.5 per game. Then, she can also get on fire as a shooter. I was at the game when she knocked down 6 straight threes. She averages 6.8 points per game.

Collierville (25-9) is a state tournament qualifier for only the second time. In just his second year at the school, Coach Kendrick Watkins, has guided Collierville to the state tournament. The first time the school went to the state was in 1989.