GHSA Tournament of Champions: No. 3 Forest Park vs. No. 6 Americus-Sumter

PGH scouts feature ranked athletes from Kansas.

Kyle Sandy April 6, 2020 @ 12:42 PM

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. 3 <span style="font-size: 12pt">6A</span>Forest Park (27-6) vs. No. 6 <span style="font-size: 12pt">4A</span>Americus-Sumter (29-2)</strong></h3> It’s Americus-Sumter’s grit and toughness vs. Forest Park’s size and skill. In a battle of Panthers, Forest Park turns to Gatorade Player of the Year 6-foot-4 junior [player_tooltip player_id="118093" first="Sania" last="Feagin"] to be their ace. Feagin averaged 17 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 3 steals and 3.6 blocks and will tower over anyone Americus-Sumter deploys. Americus-Sumter uses a six-man rotation while Coach Steven Cole can go much deeper into his bench. Troy-signee 5-foot-10 [player_tooltip player_id="118062" first="Jelissa" last="Reese"] is the heartbeat of Americus-Sumter. Her tenacity on both sides of the ball will keep the smaller Panthers in it. She is a lockdown defender that willing accepts the challenge of guarding opponents’ best players and on offense, she’s an electric playmaker using her elite athleticism to slash into the lane and create for teammates. Reese had 19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals in Americus-Sumter’s 66-52 win over Troup County in the Class 4A title game. Reese’s primary running mate is [player_tooltip player_id="118075" first="Trinity" last="Jones"]. She scored a game-high 21 points against Troup and is a floor spacer that can shoot from deep. Americus-Sumter takes pride in their physical defense but will be challenged by Forest Park’s constant movement on offense. The Panthers basket cut non-stop and sliced up Glynn Academy in the Class 6A Championship 46-30. Western Carolina-signee Joi Reid is a big guard that led the team in scoring with 11 points. The J-team balances the offense and are opportunistic when it comes to scoring with Jasmine Jacob, Jayda Brown, Janaya Jones, [player_tooltip player_id="118122" first="Jasmine" last="Stevens"] and Jordynn Webster. Look for Americus-Sumter’s Brianna Pope to draw the assignment of guarding Feagin. She is a big strong physical post that can lean on Feagin when she’s in the paint. Tiffani Goodman and De’Asia Ford will have to provide scoring for Americus-Sumter to keep the game close. If it’s a one-possession game late, the situation might favor Americus. Line: Forest Park -9 <em>Vote below to decide who advances to the next round of the GHSA Tournament of Champions Voting ends on 4/11</em> https://poll.fm/10532759