Weakley Girls Earn Finalist Plaques at Miss Basketball Ceremony

Miss Basketball Class 1A Finalist Gleason Lady Bulldog Alayna Anderson

Miss Basketball Class 2A Finalist Westview Lady Charger Jada Harrison

Miss Basketball Class 1A Winner McKenzie Lady Rebel Savannah Davis

BY JIM STEELE

Pressbox1@gmail.com

MURFREESBORO (March 14) - Gleason's Alayna Anderson and Westview's Jada Harrison basked in the glow of the spotlight at center Court of the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro Monday.

The two cemented their legacies to that impressive list of state player-of-the-year honorees from Weakley County. Anderson was one of three finalists for Class A girls' Miss Basketball. Harrison was recognized in Class AA.

McKenzie sophomore Savannah Davis was the Class A girls' winner. She was recently the Class A state tournament MVP, Region 6A MVP as District 11A co-MVP. The 5-9 guard averaged 18.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game for the eventual state champions. She also eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau during the state tournament.

Anderson, a 5-5 senior guard, led Gleason with 20.1 points. 4.1 assists and 4.9 steals. The Gleason Lady Bulldogs reached won the Region 7A tournament and advanced to the Class A semifinals.

Unaka's Lyndie Ramsey, a 6-0 junior guard, was the other Class A finalist, leading the Lady Rangers with nearly 26 points per game.

Harrison, a 5-8 junior guard, led Westview with 16 points and seven boards per game. She was the Class 2A tournament MVP as she led her Lady Chargers to the state championship Saturday, where they claimed the TSSAA Class 2A Championship title.

Harrison was joined by Gibson County's Madison Hart and winner Karly Weathers of Loretto.

Anderson becomes the fourth Lady Bulldog to be honored on the big stage. Kara Sanders ('96), Ashley McElhiney ('99) and Kayla Hudson ('07) won Miss Basketball honors.

Harrison is the second Miss Basketball finalist from Westview, joining Kendall Cavin (2003 Miss Basketball winner). Westview has had its share of Mr. Football winners as well. Chad Clifton ('94), Justin Harrell ('01), Rafael Hill ('12) and Ty Simpson ('21) were winners while Nick Hampton was a finalist in the mid-1990s.

Weakley County has had 11 state winners, including Greenfield's Chloé Moore-McNeil (Miss Basketball 2019-20), Dresden's Popeye Jones (Mr. Basketball 1986) and Dresser Winn (Mr. Football 2015).