NOTEBOOK: Best of West Tournament begins Monday

Some of the premier soccer teams in West Tennessee will take over the soccer fields at University School of Jackson for the annual Best of the West Tournament this coming week.

There are eight teams in this year’s tournament, and they are divided into two groups.

Group A is Jackson Christian, North Side, Dyersburg and Lexington. Group B is TCA, USJ, Chester County and Madison.

Matches begin on Monday. The final group matches are on Friday with the semifinals at 9 a.m. on Saturday and final 6 p.m.

Here are a few key matchups in group play:

1. USJ vs. Madison (Tuesday, 5 p.m.) – Madison won the tournament last year, and USJ will pose the biggest threat in group play.

2. Jackson Christian vs. North Side (Tuesday, 7 p.m.) – This match also counts as a district match.

3. Jackson Christian vs. Dyersburg (Thursday, 7 p.m.) – These two played this past Saturday in the title game of the Eagle Classic.

• Allie Henderson Memorial Games: On Tuesday night, Chester County and Lexington will continue their rivalry on the softball and baseball fields.

But the games won’t be played in Lexington or Henderson because the softball game will be played at Jackson State Community College and the baseball game will be played at the Ballpark in Jackson.

All of the proceeds will go to benefit the Allie Henderson Scholarship Fund. The softball game begins at 4:30 p.m. with the baseball game starting at 6 p.m.

• JC’s Ragan signs with Bethel: Jackson Christian forward Riley Ragan signed his letter of intent on Thursday to play college basketball at Bethel University.

Ragan averaged 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds this past season in helping the Eagles reach the Region 8-A quarterfinals.

• South Side's Reed, Rose sign with ASU Mid-South: The South Side boys basketball duo of Geordan Reed and Kamron Rose signed on Thursday to play college basketball at Arkansas State University Mid-South. ASU Mid-South is the the college that Terrikous and Terrandus Smith have attended.

Rose averaged 16.8 points and 9.0 rebounds this past season, while Reed averaged 12.6 points and 5.0 rebounds as the Hawks reached the Class AA sectionals.

• Crockett County's Pratt signs with Union: Crockett County's Elli Pratt will get the opportunity to play on the college level after she signed with Union University to play basketball.

Pratt averaged 18 points and five rebounds as she helped lead the Lady Cavaliers to the Region 7-AA semifinals.

• Middleton's Jones signs with Northeast: Middleton senior Cherelle Jones is going to have the opportunity to play on the next level as she signed to play at Northeast Community College in Mississippi on Tuesday.

Jones averaged 8.3 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game as she helped the Lady Tigers reach the Class A sectionals.

Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.