Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week: Crestwood's Tindal leads Knights to state championship game

The Crestwood Knights will compete for their first state championship on Friday and one of the major reasons why is the play of Teon Tindal.

"Having a player like that in your program, shows you an example of why you're winning," Crestwood head coach Aric Samuel said of Tindal. "You win for reasons and he's one of the reasons we win."

The sophomore center has been electrifying this postseason and was a monster in two games last week as the Knights punched their tickets to state, nearly averaging a double-double on his way to Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week honors.

"It feels good to have the support of the community behind us," Tindal said. "Coach always told us to be ready to step up. That's all I had to do."

Samuel loved seeing a young, committed player like Tindal have the chance to shine when the lights were brightest.

"Teon has been a very dedicated player. It started in the summer," Samuel said. "He has tremendous physical gifts and we were trying to develop his ball-handling skills, his overall skills of shooting, passing, dribbling over the summer. We expect that role to increase moving into his junior year."

His excellent week started on Monday against Lower Richland. He scored 18 points and was huge on both sides of the ball. Tindal's ability to handle the ball helped the Knights beat the press from Lower Richland, as he provided an outlet for guards Justin Rembert and Corean Nelson.

"It feels good to be able to relieve some of that pressure off those guards," Tindal said. "To keep them fresh."

Defensively, he helped Crestwood hold LR standout Alex Atkinson to just 13 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

"It was a tough battle, we were going back and forth," Tindal said. "We kept going at it and we pulled through."

Not many teams have a player that can match Tindal physically, so Samuel liked that his sophomore didn't shy away from the challenge.

"We were proud of that because I think that was the first time Teon matched up with someone that might be a little taller than him," Samuel said. "They're both tall, athletic players. Teon stepped up and gave us a boost."

Tindal's play only improved as the Knights advanced to the lower state championship on Saturday. He scored 17 points and was a defensive monster with three blocked shots.

"They recorded him for three blocks, but I feel like he had like seven," Samuel said. "They got some offensive rebounds but they weren't able to capitalize because of Teon."

The sophomore had two dunks that electrified the Crestwood bench and fans on their way to a 66-62 win and a chance to face Wren for the SCHSL 3A state title on Friday at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.

"It was different, I've never really played on a court that big," Tindal said. "(The dunks) felt great with everyone cheering and yelling, teammates hyping me up."

On the week, Tindal averaged 9.5 rebounds and three blocks as Crestwood kept their season alive, but the job isn't done yet.

"We still have to win one more game until we get the glory," Tindal said. "We're locked in. We have to make sure we play defense first and lock up."