Gravity-defying dunks. The sweetest left-handed stroke in the state. And a monster 40-point outburst against the four-time defending state champs.

And that was just from St. George’s junior shooting guard Elliot Williams, who will no doubt have his choice of college suitors next fall once he’s played another summer for Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Miller’s high-profile AAU squad. Even if he doesn’t, and for some reason elects to go with some other summer team, Williams, at 6-3 and with the reach of a 6-7 or 6-8 post, will no doubt climb Rivals.com’s rankings, where he’s currently rated the No. 13 shooting guard prospect nationally in the Class of 2008.

But, believe it or not, this week’s D2 state tournament at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena hasn’t been all about the St. George’s star.

Glory Johnson, the state’s top girls player, turned in a head-turning 20-point, 13-rebound and four-assist performance in a relatively easy quarterfinal win over Pope John Paul. Johnson has Tennessee and UConn drooling.

Briarcrest and, well, Briarcrest (both the boys and the girls teams) fell on quarterfinal buzzer-beaters.

And MUS won just its second game in basketball state-tournament history without head coach Jerry Peters, who missed his first game in 43 years as the team’s longtime head coach because of what appear to be minor health issues that kept him behind in Memphis.

Then there was this, provided by the Brentwood Academy-Briarcrest girls quarterfinal on Thursday:

“Shut up. I’m watching the game.”

“No, you shut up.”

“Man, you can’t tell her to shut up.”

“Then tell her to shut up. I’m trying to watch a game.”

It was the heated conversation of rival parents sitting behind me. I won’t disclose the names of the father (of one team’s player) and the mother and father (of the other team’s player) involved in the argument because it was disgusting. They should be ashamed.

As much as I love prep sports, I hate when parents let the outcome of a game, a HIGH-SCHOOL game, become a force that turns them into something, or someone, they wouldn’t want their daughters and sons to emulate.

And we continue to ask, where has sportsmanship gone?