On March 9, 2020 the Upperman Bees punched their ticket to the state tournament with a 44-42 road win over Howard.
Three days later, the tournament was cancelled due to the emerging threat of the then-unknown COVID-19 virus. One year later, the Bees will finally get their chance to play in the glass house after they toppled Tyner 61-50 on Monday night in Chattanooga.
“We competed on a whole different level,” said UHS head coach Bobby McWilliams. “I’m super happy for our kids. They were able to play relaxed and play their game. It’s all you can ask for.”
The Bees regained the rhythm they had down the stretch of the season when they won eight straight games to knock off a 20-2 Rams squad.
“We’ve been playing well,” said McWilliams. “You go back and look over the weeks, we’ve been playing loose and confident. As a coach, that’s what you want.”
In addition to earning a trip back to the state tournament, the Bees avenged a 2018 blowout loss against Tyner in the sectional round.
Alex Rush, who scored 14 points for UHS, said the team used their unfinished business as motivation.
“We feel like we had a really good shot of winning (a state title) last year,” said Rush. “We’re just fired up because that got taken away from us.”
McWilliams echoed his forward.
“Part of that is, the kids have an opportunity to play in Murfreesboro in the state tournament,” said McWilliams. “The kids work so hard. They put so much time into it. I’m happy they get the opportunity to play and compete at that level.”
The Bees controlled the tempo of the game throughout, racing to a 5-0 lead, and never trailing after the first quarter.
The Rams cut the UHS lead to two in the second quarter, but two three pointers by Collin Gore, and a late triple by Jace McWilliams game Upperman a 32-25 lead at halftime.
Tyner used the momentum from their home crowd to help cut the deficit to five at the end of the third quarter, but Rush scored six points inside the paint to open the final frame to give the Bees a larger lead.
Senior Jace McWilliams stifled a comeback attempt by the Rams in the final minute, stealing an inbound pass and making four free throws to secure the 11-point win.
“We had to be able to control the ball,” said coach McWilliams. “We couldn’t turn it over and give them easy transition points. We did that. I’m proud of our guys for the ability to come out and play loose and do what they do best.”
Gore led the Bees in scoring with 22 points. McWilliams tallied 13. AJ Nash scored eight and Jackson Fox added four.
The Bees will begin their state tournament run on Wednesday, March 17 against Pearl Cohn (11-1) at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro.