By Michael Lindsay
Upperman and Livingston Academy will meet for a third time this season as both teams won their respective District 7-3A boys semifinal matchups on Saturday to advance to the championship game on Tuesday.
Livingston opened the evening with a 55-43 victory over #2 Stone Memorial followed by a 56-46 victory by Upperman over White County.
The Wildcats were led by 18 points from Daniel Bilbrey along with 9 off the bench by Rocco Carwile and 8 points each from Cole Hargis and Wyatt Harris. Cade Capps led Stone Memorial with 13.
“That was a great, senior-led game,” said Livingston head coach Jimmy Miller. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve been this proud of a group of guys. They’ve worked so hard and taken their lumps, but they’ve never quit.
“For us to be able to beat a team like that, we couldn’t do it pretty,” added Miller. “We had to make it ugly. These guys are ready to do anything you ask of them.”
Livingston’s district semifinal win over the Panthers comes after Stone Memorial swept their regular-season matchups. The Wildcats held junior Mr. Basketball finalist Cade Capps to a season-low 13 points.
“Brodey Coffee came out with the tallest task in the mid-state; guarding Cade Capps,” said Miller. “We all know how good Cade is. Brodey did amazing on him and never really let him get going.”
Livingston held an early 10-6 lead over Stone Memorial before a Preston Mayberry basket tied the contest at 12 early in the second quarter. The Panthers held a 19-18 lead late in the second quarter before a Bilbrey buzzer-beater gave Livingston a 20-19 advantage at halftime.
A neck-and-neck third quarter saw a Brady Lane and-one tie the contest at 30 points each with 1:02 left in the period. Livingston again scored in the final seconds of the frame as a Hargis buzzer-beater gave the Wildcats a 32-30 lead entering the fourth quarter.
A Carwile three-pointer with 6:38 remaining gave Livingston a 38-32 lead before Stone Memorial stormed back within one point (38-37) with 5:02 left. The Wildcats never surrendered their lead as back-to-back baskets gave them a 42-37 advantage with 3:33 left.
Livingston’s lead only grew as the Wildcats closed out on a 17-6 run over the final 5 minutes to win 55-43, setting up their championship matchup with #1 seed Upperman on Tuesday at 9 p.m.
“We’re playing confident right now,” said Miller. “We can’t get away from what got us where we are right now.”
Upperman took care of business in the final game of the evening as they defeated White County 56-46 behind 20 points from freshman point guard Ty Cobb.
Bronzden Chaffin and Brayden Roberts also hit double-figures with 12 and 11 points respectively in the victory.
White County held an 8-4 lead over Upperman early in the first quarter before the Bees stormed back to take a 12-8 advantage to end the opening frame.
The Warriors retook the lead in the second period as a three consecutive three-pointers by Lucas Dickerson and Nate Griffin gave White County a 20-13 advantage with 3:27 left until halftime.
Upperman again responded as the Bees reeled off an 11-2 run to end the first half capped off by a Roberts corner three-pointer at the buzzer to take a 24-22 lead into halftime.
The Bees opened the second half on an 11-0 run to take a 35-22 lead over White County with 3:05 left in the third quarter. White County cut their deficit to 6 points (37-31) with 5 minutes remaining, but Upperman closed out from there to win by a 56-46 final score.
Upperman advances to face Livingston Academy on Tuesday at 9 p.m. while White County will face Stone Memorial at 7:30.
