By Michael Lindsay
The Upperman Bees are back in the region championship for the third time in five seasons following a come-from-behind victory over Stone Memorial in the Region 4-3A semifinals at Tullahoma on Tuesday, 47-46.
“It was unbelievable,” said Upperman head coach Bobby McWilliams. “They made some huge plays down the stretch. I’m tickled to death for my kids and I’m happy for them.”
Upperman trailed 46-43 with 10.1 seconds left before freshman point guard Ty Cobb drained a three-pointer with 4.2 seconds remaining to tie the game at 46. The Bees forced a 5-second call on the ensuing inbounds to regain possession under their own basket.
“I told him to make the decision on what he needs to do,” said McWilliams. “He just made a play. Those guys have been in a lot of competitive games, and Ty has a confidence you wish all players had.”
Cobb then found Bronzden Chaffin on an inbounds pass in the paint, who was fouled with 1.8 seconds remaining. Chaffin sank the first shot before intentionally missing the second to preserve the 47-46 victory for Upperman.
Cobb led Upperman with 15 points and 4 assists along with 8 points and 11 rebounds from Chaffin. Seniors Clayton Harris and Brayden Roberts had 10 points each for the Bees also.
Class 3A Mr. Basketball finalist Cade Capps led Stone Memorial with 20 points in the loss.
“You can’t guard him,” said McWilliams on Capps. “He’s so good offensively. It looks simple, but it’s really not. What he’s doing out there at this level is incredible.”
Upperman held a 16-10 lead at the end of the first period. Stone Memorial caught the Bees midway through the second period as a Brady Lane offensive rebound and putback gave the Panthers a 20-18 lead. Upperman battled back to take a 25-24 lead at halftime.
A pair of Capps free throws early in the third quarter gave the Panthers a 26-25 lead before Upperman reeled off a 10-2 run over the next 5 minutes to take a 35-28 lead with 1 minute left in the third quarter.
Stone Memorial scored the final basket of the third quarter and opened the fourth with 5 straight points from Capps to tie the contest at 35 with 7 minutes remaining. Upperman held off Stone Memorial until the 2:52 remaining mark when a Capps free throw gave the Panthers a 40-39 lead.
The lead changed hands four more times over the next 1:30 as Stone Memorial held a 44-43 lead with 1:22 left. Upperman ran the clock down under 20 seconds before a missed shot gave the Panthers possession again with 10.1 seconds left as Capps hit two free throws to give his team a 46-43 lead.
Upperman took over from there as Cobb’s game-tying three-pointer and Chaffin’s game-winning free throw followed to give the Bees a 47-46 victory.
Up next for Upperman is the Region 4-3A championship game against Lawrence County on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Tullahoma.
“We just wanted to get in that game regardless of who we’re playing,” said McWilliams. “That’s one of our goals and now we’re going to try to get to Murfreesboro.”
Upperman automatically qualifies for the Class 3A sectional round with a state tournament berth on the line on Monday, March 4 against either South Doyle or Red Bank, location TBD.
