By Noah McKay
The Upperman Bees won the Region 4/3A championship in a 52-39 victory over Lawrence County on Thursday night in Tullahoma.
The Bees used a fast start and stifling defense to extend their winning streak to 17 games and clinch a home sectional round game.
“We were ready to play,” said UHS head coach Bobby McWilliams. “We came out of the gate and got rolling. I thought they were locked in, especially on the defensive end and rebounding.”
The Bees raced out to an early lead with five different Bees scoring the first six baskets or free throws as they took a 13-5 lead into the second quarter. Forwards Bronzden Chaffin and Clayton Harris each picked up two fouls, forcing the Bees to slow down their offense. Upperman took a 19-9 lead into halftime.
“They can get going,” said McWilliams on LCHS. “That definitely helped us being able to slow them down. They can make four or five in a row on you. We thought that was a pretty good strategy to shorten the game a little bit and protect some of our guys who got into foul trouble. Then we could play five-on-five in the second half. Can’t say enough about our bench guys tonight. We’ve said all along we’re different because of our depth.”
With the two forwards back in the Bees expanded their lead to 19 before the Region 8/AAA regular season and tournament champion Wildcats made several threes to cut the deficit to 11. Branson Turnbow answered with a triple at the end of the third quarter as the Bees led 35-21.
The Wildcats never cut the deficit to single-digits as Upperman cruised to the region championship.
Chaffin led the Bees with 14 points. Tournament MVP Ty Cobb scored 12 points with six rebounds. Kam Bush tallied nine points, all in the fourth quarter. Turnbow scored eight.
McWiliams said the balance of his squad between guards and bigs helped them win the region.
Upperman (28-4) will return home to face South Doyle (19-11) in the substate round. The Cherokees fell 68-44 to Red Bank in the Region 3/3A championship game. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on the UCR Media Network.
“You’ve got to play. Do what you do and be who you are,” said McWilliams. “This game is never an easy game. Hopefully, we’ll have a big crowd playing at Upperman.”
