By Michael Lindsay
The Jackson County Blue Devils wrapped up their historic 2024-’25 season Friday evening in the Class 2A state tournament semifinals, where they fell to current two-time defending state champion Alcoa, 59-38.
“The community has enjoyed watching this team play,” said Jackson County head coach Kevin Thomas. “They’re a great group of kids.”
Will McCrary led the Blue Devils with 16 points and 10 rebounds along with 8 points from Alex Meadows.
“At the beginning of the year, our goal was to get to state,” said McCrary. “We accomplished that, and I couldn’t be more happy about that. The support has been unreal; it’s awesome to have our community have our back like this.”
Alcoa jumped out to a 16-9 lead after one quarter before pushing out to a 29-15 lead by halftime. The Tornadoes kept control in the second half as they went on to win by a 59-38 final score.
“We kind of got out-classed,” said Thomas. “I think Alcoa is the best team we’ve played all year and hats off to them.”
The loss concludes the winningest season in Blue Devil history as they won the District 5-2A tournament, Region 3-2A tournament, Class 2A sectional and earned the first state tournament win in program history by defeating JCM on Wednesday, 66-56.
Jackson County is set to return their entire roster next season as they had no seniors on this year’s team. The Blue Devils will move from Class 2A to Class 1A next season.
“We think we’ve got a good shot at getting back here next year,” said Thomas. “That’s what our goal is and what we’ve talked about. We’re excited about the journey for next year.”
