By Michael Lindsay
The Region 4-3A boys tournament championship will be a rematch of familiar foes as the Class 3A #1-ranked Upperman Bees (28-5) and #10 Cumberland County Jets (21-10) won their respective semifinal matchups over Stone Memorial and White County on Tuesday at Watertown High School.
Upperman 61 – Stone Memorial 43
The Class 3A defending state champion Upperman Bees clinched their third consecutive region championship berth on Tuesday via a 61-43 victory over Stone Memorial.
The Bees were led by reigning Class 3A Mr. Basketball Ty Cobb, who poured in 27 points and 4 assists in the win. Colton Johnson tacked on 10 points while Joseph Maynard added 9 points and 9 boards. Stone Memorial was led by 12 points from Jack Cordell and 10 by Briggs Lowe and Hunter Haney.
Upperman jumped out to an 8-2 lead early in the first quarter before Stone Memorial battled back within 2 points (14-12) late in the frame. A pair of Cobb free throws closed out the first quarter to give the Bees a 16-12 lead entering the second period.
Upperman opened the second quarter on a 13-3 run to take a 29-15 lead via a pair of Cobb free throws with 2:19 left in the period. Stone Memorial scored the last four points of the half to trail 29-18 at halftime.
The Bees controlled the second quarter as they extended their lead to 48-25 by the end of the frame before going on to win by a 61-43 final score.
Up next for the Bees is the Region 4-3A championship game against Cumberland County on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Watertown High School.
Cumberland County 54 – White County 48
The Cumberland County Jets are back in the region championship game for the first time since 2005 as second-year head coach Christian Goodwin’s squad defeated White County 54-48 in the Region 4-3A semifinals on Tuesday.
“I’m just so proud of our kids,” said Goodwin. “It’s only the sixth time in school history. I got here 22 months ago, and you could see how hungry they were. We have great leadership. Big players go and win games, and I thought they stepped up in big moments. They deserve this.
“It’s a lot of the stuff you don’t see,” added Goodwin. “This group is just so close together. In the tough moments on the floor this time of year, we don’t have the experience as a team, but we have so much experience together.”
Tristian Futrell and Shaeffer Sitton led a balanced Cumberland County attack with 11 points each followed by 10 from Asher Mifflin. Cole Sims led White County with 28 points followed by 19 from Tucker Pinion.
Cumberland County held a 15-13 lead after one quarter. A Futrell three-pointer with 4:25 remaining in the second quarter pushed the Jets’ lead to double figures at 24-13, but White County didn’t go away as the Warriors closed the first half on a 15-5 run to pull within one point by halftime at 29-28.
“They (White County) were coming off a really good win (over Macon County) and coach Eric Mitchell’s obviously had a lot of success,” said Goodwin. “We knew we were gonna get their best shot and I want to give White County a lot of credit. I thought we punched them in the mouth in the second quarter, but they hit those three straight threes and didn’t go away.”
An Andrew Dennis three-pointer midway through the third quarter gave the Jets a 42-35 lead, but White County again closed the quarter strong as they cut their deficit to one possession (42-40) entering the fourth quarter.
Back-to-back baskets from Sol Sitton and Asher Mifflin gave the Jets a 46-40 lead with 5:40 remaining in the contest.
Sims converted a layup with 5:15 left to make the score 46-42. Neither team would score over the ensuing 3:30 until Mifflin hit a free throw to put the Jets up 5 points at 47-42.
White County got no closer than 5 down the stretch as Cumberland County held on to win by a 54-48 final score.
“It was such a team effort,” said Goodwin. “We had 30 points at halftime and nobody had more than six,” said Goodwin. “We had a lot of guys step up. Tristan Futrell had one of his biggest games of the year; his job defensively on Tucker Pinion in the second half was massive. It was a total team effort.”
Up next for the Jets is the Region 4-3A championship game against Upperman on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Watertown High School.
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