Knox teams bring home two TMSAA state titles
By Steve Williams
Coach Jadarius Suber said his Vine boys were the first in Knox County to bring home a TMSAA state basketball championship trophy Saturday, and later that evening Coach Josh Ballard’s West Valley girls brought one back, too.
Suber’s Golden Bears edged Avery Trace of Cookeville 36-34 in the AA classification at Stewarts Creek High, while Ballard’s Lady Wolves toppled Woodland of Brentwood 41-30 in AAA at Rockvale High.
Vine roared past Crestview 70-31 and West Valley beat Mt. Juliet 40-27 in Friday’s semifinals.
The Bearden Bruins, coached by Ben Zorio, also advanced to the state in AAA, but lost to Richview 47-38 and Page 49-47.
Aiming at state title from the start
“This is something we’ve been looking for since August, literally since open gym when we walked in the gym and said we ain’t playing for no Knox County championship, we ain’t playing for no Sectional championship,” said Coach Suber. “We’re playing for a state tournament and a state championship and I’m just glad that my boys can finally finish off their eighth grade year correctly.”
When asked what the key to the win was, the Vine coach said: “Rebounding the basketball and actually who want it, because we went down six with like 1:50 to go. And then we got a big shot from Kaveon Stinson and then we just got some big boys that are Julius Young and really who wanted it more.”
1-2 and 3-punch for Lady Wolves
Janiya Turner scored 15 points and Reese Underwood 14 to lead West Valley to its semifinal win, but the Lady Wolves were only ahead by three at halftime. They got some breathing room by outscoring Mt. Juliet 14-6 in third quarter as Underwood and Turner continued to score.
“Our team really took advantage of our press defense and was able to turn defense into offense and not allow Mt. Juliet to get into the flow of their offense,” said Coach Ballard. “It seemed like every possession they had to spend maximum energy just to get a good shot.”
West Valley jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the title game, but Woodland, a team with very tall players, caught up at halftime (16-16).
The Lady Wolves’ Emery Cooper didn’t feel well in the semifinal game and struggled. Coach Ballard said the night before the championship game she “was very sick.”
Emery started getting her strength back by halftime of the finals and hit three 3-point shots in the third period. Without her, the game would probably have been a lot closer. But Cooper finished with 14 points to go with 10 each from Underwood and Turner.
Zorio gives Richview credit, but all those missed FTs!
Bearden led Richview by four points (12-8) at the end of the first period and by three (21-18) at halftime, but Richview captured the lead late in the fourth period. “I give Richview credit,” said Coach Ben Zorio. “We had a difficult time stopping them in the second half. Richview’s Aree Hines was as talented a point guard as we’ve seen all year long. The boys never quit but could not pull through in the end.”
Brian Tate, Jr. led the Bruins with 13 points and Dontae Campbell added 11.
As for the game against Page, Coach Zorio said: “I am so proud of the boys for the fight they showed throughout this game, overcoming major foul trouble throughout the game and a deficit throughout the first half before tying the game on Tate’s 3-point shot at the end of the half.”
The Bruins continued to battle foul trouble throughout the game, as two starters fouled out and two others played in the fourth quarter with four fouls.
Campbell made two key fourth quarter baskets, Jamerson Moore added an important fourth quarter bucket, and Paxton Tedford also hit a clutch 3 very late in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 1. The Bruins had a chance to win the game at the buzzer after a Page missed free throw, but Tedford’s long contested 3-point attempt just missed. Tedford led the team with 15 points and Isaac Kannah added 12.
Free throw shooting hurt the Bruins in both games. After shooting 79 percent from the free throw line during the three games of the Sectional tournament (including 10 of 12 in the championship game versus Seymour and 5 of 5 in the fourth quarter), the Bruins struggled from the line in both State Final Four games (shooting 7 out of 16 from the line versus Richview and 5 out of 17 from the line versus Page).
