MURFREESBORO. – There will be at least one team from Chattanooga playing for a state basketball championship on Saturday afternoon.

Grace Academy coach Jon Mattheiss is just hoping the third trip to the finals will be the charm for his Golden Eagles after they eliminated the Westwood Longhorns Friday afternoon here at MTSU’s Murphy Center.

Grace claimed the 66-53 victory and will face the Clarksville Academy Cougars, who eliminated the CSAS Patriots in Friday morning’s other semifinal, 59-50.

CSAS lost to the top-ranked team despite a 23-point effort from Alex Stallion.

“We challenged these guys to play their hardest and to have no regrets,” said Mattheiss after his Grace team improved to 24-7.

“Every game has been a different style, but we really came together as a team today. Westwood seemed to get tired in the fourth quarter as their shots were a little short.

“We got a couple of key steals from Terrell Church and Nathan Rector midway through the fourth quarter and that gave us a little breathing room.

"Once we got the lead, we were able to play the game more like we wanted instead of what they wanted.

“I thought we were relaxed and confident after having Thursday off. Now we have to figure out a way to stop the Smith brothers. I guess we’ll have to gang rebound.

"We’ve been in the finals twice and finished second both times, so maybe tomorrow will be our day,” the veteran coach added.

Westwood had a 29-28 lead at intermission, but Church scored on a drive down the lane to put the Golden Eagles up by one to start the second half.

The lead changed hands six times in that third quarter as the score was knotted at 42 with eight minutes to play.

That’s when the Golden Eagles shifted into another gear.

A 13-2 run starting the final quarter ignited Grace as everything went right for the Golden Eagles from that point on.

Church converted a three-point play to start the quarter and Rector followed with a putback at the 5:33 mark and the Golden Eagles never looked back.

Westwood coach Isiah Brown gave plenty of credit to Grace for a job well done.

“We got in a little foul trouble and had some players with less experience in there, but I’ll take the blame for that. Our hats are off to an outstanding team. They just outhustled us.

“They attacked the basket on offense and it paid off. They turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter and we didn’t handle it very well. We had a great season, but we just fell a little short today,” Brown added.

Brandon Herman, a Class A Mr. Basketball finalist, proved his worth with 29 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Grace attack.

Wilson was next with 11 points while Rector and Church both finished with nine points. Rector also grabbed nine rebounds while Wilson claimed eight.

Jarvis Sullivan was the leader for Westwood with 15 points and 10 rebounds. A.C. Nesby and Montrezes Gary were next with 11 points apiece.

Grace Academy 16 12 14 24 -- 66
Westwood 13 16 13 11 -- 53

GRACE ACADEMY (66) – Rector 9, Church 9, Wilson 11, Nelson 6, Herman 29, Schley 2, Ruebusch, Carter.

WESTWOOD (53) – Holt 3, Gary 11, Pledge 2, Sullivan 15, Thomas, Nesby 11, Gary 2, Smith 9.

3-POINT GOALS: Grace 2-10 (Wilson, Herman); Westwood 5-25 (Gary, Nesby, Smith 3).

(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)