McCallie Falls In D-II State Final By 74-42

Brentwood Academy Wins Third Straight Title

  • Saturday, March 4, 2017
  • John Hunt

NASHVILLE – There must be something about McCallie that brings out the best in Brentwood Academy.

At least, that seems to be the case on the basketball court.

These two teams met for the third time here Saturday afternoon at Lipcomb University’s Allen Arena with the Division II state title on the line.

As was the case the last time they played at McCallie in mid-January, this wasn’t much of a game.  But you have to understand that McCallie has a really good basketball team, perhaps the best team in Chattanooga.  Brentwood Academy is just that much better.

The Eagles set the tone almost from the opening tip, hitting 11 of 17 field goals in the first quarter, including five of seven from 3-point range.

The lead was 30-14 after the first eight minutes and it didn’t get much better as the Eagles improved to 30-2 with the 74-42 victory.

“I just can’t believe we beat them like that two times in a row,” said BA coach Hubie Smith in his post-game interview.

“I can’t say enough good things about my kids.  We’ve played the toughest schedule of anybody around and we’ve taken everybody’s best shot, but what a great way to cap off another great season.

“I knew we were ready to play long before the game started as we were totally focused from the minute I saw them this morning.  McCallie made a nice run at the start of the third quarter, but we totally dominated the next four minutes.

“We were a bit concerned about containing Junior Clay, but he was just four of 18 from the floor and only scored 11 points, so we must have done a pretty good job on him.  Defense and rebounding were the keys for us today.  They are so much bigger than us, but that didn’t seem to matter.  And I’m pretty sure we held them to their lowest point totals of the year in our three games,” Smith added.

McCallie coach John Shulman picked up two technical fouls in a 30-second span to start the fourth quarter, so he didn’t get to watch the final six minutes, but it really didn’t matter as nothing he said of did made much difference.

“We needed to play a perfect game today to have a chance and obviously, we didn’t,” Shulman said afte the game ended.

“We knew we needed to get off to a great start and we didn’t.  Down 10 points to start the game certainly didn’t help, but we won a school-record 27 games and we finished as the state runner-up.  How can I not be proud of that?

“Darius Garland is a big-time player and he steps up when the lights come on.  He was certainly a difference-maker for them, but it was all about matchups and we just didn’t match up well with them,” Shulman concluded.

Garland had half of his team’s 30 points in the first quarter and 19 for the half.  He ended the game with 30 points, seven rebounds and four assists and was a natural choice for tournament MVP.

The Eagles had a 47-24 lead at intermission before McCallie came out for its best run of the game as the Blue Tornado scored the first 10 points of the third quarter and trailed by only 47-34 with 4:24 to play.

Just as quickly, the Eagles finished the quarter on a 10-0 run of their own and the difference was still 23 points at 57-34 when the fourth quarter began.

McCallie’s Jorden Starling, who suffered a broken nose in the second half, sank two free throws to start the fourth quarter to trim the difference to 57-36, but that was as close as it would get as the Eagles scored 16 of the next 18 points to turn the game into a rout.

While Garland topped his team with 30 points, Camron Johnson and Tate Pierson both finished with 13 while Jeremiah Oatsvall also was in double figures with 10.

Clay was the only McCallie player in double figures as he finished with 11.  Mac Hunt was next with nine while Starling added six points.

The Eagles also had a 34-26 edge on the boards as Garland led the way with seven for BA.  Max Shulman had six for McCallie.

Brentwood Academy finished the game shooting 53.5 percent from the field on 23 of 43 made field goals while McCallie was a frigid 23.9 percent after hitting just 11 of 46 shots from the field.

ENSWORTH WAS the girls D-II champion after posting an impressive 57-38 win over Brentwood Academy, snapping the Lady Eagles streak of three straight titles. Tournament MVP Jordyn Cambridge led the 24-4 winners with 17 points.  

BA's Sydni Harvey, who had been MVP in all three of those championship years, didn't play after suffering a separated shoulder in Thursday's semifinal win over Briarcrest.

McCALLIE  14  10  10  8  --  42

BRENTWOOD ACADEMY  30  17  10  17  --  74

McCALLIE (42) – Clay 11, Edge 4, M. Shulman, Clark 2, Hunt 9, Startling 6, Watson, Walker, Gibson 4, Hewitt, Lewis 2, Butler 2, Riddle, T. Shulman, Watkins.

BRENTWOOD ACADEMY (74) – Garland 30, Suedekum 3, Schoenwald 4, Johnson 13, Pierson 13, Lyons, Archie, Oatsvall 10, McDonald, Conklin, Mtetwa 1, Pittman, Reynolds, Carter.

3-POINT GOALS: McCallie 5-23 (Edge, Hunt 3, Gibson); Brentwood Academy 7-20 (Garland 4, Pierson, Oatsvall 2).

BOYS STATE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Thomas Carr (MBA); Jorden Starling, Junior Clay (McCallie); Camron Johnson, Jeremiah Oatsvall, Tate Pierson, MVP Darius Garland (Brentwood Academy).

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

Sports
UTC Sofbtall Hosts ETSU In Friday Doubleheader
  • 3/28/2024

The Chattanooga softball team returns to Frost Stadium for a seven-game home stand that begins Friday afternoon against East Tennessee State in Southern Conference action. The Mocs are 21-8 ... more

Covenant Men's Tennis Loses 6-3
  • 3/28/2024

The Covenant Scots looked to boost their nonconference tennis resume with a win on the road at Oglethorpe. Covenant was unable to get the job done, as it fell 3-6. Final: Covenant 3, Oglethorpe ... more

7 Football Mocs Participate In Annual Pro Day
  • 3/28/2024

The Chattanooga Mocs had a 7-man contingent go through their paces in front of NFL scouts at the annual Pro Day. It started in the Wolford Family Strength & Conditioning Center before shifting ... more