'Canes Shock Blackman 72-68 For First State Tournament Berth

East Hamilton trailed perennial state tournament contender Blackman for almost 31 minutes in their classic Class 3A sectional basketball game Monday night on the Hurricanes’ home floor before an estimated 1,500 fans in a 1,732-seat gymnasium.

The upstart ‘Canes had something left in their tank down the though.

Propelled by sophomore Cam Montgomery’s clutch 3 with 1:21 remaining that gave East Hamilton its first lead in the hard-fought contest, the Hurricanes outscored Blackman 5-2 down the stretch and claimed a scintillating 72-68 victory, the most significant in the program’s short eight-year history.

“We’ve got a lot of fight in us and we weren’t going anywhere,” Montgomery, who had a game-high 21 points in the Hurricanes’ region championship win against Walker Valley.

Montgomery finished with a team-high 26 points that included six of the team's 12 3-pointers. He scored a game-high 21 points in the Hurricanes’ Region 3-3A championship win against Walker Valley.

Justin Dozier and Noah Fager each scored 14 points. Fager, who drained four 3s against the Blaze, had managed just four points in his previous two games.

Blackman's Brandon Thomas consistently muscled his way to a game-high 30 points before fouling out with less than a minute to play. His last points came with 4 minutes and 9 seconds left, but the Blaze were rushing for points anyway they could get them down the stretch.

“The first thing I told the kids in the locker room was what incredible resolves they showed tonight,” Hurricanes coach Rodney English said. “I asked them to play the guy in front of them and not the legend of Blackman. I also told them that if we could get the lead, I didn’t care when it happened, the game was over. That would let those guys know we weren’t afraid of them.”

With the triumph that set off a wild celebration with players and East Hamilton’s boisterous student section, otherwise known as the Cane Crazies.

Players were hugging teammates, coaches and fellow students. English was right in there with them and Gail Chuy, the school’s principal, was hugging just about anybody she saw.

“We haven’t done any celebrating yet, but this one is worth celebrating,” said English, who is in his third season with the ‘Canes. “This was bigger than just our basketball program. This is about our school.”

The ‘Canes (25-10) can now turn their attention to competing in the state tournament at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

Blackman ends its season with a 26-5 record and Blaze coach Barry Wortman was gracious in the face of an agonizing loss.

“If I’m a parent or community member here in East Hamilton, I would be unbelievably proud of the basketball program and what coach English has been able to put together,” he said. “That was a heck of a basketball team that played with purpose and toughness. We leave here knowing this was a great high school basketball game.”

The draw for the state tournament will be made on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Murphy Center at MTSU and English and probably one other school administrator will make the drive to Murfreesboro.

At 7 p.m. the Mr. and Miss Basketball award winners will be announced. Bradley Central’s Rhyne Howard and McCallie’s JR Clay are in the running for those honors.

This has been a season of “firsts” for English’s gutty, courageous bunch of ballers who were picked to finish fourth in preseason balloting by coaches and the media.

The ‘Canes started the tournament campaign without ever having won a game beyond the regular season in seven tries. They broke that drought with a semifinal win over Bradley Central in the District 5-3A tournament before losing by 30 points to Cleveland in the title game.

East Hamilton rebounded by whipping Stone Memorial, White County and Walker Valley for the Region 3-3A crown and followed that up with Monday’s historic win by throwing water on the Blaze postseason hopes.

“This is unbelievable right now,” Dozier said. “I’m almost speechless.”

Said junior Vandrele Wilson, whose free throw gave the ‘Canes a 70-66 lead, “This is probably the best game of my life. This whole postseason we’ve had nothing but heart and that showed up tonight. We got down but kept pushing.”

Junior DaVae Hughley echoed Wilson: “You don’t have to be talented to play with heart. Coach has told us that since day one. We knew we weren’t out of this game and I knew we’d come back and give our best. It means an awful lot to all of us because this school has gone through some struggles. But tonight we’re making history and we’re waking up everybody in this city about East Hamilton basketball.”

The outcome wasn’t looking favorable for the ‘Canes in the first half as Blackman quickly built a 22-9 first-quarter lead. East Hamilton used an 11-2 run to pull within 33-30, but the Blaze scored the final four points for a 37-30 halftime advantage.

On the short end of a 41-30 score, Fager and Montgomery knocked down back-to-back 3s and that same combination accounted for two more in a 35-second span as the ‘Canes climbed to within 48-46 late in the third period.

Blackman’s lead was 57-49 going into the final quarter.

“They made 12 3s and were shooting it really well,” Wortman said. “They hit (23 of 28) from the free-throw line (that included 12 of 13 in the second period) and that’s big-time. Those kids rose to the occasion and made big buckets.”

When the 6-foot-4 Thomas made consecutive layups midway through the fourth period Blackman had a 63-57 advantage. The ‘Canes answered with a Hughley put-back and a full-court drive to the hoop by Dozier that brought new life into the green-and-white fan base at 63-61.

Blackman’s Donovan Sims, who scored 10 points, made a layup and was fouled and missed the ensuing free throw.

Fager’s 3 with 1:45 left cut the Blaze lead to 65-64. Blackman’s Bryce Williams hit the second of two free throws.

Working the ball around the perimeter, Montgomery flashed open and launched the monumental 3-pointer with a Blaze defender charging right into his grill. The ball cleared the outstretched arms of the defender and ripped the nets, sending the partisan crowd into a frenzy as the ‘Canes grabbed a 67-66 lead with 1:21 left.

“If felt really good leaving my hand,” Montgomery said. “I’m glad everyone had faith in me to shoot the ball in that situation.”

Said Dozier of the team’s guts and perseverance to hang with the Blaze, who have a 2014 state championship to their credit, “We came out here and got it done and the history we’re making is amazing.”

After Montgomery’s dramatic 3-pointer that buckled the Blaze’s knees, Hughley made two free throws with the first one rolling completely around the rim before falling though the net. Wilson added one free throw and Montgomery came back to cap the spine-chilling comeback with two free throws with 3.1 seconds left.

“We’re going to let the kids enjoy this one and I’m giving them Tuesday off,” English said. “We’ll get back to work on Wednesday. It’s hard to talk about this being our biggest win ever because we’re still playing. Give me a couple weeks and I’ll be able to give a better perspective. Right now all I can say is I’m so proud of my kids because they’re listening and doing exactly what we started working on three years ago.”

Wortman gave English and Montgomery one final tip of the hat before leaving the gym.

“Give (Montgomery) credit on that shot. That’s a sign of a well-coached team. Not only do they share it, but the right guy shoots it and the right guys pass the ball and that’s a great credit to coach English and his team.”

NOTE: Walker Valley lost 57-45 at Oakland on Monday.

LINESCORE

Blackman                              22 15 20 11 – 68

East Hamilton                       11 19 21 21 – 72

Blackman (68) – Donovan Sims 10, Nelson 2, White 5, Page 3, Williams 6, Polite, Trent Gibson 12, Brandon Thomas 30.  

East Hamilton (72) – Wilson 6, Williams 2, Cam Montgomery 26, Hughley 8, Randolph 2, Noah Fager 14, Justin Dozier 14, Wingard.

3-Point Goals – Blackman 3 (White 1, Page 1, Gibson 1), East Hamilton 12 (Montgomery 6, Fager 4, Wilson 1, Dozier 1).

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)