MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- It was too little too late when McCallie's Josh Suddath made a 12-foot jump shot with 43 seconds left in the first quarter Thursday against Brentwood Academy at the Division II boys state basketball tournament.
Suddath's basket was the first one for McCallie, which missed its first 12 shots in the semifinal. While the third-ranked Blue Tornado struggled, second-ranked Brentwood started fast and earned a berth in Saturday's final with a 59-50 victory at Murphy Center.
With McCallie looking for its shooting touch, Brentwood took a 14-0 lead and expanded it to 18-2 after one quarter. The lead grew to 24-3 in the second quarter before McCallie senior Zach Monroe made a three-pointer. It was 28-16 at the half.
"Really, I didn't think it was our defense that bothered McCallie that much,'' Brentwood coach George Pitts said. "We just got the lead and rode it the rest of the game.''
Said McCallie coach Ken Henry, "They just killed us in the first half on the glass and we didn't shoot well. We climbed into a deep pit and couldn't get out.
"Still, I'm very proud of this team. We were picked to finish in the middle of our region. We won the region and we got to the state semifinals. I'm proud of them.''
McCallie (18-9) rallied in the third quarter behind Suddath, who finished with 32 points, and pulled within 36-31 with 2:19 left on a Suddath field goal.
Brentwood (23-9) pushed the margin back to 51-40 in the fourth quarter, but once again the Blue Tornado rallied and pulled within 51-46 on a Suddath field goal. Brentwood then sealed the victory by making 8-of-12 free throws in the last 90 seconds.
McCallie defeated Brentwood before the Christmas holidays. Pitts said the difference this time was poise.
"Really, that was the difference,'' he said. "The first time against McCallie we didn't keep our poise. We always run, rebound and guard people, but tonight we were poised.
"Sixteen of our 18 players played football so that was a difference tonight, too. We have gotten better and tonight our strength was rebounding. We guarded them when we had to and they had a poor shooting night.''
Suddath made only 3-of-10 field goals and missed all six of his three-pointers in the first half. He finished the game shooting 12-of-26 from the field and 4-of-16 from beyond the arc.
"We got some great looks early, but the ball wouldn't go in,'' Henry said. "Eventually we knocked down some, but it was too late. This team has had problems before. They were 0-for-25 from outside the paint in the second half against Bradley.
"These kids are so close to each other, but sometimes that works against us. When one struggles, we all struggle. But give Brentwood credit. They played well.''
Suddath didn't get much help from his teammates. Only Michael Connors, who had eight points, scored more than three against Brentwood.
"We had a hard, hard time guarding Suddath,'' Pitts said. "We couldn't guard him. If he had shot a better percentage, he would have scored 50.''
Said Suddath, "I didn't have my feet set early. Mentally, I was with it. And our team never let down. Eventually some shots fell.
"Two years ago, I would have thought our early shooting was a case of nerves. We came in here enjoying the opportunity and didn't overlook Brentwood. We simply didn't show up in the first quarter, we got down and that was tough on us.''
Barry Turner led Brentwood with 17 points and Tyler Griffin and Brandon Wright added eight apiece. Chris Slay and King Dunlap scored six each. Slay is the brother of Tennessee's Ron Slay.
Turner was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and made Brentwood's only three-pointer with 4:02 left in the game. The shot gave the Eagles a 49-40 lead.
"That was a huge three-pointer,'' Pitts said. "Barry has gotten better all year.''
Brentwood displayed its overall team strength by out-rebounding McCallie, 46-33.
"That was the best defense we've played the entire season,'' Wright said. "We had been struggling with our rebounding, but we got our swagger back tonight.''
Said coach Henry, "When they brought kids off the bench for the four-spot, they outweighed us by 50-to-60 pounds. Brentwood is very successful getting its athletes out for basketball. They stay in the weight room, they are great athletes and they get better as the season goes along.''
SUMMARIES
BOYS
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
McCallie.......... 2 14 16 18 - 50
Brentwood Academy 18 10 12 19 - 59
MCCALLIE (50) -- Corey Remillard 2, Josh Suddath 32, Michael Connors 8, Graeme Keith, Taylor DeVane 3, Lee Hilt, Kyle White, Joel Defoor, Hudson Harris, Noah Newman, Zach Monroe 3, Ayanga Okpokowuruk 2.
BRENTWOOD ACADEMY (50) -- Tyler Griffin 8, Joshua Bone, Chris Slay 6, Brandon Wright 8, Barry Turner 17, Michael Beasley, Mason Revelette 6, Tremayne Townsend, Brandon Albright, Matt Thompson, Bruce Little 4, Daren Mustin 4, David Holbert, Brian Ralls, King Dunlap 6.
Three-point goals -- Suddath 4, Connors, Monroe, Turner.
STATISTICS
MCCALLIE -- Field goals (17-63); Free throws (10-14); 3-point field goals (6-33); Rebounds (33-Connors 11); Assists (9-Remillard 5); Blocks (0); Turnovers (14-Connors 4); Steals (12-Suddath 3).
BRENTWOOD ACADEMY -- Field goals (23-50); Free throws (12-20); 3-point field goals (1-7); Rebounds (46-Wright 9); Assists (10-Revelette 3, Mustin 3); Turnovers (22-Slay 5).