Senior shooter Klay McGowan has played in dozens of big games for the Cleveland Blue Raiders, and they have often looked to him to make a play in crucial situations. With only a few seconds left and with Cleveland up by three, they needed him to hit at least one free throw to make it a four-point game. And so McGowan took a few deep breaths, went into his routine, and took the free throw…….
……….and of course he made it.
Cookeville’s ensuing last-second three pointer was effectively nullified, and Cleveland walked away with the narrowest of playoff victories, a 55-54 win over the visiting Cavaliers in the Region 3-A quarterfinals.
After sophomore Jasen Brooks stole the show with 26 points in Cleveland’s last game, a trio of seniors were stars for coach Reggie Tucker’s squad.
“They’ve carried us all year long, and they’ve taken the sophomores under their wing in practice on and off the court,” coach Tucker said of seniors Michael Dale, McGowan, and Grant Hurst. “You saw it tonight; those guys led us down the stretch.”
Unlike many of the recent playoff games, this contest was close from the start, with the score deadlocked at 10 after the first quarter. However, Cookeville created a gap in the second because of their superior execution on offense (and perhaps inattentive defense by the Blue Raiders). After Cleveland’s Alex Hyder knocked down a corner three (neither team scored for the first minute and a half) the next six minutes were a track meet.
Cookeville’s Lucas Reeves showed himself to be a capable floor general, often finding cutters for layups after he drew the defense in on drives. He first dime found Tre Monette for an easy two, and then he collapsed the defense and dumped it off to an unguarded Windle Oakley for another layup. Perhaps Cleveland was jealous of the kind of easy looks the Cavaliers were getting because they used a similar scheme to produce their next two baskets.
On one, Jasen Brooks took it into the paint and passed down to a cutting McGowan for two points, and then Hurst did the drive and dish with Judah Sault for a remarkably similar play. But the rest of the quarter belonged to Cookeville, perhaps spurred on by a technical foul assessed to Reeves.
Guard Josh Heard could not be stopped, filling the lane on devastating fastbreaks, and knocking down a corner three later in the corner. He also put in a slick floater from several yards away, showing nice touch from far out. Heard even tried his hand at high-flying blocks, but he was whistled for goaltending as he pinned Sault’s layup against the backboard. Down 29-21 at the half, things looked pretty dire for the Blue Raiders.
But the Blue Raiders were a completely different team coming out of halftime, and McGowan and his senior partners were a huge reason for that. McGowan bombed one from deep, and then Hurst followed that up with another deep make. Hurst was more than just a one-dimensional shooter though. He brought the intensity on the defensive end and took a steal all the way from halfcourt to the cup, and then he finished the comeback with another three pointer, waving his arms and hyping up the home crowd as the score now read Cleveland 32, Cookeville 31.
“Grant Hurst, he got us going defensively on and off the ball, and you could tell our whole team was feeding off those three guys,” coach Tucker said.
Youth and experience combined when McGowan had an open look from the wing, and seemed prepared to shoot it. No one would have blamed him for taking the shot, as he has the reputation as a deadeye scorer. But instead, he dished it to his right to Brooks, who canned an even more wide-open triple from the corner.
“I hope people notice how hard Klay plays,” coach Tucker said. “He’s an unselfish player, and the way he plays is the way he practices. He goes hard every day and he doesn’t take plays off and he’s a great teammate and he’s a great winner.”
But right when Cleveland looked to be in control of the game, Cookeville’s attack revved up thanks to a trio of sweet plays from Reeves. He started by doing a James Harden-Esque step-back three from up top, and then he found a cutting teammate for a layup, and then he ended the quarter with a turnaround jumper from around the elbow area to close the quarter on a 7-0 run.
After Brooks and Hurst both converted layups, the Blue Raiders went to their signature stall. This was where having seniors really came through for coach Tucker, as McGowan, Dale, and Hurst were all adept at handling the ball while being under pressure. The home team successfully bled clock before making a shot or being fouled. But even though the Blue Raiders usually had a two-possession lead for most of the quarter, the Cavaliers always found a way to hang around.
When Hurst made a layup to make the score 50-42, 17 point scorer Colin Ayers cashed in on a stop and pop midrange jumper to make it six points, and then Heard slotted home two free throws to narrow the lead to 50-46. But then the Cavalier trap broke down after Brooks spun free, and Sault put in a layup to make it a six point game once again.
The game continued this pattern until the very end, but Cookeville never was quite able to break through and retake the lead. After the final buzzer sounded, coach Tucker took stock of what had happened.
“We’re going to get into the lab tomorrow afternoon and watch some film of this game at 2:00,” coach Tucker said. “I’m sure other teams are going to watch this film and see if they can zone us up. I was shocked we weren’t patient in the zone, and that’s something we need to fix going forward.”
Next up for Cleveland will be White County in the Region 3-3A semifinals. That game tips on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in Raider Arena.
SUMMARY
COOKEVILLE 10 19 9 16 - 54
CLEVELAND 10 11 20 14 - 55
COOKEVILLE (54) - Colin Ayers 17, Monette 2, Lucas Reeves 10, Josh Heard 12, Jackson Madewell 5, Windle Oakley 8.
CLEVELAND (55) - Dale 2, Jasen Brooks 10, Judah Sault 8, Grant Hurst 18, Hyder 3, Klay McGowan 14.
3-POINT GOALS: Cookeville 4 (Reeves 2, Madewell, Ayers); Cleveland 6 (McGowan 2, Hurst 2, Brooks, Hyder)
(You can contact the author at Joseph.a.dycus@gmail.com)