COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a chance to make school history on Saturday afternoon.
They defeated the Webb School from Bell Buckle by a 68-62 final here at Tennessee Tech University’s Hooper Eblen Center in the first boys semifinal in the Bluecross State Championships of the Division II, Class A tournament Thursday afternoon.
The Irish had been to the semifinals on two previous occasions, losing to Peabody in 1973 before losing to Lausanne in the same round in 2003.
Nobody ever said that winning a state title in any sport was easy and Saturday’s test will be a tough one as Notre Dame faces Goodpasture, who is now 31-2 after nipping Clarksville Academy by a 48-47 final in Thursday’s final game.
But on a day when junior superstar Cole McCormick celebrated his 17th birthday and was one of three Notre Dame players in double figures, the Irish played really well and never let Webb gain any momemtum, even after the Feet – yes, that really is Webb’s nickname – took the lead for the second time midway through the third quarter.
Notre Dame coach Jonathan Adams is just happy to be part of a team that is still playing on the last day of the season.
It’s interesting that Boyd Buchanan coach Josh Templeton was one of the first people to congratulate Adams as he was headed up the steps to the post-game interview room. These two guys have become great rivals and also pretty good friends, so Templeton’s presence on Thursday wasn’t all that surprising.
“We were 9-8 at one point this season as every game has been a test, but I challenge them every day and at times I’m not very nice, so we’re just glad to get another chance to play on Saturday,” Adams began after his team improved to 23-9 for the season.
“We knew that we needed to get off to a fast start and were able to do that as we shot the ball pretty well in the first half. But we knew that Webb has a good team and would eventually make a run, which they did.
“The good news is that sophomore Gaas Herman carried us today. It seems like the bigger the game, the bigger he plays, but he was the difference maker today.
“We’ve played in some big arenas this season and that helped us today, but it’s really hard for me to put into words just how proud I am of these guys. We just want to be the best team and every member of my team stepped up today to make that happen,” he added.
Big Steven Olowoniyi, a leaping 6-8 senior, got a dunk off the opening tip to give Webb the early lead, but Ben Houston swished a 3 from the wing 15 seconds later and the Irish held the lead for the next two and a half quarters.
McCormick converted a three-point play just inside the final minute of the first quarter for a 15-10 Notre Dame lead and the difference was 15-12 at the first break.
A 3 from McCormick, followed by a drive down the lane by Kenny Hammond and a free throw from Gabe Flowers, gave Notre Dame its biggest lead of the half at 21-12 at the 6:09 mark. The difference was nine points again after D.J. Brown scored on putback with 4:14 showing before Webb scored the final three points of the half to trail by 25-19 at intermission.
Two free throws from Herman with 5:30 left in the third put the Fighting Irish up 32-24 before the Feet made a run by scoring 11 straight points, ending with a three-point play from Taveon Comage with 3:39 left for a 35-32 Webb lead.
Notre Dame then scored seven of the next nine points for a 39-37 lead following a three-point play by Brown in the final minute before Elijah Brown’s jumper from the wing at the end knotted the score at 39 with one quarter remaining.
Notre Dame’s Herman and Webb’s Justin Burrows traded 3s to start the fourth, the second one knotting the score for the last time at 42-42 with 7:25 to play.
Herman followed with a steal and fast-break layup to put the Irish up 44-42 with 6:50 left and Webb never regained the lead.
Webb got within one point twice at the end, but a 7-0 run by the Irish gave those guys their biggest lead of the game at 59-47 following the first of two free throws by Brown with 1:54 to play.
Two charity tosses by Arnett Hayes got Webb within five at 61-56 with 56 seconds left, but the Irish left no doubt as to who was going to win as they sank five of six free throws in that last minute to preserve the victory, the final two by Herman with 5.3 seconds left to provide the final six-point margin.
Herman finished with 24 points to lead Notre Dame after scoring only five in the first half. Hammond was next with 14 while McCormick added 12 and was the recipient of the Notre Dame students singing “Happy Birthday” as he was exiting the court.
Olowoniyi led the Feet with 17 points and nine rebounds. Comage was also in double figures with a dozen points while Hayes finished with 11.
Herman grabbed eight rebounds and McCormick seven as Notre Dame won the battle of the boards, 27-23.
Notre Dame’s championship game with Goodpasture is set for 1:30 central time, following the girls championship between Middle Tennessee Christian and Webb.
MTCS beat Christian Academy of Knoxville in Thursday’s first game by 63-59 in overtime while the Webb girls totally blitzed King’s Academy by a 69-21 final.
NOTRE DAME 15 10 14 29 -- 68
WEBB SCHOOL 12 7 20 23 -- 62
NOTRE DAME (68) – Kenny Hammond 14, Houston 9, Gaas Herman 24, Brown 8, Cole McCormick 12, Kelley, B. Hammond, Daniel, Flowers 1.
THE WEBB SCHOOL (62) – E. Brown 8, Howard 8, Steven Olowoniyi 17, Taveon Comage 12, Larsson, Burrows 6, Arnett Hayes 11, N. Brown, Wyatt.
3-POINT GOALS: Notre Dame 6 of 15 for 40.0 percent (K. Hammond, Houston, Herman 3, McCormick); The Webb School 6 of 13 for 46.2 percent (E. Brown 2, Howard, Comage, Burrows 2).
RECORDS: Notre Dame 23-9; The Webb School 22-12.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)