The Tullahoma Wildcats battled eventual state champion Alcoa even for three quarters, but the Tornadoes controlled the final eight minutes and ended Tullahoma’s remarkable season with a 66-47 win in the semifinals of the TSSAA Boys State Tournament on Friday at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro.
The Wildcat season ends with a 28-5 record, including the regular season District 12-3A title, district and region championships, and a second consecutive trip to the state tournament. Combined with last year’s 32-5 squad, this group of Tullahoma seniors has more wins than any senior class in 104 years of THS basketball.
Jayden Thompson, who finished with 15 points, got the Wildcats on the scoreboard first with a layup, drawing a foul and sinking the free throw. The Cats built the lead to 12-7 with a Lukas Price 3-pointer, another Thompson basket, and two free throws by Sam Bobo.
But the Wildcats didn’t score for the final three minutes of the first quarter, and Alcoa led 15-14. The refocused after the first eight minutes, as Bobo hit two more free throws, Price scored abasket, and Thompson hit two free throws to give Tullahoma a 24-20 lead with 3:06 left in the half.
However, Alcoa’s Jay Kirk, named the MVP of the tournament, scored a layup at the buzzer to give the Tornadoes a 26-24 halftime lead. Fourteen turnovers in the first sixteen minutes were out of character for the Cats, but despite the mistakes, Tullahoma was still within striking distance.
Austin Tinnon, named to the all-tournament team, tied the score at 26 with 6:44 to play in the third quarter. But, again, the Cats went scoreless for the next three minutes, trailing 36-28 with 2:40 left in the third.
Tullahoma pulled within three, 36-33, on a steal by Thompson and a Price layup with 1:28 to play in the third, but from there the Tornadoes outscored the Wildcats 30-11. Alcoa went on to beat Knoxville Fulton for the state championship.
The 23 turnovers by the Wildcats were costly, but Tullahoma’s defense, which normally forces more than 20 turnovers a game, forced Alcoa into only 13, with the Tornadoes also grabbing 16 steals. The Cats shot 43% from the field and 79% from the free-throw line.
Price and Tinnon each scored nine points, with Tinnon hauling in 12 rebounds and blocking four shots before fouling out in the final minute. Alex and Sam Bobo had five points each, with Alex dishing out five assists and Sam gathering six rebounds. Jackson Knight scored the other four points along with three rebounds.
During their three years of varsity competition, Tullahoma seniors Alex and Sam Bobo, Price, Tinnon, Thompson, Andrew Carmack, and Cayden Poff won 77 games. The most games a Tullahoma boys basketball team had ever won before last year was 24 in 1977 and 23 in 1978, also their last state tournament appearance until last season.
