McCallie in state semifinal
NASHVILLE — The weight of his team’s season rested squarely on Jr. Clay’s narrow shoulders. And on Tennessee prep basketball’s biggest stage, McCallie’s junior point guard proved he belongs in the conversation about the most clutch players in the state.
With his team trailing by one point late in the third quarter in a Division II-AA state tournament semifinal, the slightly built Clay became the muscle that rallied the Blue Tornado to a 62-45 win over Nashville’s Montgomery Bell Academy on Thursday afternoon at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena.
“I saw that it was getting late, and I felt like we needed a lift,” said Clay, who either scored or assisted on 15 points during a five-minute stretch that lasted into the latter minutes of the fourth quarter.
It was part of a 15-3 run, and Clay finished with a game-high 34 points.
“At this point, if you lose you’re out, so I just wanted to do whatever I could to help us get the win,” added Clay, who connected on 10 of 12 fieldgoal attempts during the game, including all three 3-point tries. “Coach called a few plays for me, and after I made a couple of shots, my confidence really went up. I kept getting open looks and making them. It was a good feeling.”
The win not only gives the
Blue Tornado (27-7) a program record for wins in a season but also advances them to the state championship game for only the second time in school history. McCallie, which was runner-up in 2011, will face top-ranked and defending state champion Brentwood Academy on Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern at Allen Arena.
Brentwood Academy (29-2) — which beat Ensworth 56-42 in Thursday’s early semifinal — knocked McCallie out of last year’s state tournament and owns a pair of double-digit wins against the Blue Tornado in the recently completed regular season. McCallie had beaten MBA by 21 points twice coming into Thursday’s semifinal.
“Tournament games are so different,” said McCallie’s Max Shulman, who had four points and five rebounds. “MBA was tough, but we’ve been so good down the stretch of games, and when you have a main option like Jr., it gives the rest of us a lot of confidence that we’re going to find a way.
“We’re not known as a basketball school, but we’re trying to change that.”
MBA (18-11) controlled the pace much of the first three quarters, building a five-point lead in the second quarter before McCallie closed the first half on a 9-2 run, led by six
“We’re not known as a basketball school, but we’re trying to change that.”
points from Clay.
The Blue Tornado built a five-point advantage early in the third, but the Big Red answered and regained the lead on Drew Weikert’s jumper with 56 seconds remaining in the quarter. But that’s when Clay took over by scoring eight straight points, then dishing out an assist before connecting on consecutive 3-pointers to put the game away.
“I didn’t like the tempo, so we decided to do something I hate and go with a zone to start the fourth quarter,” McCallie coach John Shulman said. “I’m stubborn as a coach, but we needed to do something to change things up and I think our guys responded. Once we scored, got a stop and scored again, we really started to get things rolling.
“I think fatigue may have set in on them a little bit down the stretch, because they weren’t making some of the same shots they did earlier. We’re in uncharted waters for our guys and we’ve got to figure a way to stay in it against a really tough team Saturday, but our kids will keep fighting. And Jr. is a tough dude.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.
– MAX SHULMAN