Mitchell falls in quarterfinals
MURFREESBORO - The jerseys said “Mitchell.” The black-and-gold color scheme was the same.
But for the most part, the players wearing those jerseys didn’t look like a typical Mitchell basketball team. And as a result, the Tigers’ dominance of Class A basketball in Tennessee is over.
Isaiah McClain scored 18 points as Harriman upset the three-time defending state champions, 59-54, in a quarterfinal game Thursday at the Murphy Center. The Tigers — who will be moving back up to AA next season following the most recent TSSAA re-classification — end the year 27-8 and miss out on playing in a championship game for the first time since 2013, when they fell in the AA final.
“It’s frustrating but things don’t always go your way,” said Tigers coach Andre Turner. “We came up here with a purpose, something we were trying to accomplish. It’s difficult to swallow, but we’ll use this as a teaching point.” “Life goes on.” Against a Blue Devils team that showed no signs of nerves or intimidation, Mitchell played with a lack of patience that was out of character. And poor shooting certainly didn’t help matters; the Tigers went 21 of 59 from the floor (4 of 18 from the 3-point line) and missed half of their 16 free throws.
Harriman (16 of 41) didn’t shoot it much better though and was hanging on to a 41-35 lead entering the fourth quarter despite missing 9 of 10 shots leading up to the break. But as much as the Blue Devils tried to hand the game to the Tigers, Mitchell simply couldn’t grab the opportunities.
The frustration boiled over with 2:16 to go when Mitchell’s Joe Johnson was called for charging with the Tigers (27-8) trailing 51-40. A Mitchell fan — intent on registering a complaint about the officiating — ran down from the stands and made it all the way to the baseline before being intercepted by security.
Mitchell’s bench was then hit with a technical for protesting the call on Johnson. For the game, the Tigers were whistled for 27 fouls, compared with 18 for the Blue Devils.
Still though, the Tigers kept battling.
Michael Rice banked in a 3pointer with 1:06 to go that made it 56-50 before Johnson scored on the next possession to cut it to 56-52. But McClain converted a pair of free throws and Dwayne Nicholson missed a 3 with 22 seconds left that put an end on Mitchell’s hopes of being the first team from Memphis to win four straight championships.
“We had a great deal of unforced errors,” said Turner. “Turnovers, missed shots. And we weren’t patient. I tried my best to preach to the players, ‘stick with the gameplan. Run the plays with conviction.’
“But sometimes when you have guys that haven’t been under the bright lights, they try to make things happen (too quickly.)
Tomonique Marion had 13 points to lead Mitchell while Davis scored 11 before fouling out late. Joe Pace — who had words of encouragement and admiration for Davis as then final result became inevitable — added 14 for the Blue Devils (31-6).
Harriman’s victory ended a big day for East Tennessee Class A teams. Earlier, Knoxville Grace Christian knocked off Humboldt, the state’s No. 1 team and one that appeared to be on a collision course with Mitchell.
“I know some people doubted us but I knew if we stuck with our gameplan, we’d have a chance to win,” said Harriman coach Shay Shannon. “We were the better team today.”
Reach John Varlas at john.varlas@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @johnvarlas.