Could FACS, Lausanne rematch fo a state title?
FACS earned a wire-to-wire 64-46 home win over Davidson Academy in the DII-A quarterfinals to clinch its second state title appearance in school history on Saturday.
"It's phenomenal. I couldn't even sleep last night to be honest," Coach Dee Wilkes said. "I knew the chance that we had, and I just couldn't sleep (because I was) watching film and making last minute preparations. I was up all night. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight."
District foes ECS and Lausanne also won their quarterfinal games, which means that the Memphis area will automatically be represented in the title game as three of the four teams in the semifinals are from the area.
"People kind of overlook our region. It's tough. There are a lot of good players. It's just an overlooked league," forward Jayden Williams said.
Depending how the brackets are reseeded, the Crusaders could potentially rematch with the Lausanne Lynx in Nashville either in the semifinals or the state title game.
FACS' tallest starter is 6-foot-4, while Lausanne has three starters 6foot-5 or taller, including 6-foot-10 center Moussa Cisse, who is the No. 8 junior prospect in the country, according to the 247Sports composite.
"Moussa is a phenomenal athlete," Wilkes said. "No one guy in high school can stop him. He's big, he's athletic, he's strong, he can do it all. He's a great player so it will take a team effort to stop him."
FACS (27-3) earned its top seed by beating Lausanne 53-51 on a half-court buzzer-beater from TJ Thomas in the district title game on Feb. 22. The Crusaders were up by eight heading into the fourth quarter and fell behind by one when Moussa Cisse hit a freethrow with seconds left on the clock. Then Thomas caught the inbounds pass, beat his defender to center court and launched the shot.
"That was crazy. Everyone came and tackled me," Thomas said. "I really couldn't breathe though. Then I got a bunch of followers on Instagram. It was crazy.”
Wilkes said that although Thomas is only a sophomore, he wants to be the one who takes the last shot and that half-court shots are a part of his daily routine before practice.
Thomas said he likes to test his range so he just "lets it fly."
"He comes in here every day. He's the first person in here because his class is right next to the gym. He comes in here and brings the ball rack out and empties the ball rack taking half-court shots," said Wilkes.
Thomas, a 6-foot-1 point guard, was able to get out in transition for layups and get into the lane and kick the ball out to open teammates in Saturday's win. He led all scorers with 15.
The Crusaders had four scorers in double-figures in Kobe Wilkes, Daniel Egbuniwe, Jayden Williams and Thomas.