McCallie playing today for state title
McCallie’s basketball team has a chance today to put an exclamation point on what has been one of the best seasons in program history. The Blue Tornado already have set a single-season record for wins, and now they can lay claim to the elusive gold ball.
In the program’s second appearance in a state championship game — the Tornado were runners-up in 2011 — McCallie (27-7) will face topranked and two-time defending state champion Brentwood Academy (292) today at 4 p.m. EST for the Division II-AA title at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena in Nashville.
Seven area girls’ teams will try to advance tonight to next week’s Division I state tournament in Murfreesboro, and Calhoun’s boys will play in the Georgia Class AAA semifinals. But those teams are still a good distance from the point McCallie has reached.
“I told our guys earlier this week that the only time you should ever celebrate in a tournament is when you win it,” Tornado coach John Shulman said. “I reminded them of that in the locker room after our semifinal win. We’re in uncharted waters.
“B. A. is an incredible team. It’s like a varsity against a JV, let’s be real. But our guys will show up and battle. When things are clicking and we’re playing well, we can be a good team, but we’ll need to play at our best against these guys.”
Brentwood Academy knocked McCallie out of last year’s state tournament and owns a pair of double-digit wins in the 2016-17 regular
season. The Eagles, who have beaten McCallie the last seven meetings, beat Ensworth in the Thursday’s semifinals 56-42, led by Darius Garland’s 23 points, four steals and three rebounds.
The 6- foot Garland is rated the nation’s top point guard in the class of 2018 by several recruiting services, including 247Sports. com, and has narrowed his list of schools he’ll choose from to Duke, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Indiana, Ohio State and Tennessee.
The head- to- head battle between juniors Garland and McCallie’s Jr. Clay will go a long way in determining the outcome of the state final. Clay took over in the late stages of the Blue Tornado’s semifinal win, having a hand in 15 straight points down the stretch when his team needed him most. During that run McCallie went from trailing by a point to taking a double-figure lead, and Clay finished with a tournament-high 34 points.
The Eagles lost this season to Hamilton Heights, a team McCallie beat three weeks ago.
“We’re not seen as a basketball school, but we’re trying to change that,” McCallie senior Max Shulman said.