How Collierville’s best season since 1973 defied doubters
The mix of pride and pain was written clearly on Collierville coach Scott Robinson’s face as he searched for the words about how the Dragons’ deepest playoff run in nearly fifty years proved their doubters wrong.
He reflected on the battles they endured, the bonds they forged, and how his coaching path brought him back to Memphis where he spent the end of his college career as a graduate assistant under John Calipari.
Eventually, he found words to sum up what the special season that ended with Collierville’s 55-48 loss to Cane Ridge in the Class AAA semifinals was all about.
“It’s just the connections that you make with the kids and the passion that you want them to prove really to everybody, but themselves that they can do whatever they want in their life,” Robinson said.
Not many outside of Collierville believed the Dragons would make it to the state tournament for the first time since 1973. Fewer believed that they would find themselves one win away from playing for a state title.
But there the Dragons were Friday night, up 19 points at the half. It was an “unbelievable” start, Robinson said, but the Dragons knew that Cane Ridge’s Brandon Miller the nation’s No. 13 prospect for the Class of 2022 according to the 247Sports Composite was capable of taking over the game.
“It is and it isn’t because you know you played as well as you could defensively first half and you know they have a kid (Miller” that can go get a bucket and you know he’s going to make some shots,” Robinson said. “We knew it was going to be a long game, and they just made a run at the end that we werent able to just stop.”
Miller finished with a 23-point, 14 rebound double-double that propelled Cane Ridge into the title game. Cane Ridge will play Houston 5 p.m. Saturday
at MTSU’S Murphy Center.
Jordan Jenkins scored a team-high 16 points for Collierville. He reflected on being called up to varsity during his freshman year and seeing the Dragons grow into a contender.
“When I actually got the chance to get in and perform and show what I was able to do, coaches saw that I could do what they wanted me to do,” Jenkins said. “And then Coach Scott came and he made it even better helping us being successful at what we’re trying to do and making Collierville get a bigger name than what it is because people didn’t believe that we belonged to play with anybody at all.”
Robinson said that he hopes the players learn to take the pain from the loss and learn from it, particularly how much they cared about it and that they can channel that passion into their future endeavors.
“You try to prove yourself every day. Life is not fair,” Robinson said. “And the kids don’t realize how hard life is. I just want them to compete for what they want. At the end of the day I don’t have any kids, these guys are like my kids man and I love them.”