Overton beats Memphis East for region championship
Jordan Frison couldn’t stop smiling after his MVP performance against Memphis East.
Overton’s coach Shelvie Rose used whatever energy he had left from coaching the Overton boys basketball team to a 63-53 win in the Region 8-4A title over the Mustangs to jump up and down and hug his players on yet another historic milestone for the school.
The Overton fans that traveled to Houston High School both individually and on the fan bus the school put together, cheered from the end of the game until Frison was rightfully given his region tournament MVP plaque.
Thursday night was a night Overton (29-11) will remember for years.
It’s a night the Wolverines finally got over the hump to win, possibly the school’s only region title — the Wolverines’ only state tournament appearance was in 1963 and Rose couldn’t remember when the school’s last region title was.
It’s a celebration that will be shortlived with the sectional round on Monday night against Dickson County to determine if the Wolverines have can get one last win to end a 60-year drought away from the state tournament.
Overton’s region title win was a moment only Frison could have delivered.
“The feeling from my first year to now, it’s a crazy feeling,” he said.
Frison scored 32 points on the night he needed to play the best game of the season. Nearly two weeks ago, Memphis East (21-10) halted Overton’s district title hopes in the championship game on a night Frison didn’t look like himself.
He knew that couldn’t happen again. “This game, our focus was being tough and playing hard,” Frison said.
That’s why he planned on unveiling his newly purchased shoes during the region title game.
Frison was supposed to debut his
new, Ja 1’s, “Scratch” colorway to start the game, but they didn’t arrive in time. His dad made a special delivery to the locker room at halftime.
Rose saw the exchange and gave Frison one simple request: “If you gon’ put on them shoes, you better be No. 12.”
Frison answered the call.
And now, Frison and the Wolverines are exactly where they wanted to be all season.
“We put in the work and now that it’s paying off, it’s just blessings on blessings,” Frison said.
Rose is no longer surprised at what Frison accomplished each night. He has several 30-point performances and a 50-point performance this season. He’s a Mr. Basketball nominee and one of the most decorated basketball players ever at Overton High.
Frison was already planning on being in Murfreesboro during state tournament week for the Mr. and Miss Basketball awards. He and the Wolverines are one win away from making sure he doesn’t go alone.
“Going do there with my team,” Frison said. “It just means even more with them with me.”
Reach Wynston Wilcox at wwilcox@gannett.com and on Twitter @wynstonw__.