Oakland boys beat Blackman 43-41 in thriller

MURFREESBORO – Oakland got a signature win when it needed it the most.

The Patriots upset defending TSSAA Class AAA state champion Blackman 43-41 Friday night on the Blaze'S home floor for a must-win entering next week's semester exams.

The win came three days after falling to District 7-AAA leader Stewarts Creek (6-3, 2-0 in 7-AAA) at Oakland.

"If you go 0-2 in district to start, and you're in a hole," Oakland coach Mike Wright said. "It's big for that reason. And it's a road win, and it's Blackman.

"We're not going to hide from the fact that they have been the standard for about the last three or four years. As far as we're concerned, the championship has to go through them."

Blackman (5-2, 1-1) has won the District 7-AAA tournament the past three seasons under coach Barry Wortman. The Blaze also have been to the state tournament the past three seasons, winning the state title in March.

But three of Blackman's five starters graduated from a year ago. And former player Jauan Jennings plans on being a mid-term enroll at Tennessee to prepare for football and isn't playing this season.

"Bottom line is we graduated six seniors (in 2013) and four (in 2014) and a kid that is leaving at mid-term," Wortman said. "But this is the mark of your program — to continue to grow players. I'm really excited about the guys we're coaching.

"I really liked (Friday's) game."

Trailing 37-36 with 4:48 left, Oakland (5-3, 1-1) went on a 6-0 run. Ricky Dunnaway and Jaleen Lyons scored back-to-back buckets before teammate Jarrell Reeves connected on a turnaround jumper to push Oakland's lead to 42-37 with 3:03 left.

But Blackman center Christian DeWitt hit a 16-footer and then on a putback to trim it to 42-41 with 36 seconds left.

Oakland, though, broke Blackman's pressure and forced the Blaze to foul T.J. Steward, who hit 1-of-2 free throws with 3.2 seconds left. Dunnaway later stole the inbound to end the game.

Wilson led the Blaze with 15 points. DeWitt added 10. The guard-heavy Blaze faced a tight 2-3 zone throughout the game, forcing them to try to score from the perimeter. The Blaze shot 3 of 21 from the 3-point line.

"That's something we've been working on," said Reeves, who had a game-high 17 points. "We knew it would be a change of pace. We had seen on film that they had struggled with that."

Contact Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 or tkreager@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kreager.

Oakland 43, Blackman 41Oakland 8 15 8 12 – 43Blackman 4 11 18 8 – 41Oakland: Ricky Dunnaway 11, Cam Hughes 4, Jaleen Lyons 3, T.J. Steward 1, Jarrell Reeves 17, Cooper Baughn 3, Coby Grubbs 2, Tre Jones 2.Blackman: Cedriontis Wilson 15, Jordan Jeffries 2, Isaiah Hart 4, Christian DeWitt 10, Deonte Alley 2, Miller Armstrong 2, Jacob Nelson 2, Donovan Sims 2, David Ivy 2.

District 7-AAA Boys Standings

Friday's 7-AAA Scores

Oakland 43, Blackman 41

Stewarts Creek 61, Smyrna 47

La Vergne 60, Siegel 46

Independence 69, Riverdale 55