HIGH SCHOOL

Back again: Blackman boys will defend AAA title

Tom Kreager
tkreager@dnj.com

MURFREESBORO — Blackman will get a chance to defend its Class AAA boys basketball state championship.

A day after the school's girls team secured a chance to defend its state title, the boys did the same.

Third-ranked Blackman whipped Bradley Central 55-35 Tuesday night at the Furnace.

The Blaze (24-5) play Maryville (26-6) at 1:15 p.m. on March 11 at MTSU's Murphy Center in a Class AAA quarterfinals. Maryville beat Dobyns-Bennett 74-58 in its sectional Tuesday night.

The state tournament berth is the fourth consecutive for the Blaze, who are 108-16 over the past four seasons.

"This means a lot because it's just not players, it's a team win," said Blackman senior Isaiah Hart, who was the lone starter returning from last year's state championship squad. "We're really a team. We've got a good base.

"We are really a program, and our program is really good. We just bring up young guys and bring up players that play up to the Blackman pride, and play Blaze basketball."

Blackman's Isaiah Hart goes up for a shot against Bradley Central's Daniel Clark in the second half Tuesday, March 3, 2015 in Class AAA sectional at Blackman. Blackman won 55-35.

Blackman held the Bears (22-10) to one field in the first quarter to take a 14-8 lead. The Blaze, though, were just heating up.

They hit six 3-pointers in the game, including three in the second quarter as the lead swelled to 35-20.

"We knew they could shoot the ball a little bit, but they shot it a whole lot better with a hand in their face a lot of times," Bradley Central coach Chuck Clark said. "I don't know what their percentage was in the first half, but that's what just absolutely ... We tried to keep them off balance going from different zones to man.

"They found the right person, and they were all hitting in the first half."

Blackman was 14 of 25 from the field (56 percent) in the first half, including 5 of 8 from the 3-point line (63 percent).

Hart led the Blaze with 16 points. Teammate Christian DeWitt added 14 points and 10 rebounds. And Cedriontis Wilson had 13 points.

"He's strong, and he's a bull," Clark said. "I kept asking the officials to watch him because he's a physical, physical player.

"He's sneaky. If you are in a zone, he gets behind the zone and hides. Then all of a sudden he pops out where he's supposed to be and they get him the basketball."

Cole Copeland led Bradley Central with 13 points.

"We've actually attacked zones really well," Blackman coach Barry Wortman said. "Both in the mid-post and from 3, but we had two games where we shot it really poorly.

"So I think that's a false-sense of scouting on us. But I like how we are shooting it against the zone."

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

Blackman 55, Bradley Central 35

Bradley Central 8 12 6 9 – 35

Blackman 14 21 10 10 – 55

Bradley Central: Daniel Clark 3, Cole Copleland 13, Tucker Maroon 4, Bradley McCordy 7, Ty Morgan 4, Payton Parker 4.

Blackman: Cedriontis Wilson 13, Isaiah Hart 16, Christian DeWitt 14, Deonte Alley 3, Miller Armstrong 2, Jacob Nelson 5, Jaellen White 2.