HIGH SCHOOL

Oak Ridge drops thriller to Memphis East

Troy Provost-Heron
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

MURFREESBORO — Tee Higgins sliced through the lane and got his way to the rim, extending for a contested layup that would have tied Oak Ridge High School with Memphis East at 62 in the final seconds.

Instead, the attempt caromed off the rim and into the arms of East's Chandler Lawson, effectively putting an end to a last-minute comeback attempt by the Wildcats in a 63-60 loss to the Mustangs in the semifinals of the Class AAA boys state tournament Friday at Middle Tennessee State’s Murphy Center.

“He’ll usually make those because he’s such an athlete, but we were just telling him to keep his head up and not get too down on himself,” senior Taijon Jones said.

With Oak Ridge (31-3) trailing 62-55, junior Lavert Smith, who scored a team-high 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, drilled a 3-pointer to get a rally going. Moments later, Higgins blocked a Radarious Washington layup attempt to set up an Anthony Gibson basket to cut the deficit to two with 33 seconds remaining.

“Our mentality was the game wasn’t over,” senior Tyshawn Young said. “When we got to that point (trailing by seven), we felt we had played well enough, so we knew that even though we got down, the things we had been doing had been working. We’re a tough team and we never gave up. We knew if we kept fighting we’d get back in the game.”

Oak Ridge's Levert Smith, right, drives to the basket against Memphis East during a Class AAA semifinal game Friday at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

A missed free throw on the front end of a one-and-one gave Higgins the opportunity to tie the game with his drive, but it did not fall. Lawson split a pair of free throws after being fouled, giving the Wildcats one final chance with 6.9 seconds left.

After a Memphis East (35-3) timeout, Oak Ridge drew up a play to hit Jones in the corner for a 3-point attempt, but Smith could not get out of the backcourt fast enough, forcing him to fire up a half-court heave that fell well short.

In a battle between the two top teams in the state, neither disappointed. Oak Ridge shot 46 percent (21-for-46) from the floor while only turning the ball over only six times. On the other side, Memphis East shot 55 percent (26-47).

“We weren’t coming here for any morale victories,” Oak Ridge coach Aaron Green said. “The loss hurts and I’m not happy about it, but we put ourselves in a position to win it and that’s all you can ask for against a team as talented as they are.”

Jones and Young each added 12 points for the Wildcats, while Anthony Gibson chipped in 11. Lawson scored a game-high 19 for Memphis East, while two-time Mr. Basketball winner Alex Lomax and Terrance Moss added 14.

Oak Ridge's Tajion Jones drives to the basket against Memphis East in a Class AAA semifinal game Friday in Mufreesboro.