Haywood falls by 1 in Class AA semifinals

MURFREESBORO — Opportunities were many, but in the end none of them could send the Haywood boys basketball team back to the Class AA state championship on Friday.

The Tomcats lost to Maplewood 57-56 in the semifinals of the Class AA tournament.

"Anytime you lose a ballgame, I would rather us be aggressive," Haywood coach Kendall Dancy said. "We played the game aggressively. We went aggressive and came up a little bit short."

Maplewood (28-7) will play Knoxville Catholic in the championship game, while Haywood ends the season at 27-8.

Haywood was led by Shurayveun Hines with 17 points, while Dedric Boyd added 16.

"We weren't able to get our shots off like yesterday," Hines said. "Maplewood was tough, but we weren't attacking like we should."

The Tomcats tied the game 56-56 on a De'Marius Boyd layup with 10 seconds remaining.

But as Maplewood was driving the baseline to the basket, a block was called with two seconds remaining. The Panthers hit one-of-two free throws to win the game.

"They in-bounded the ball really quickly," Dancy said. "They were able to get it down the court and get the call. It could have been a block or it could have been a charge. It didn't come down to one play. We just came up a little bit short."

The game did have nine offensive fouls called in it, and Haywood was called for a charge twice in the final 1:48 as the Tomcats were trying to get back in the lead.

One charge was called at 1:46 with Haywood trailing 53-52, and one with 19 seconds remaining as the Tomcats trailed 55-54.

"It is hard to lose game this way," Dedric Boyd said. "They were aggressive, but we were aggressive too. Things just didn't go our way."

Haywood never seemed to get into the rhythm offensively that was there Thursday in the quarterfinals.

Part of that was due to Tristan Jarrett's shot being off after he got injured in the first half. Jarrett went up for a rebound midway through the second quarter and dislocated a finger on his left hand.

"Tristan getting hurt affected us offensively," Dancy said. "I am just happy he didn't break it. The way it looked, it looked like it was broken. He is a tough kid and managed to come back from that."

His shot never seemed to be the same, though, and he finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

The Tomcats played well early and held a 16-8 lead in the first quarter and a 27-22 lead at halftime.

But Maplewood's Bo Hodges is a two-time Mr. Basketball winner, and he took over the game at times, driving to the basket.

"Bo is a super player, and he showed it tonight," Dancy said. "He was aggressive. He got in foul trouble but fought through that."

Hodges finished with 26 points and eight rebounds.

But this group of seniors got to end their career with two trips to the state tournament — one with a state title and this semifinal appearance.

"It is a blessing to play with teammates one more time, play with all of my coaches and play in front of all of our fans," Dedric Boys said.

Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.