Catholic falls short of state title, 60-57
MURFREESBORO — Catholic High School held the top spot from the first Tennessee boys basketball AP poll to the last. It won 28 consecutive games to get to reach the state championship game in its first trip since 2006.
To say it was one of the best seasons in program history would be putting it mildly, but after falling short of its season-long goal following a 60-57 loss to Maplewood in the Class AA state tournament finals Saturday, the Fighting Irish were not looking for any moral victories.
“We started hearing that (we were one of the best teams in program history) halfway through the season, but that’s subjective,” senior Luke Smith said. “Championships are objective and we did not get that today.”
The wire-to-wire No. 1 team in the state did not finish No. 1 largely because it was never able to get comfortable. Smith, a Mr. Basketball finalist, picked up three first-half fouls and junior Brock Jancek snagged two, forcing two of Catholic’s leading scorers to battle the restraints of foul trouble.
It showed, as the Fighting Irish (31-2) only led for 13 seconds.
And yet, Catholic was never far behind.
Maplewood (29-8) snagged a 39-32 lead in the third quarter, but the Fighting Irish reeled off a 7-0 run consisting of a 3-pointer by senior Davari Reeder and layups by Jancek and senior Tony Scott to tie the game in the waning seconds of the period.
The Panthers, however, extended the lead back to six in the opening minute of the fourth, and Catholic was forced to play catch up throughout the period. Its final rally trimmed an eight-point deficit with 36 seconds remaining enough to get one final heave at overtime, but Smith’s half-court shot was well off line.
“We felt we had a chance to win because this team never quits,” Catholic coach Mike Hutchens said. “We felt like we were doing some things that we needed to do, we just had some shots that rolled out and didn’t shoot the ball tonight as well as we’ve shot it. It was a tough game.”
Jancek posted a double-double, recording 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. Reeder added 11 points for the Fighting Irish and Smith chipped in 10 after starting the game 0-for-7 from the floor.
“I picked up a charge early in the game, and I like to get to the rack before I shoot a few threes,” Smith said. “I just never found it in this tournament.”
Maplewood had four players score in double figures, with Class AA Mr. Basketball winner Bo Hodges leading the way with 16 points — 11 of which came in the second half — on 5-of-18 shooting. Hassan Littlepage added 12 and Robert Wilcox III and Bobo Hodges each scored 10 apiece.
“I’m so proud of these guys for having the consistency to be able to go poll to poll ranked No. 1 and to win as many games in a row as we had,” Hutchens said. “It’s a tough end, and it doesn’t feel good right now, but they’re going to look back on it and realize it was a historical season — one of the greatest in school history.”
