HIGH SCHOOL

Harriman claims first state title since 1995

Troy Provost-Heron
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
Jerome Copeland, center, holds the championship trophy after Harriman defeated Clay County in the Class A championship game Saturday at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

MURFREESBORO — The final buzzer sounded on Harriman High School’s 74-73 victory over Clay County in the state tournament finals and the bench swarmed the court as the Harriman contingent in the stands roared.

Sitting behind a table adorned with their newly-won Gold Ball moments after the win, not enough time had elapsed to describe the immediate aftermath following the Blue Devils’ first state championship since 1995.

“No way to explain it,” Isaiah McClain said.

“You can’t put it into words,” Hayden Bingham added simultaneously.

“Indescribable,” John Johnson chimed in.

Joe Pace just nodded along to all three answers.

That experience, however, would not have been possible without the most important series of possessions of the season for the Blue Devils (33-6).

Trailing 70-67 with a minute, 44 seconds left, Bingham, who scored a team-high 29 points on 10-of-21 shooting, cut to the basket and made a layup to slice that deficit to one point. Following a Tyreke Key miss, McClain drove to the basket and sank a contested layup to put Harriman on top with 1:03 remaining.

“I just wanted to put it in the hoop and get the Gold Ball,” McClain said. “I felt like I could take my matchup, and credit to (Clay County) because they had the sticky on us all night, but we pulled it off.”

Johnson protected that lead on the ensuing possession, sliding in to draw a charge on Dawson Russell to set up a pair of free throws by McClain.

“John’s favorite drill is the charge drill,” said Harriman coach Shay Shannon as Johnson shook his head no. “He asks that we do it every day.”

Shortly after that trip to the charity stripe, Peyton Smith missed a 3-pointer, all but clinching the Blue Devils’ victory. Key, who scored a game-high 40 points on 15-of-25 shooting, never touched the ball during the possession.

Harriman completed that defining sequence despite all four seniors being on the court with four fouls.

“They played real intelligent there at the end,” Shannon said. “To still guard as well as we did with all of them having four fouls, it was big. Neither one of them was coming out, so I’m glad it worked out.”

Johnson, McClain and Pace added 15, 12 and 11 points, respectively to join Bingham in double-figure scoring. Both McClain and Pace overcame rough halves in which they combined for four points on 1-of-8 shooting.

Key’s 40 points pushed his tournament total to 128, setting a record for most points scored in a state tournament. The previous record was set by Obion County’s Cannon Whitby, who scored 122 points in the 1986 tournament. Russell also tallied 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting for the Bulldogs.

“I told our guys that we were not going to stop (Key),” Shannon said. “Nobody has stopped him. He’s an amazing basketball player. We tried to make it as tough as we could and he still scored 40. You have to give him a ton of credit. He played unbelievable.”

To get to the finals, Harriman first had to upset three-time defending champion Memphis Mitchell on Thursday. Following a semifinal victory over Columbia Academy on Friday, Pace said that the Blue Devils' only goal was to bring a state championship back to Harriman.

On Saturday, sitting directly behind the trophy they are bringing back home, he could say they accomplished that feat.

“I’m just overwhelmed,” Pace said. “We had a huge opportunity coming in here and we just got it done. It feels good.”

Harriman's Isaiah McClain reacts to a call during the Class A championship game on Saturday at Middle Tennessee State University.