How rural Clifton lifted Frank Hughes basketball during its TSSAA state tournament run

MURFREESBORO — Frank Hughes' path to the TSSAA boys basketball state tournament was never going to be easy. Given the school's enrollment size of just over 90 students, not many associate deep playoff runs with a school so small.

But Frank Hughes isn't one for excuses and its that small-town mentality that has worked in the Lions favor as they rallied from a 12-point, first-half deficit to knock off Jellico, 77-62, in the Class 1A quarterfinals at Murphy Center.

"When I first started, I think I started coaching here six years ago, we went through some real struggles," coach Chad Love said. "But players make plays. If you don't have guys to make plays, you don't get it done. And we've had a stretch of kids from middle school to high school that has been together and played together."

Frank Hughes played its first TSSAA boys basketball state tournament game Wednesday in 40 years. Less than 45 of the school's 93 students are boys and the Lions basketball team consists of a third of those boys. Only nine boys were in the school's entire graduating class last year, and Love's basketball team finished with 24 wins before losing to Fayetteville in the 2023 sectional.

But this Lions team (25-9) will face Gordonsville at 2:15 p.m. in Friday's semifinal.

"We know we're small, but we've all been together since like the fifth grade," said junior forward Aiden Dicus who had 18 points and 15 rebounds. "Me personally, I don't hold it as an excuse, being as small as we are, for anything we can get done. I feel like we can do the same as anybody else."

The Lions are the third smallest TSSAA public school basketball team in the state, in Clifton that, according to the 2020 U.S. census has over 2,600 people.

Frank Hughes originally was a small college, but transitioned into the Wayne County public school system in the late 1920s.

"They use the prison (South Central Correctional Facility) as part of the town's population," said David Hasting, who is a teacher at Frank Hughes and calls high school basketball games for Clifton's radio station, Big Oldies Radio (100.7 FM). "It's a huge prison. Without it, I'd say there are about 600 people in Clifton."

Love would have guessed all 600 were at the school when the team climbed into buses to make the 115-mile drive to Murfreesboro on Wednesday. The send-off for Frank Hughes wasn't unusual. Love describes the school as Clifton's "heartbeat." And as a Frank Hughes graduate, it set a personal tone.

"My dad is an educator and taught at Frank Hughes his entire career," Love said. "He recently retired and my mother was there in the office. It's been a family thing for me for years. I saw them work and toil.

"When we left, there was not a business that wasn't out there represented. There wasn't a group that wasn't out there supporting us monetarily, supporting us through encouragement, signs and whatever. It felt like the whole town was pushing us to Murfreesboro."

TSSAA BRACKETSTSSAA boys basketball state tournament 2024 brackets

"There's no grocery store in Clifton," Hasting said. "It burned down (nearly 15 years ago) and when it burned down, the (owners) didn't build it back. But it's unbelievable the sense of community that they have with that school."

Hasting who does the vast majority of his radio work for Wayne County High School basketball, and was in Murfreesboro last week to watch Wayne County's girls compete in the 1A state tournament, has watched Frank Hughes overcome the odds in the TSSAA basketball playoffs.

The Lions trailed by 19 in their Region 6-1A quarterfinal win over McEwen. They were down 16 to McKenzie before pulling out a 55-54 region semifinal win and trailed Eagleville by 13 in the 1A sectional. The Lions' 12-point deficit to Jellico in the state quarterfinals was erased by the help of senior forward Alex Ronchetti, who finished with 29 points.

"Even if everything goes right for us, sometimes it still might not go right," Love said. "But we've hit a spot, here, where things have gone OK. Everybody has been going the same direction all at the same time."

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.