By Noah McKay
After the Upperman Bees made consecutive state tournaments in 2020 and 2021, head coach Bobby McWilliams knew they had to rebuild, what few knew was how just three years later a freshman point guard and deep roster would change the complexion of boys basketball in Baxter.
The rebuild featured a first-round district tournament loss followed by a first-round region tournament loss, but the arrival and play of Ty Cobb along with a deep roster has propelled the Bees back towards the top of the state.
“We graduated a lot with that 2021 group,” said UHS head coach Bobby McWilliams. “We knew we had a lot of inexperience coming in the next two years and we pieced together a pretty competitive group. Then last year we were able to win the district tournament so we got a lot of experience then, during that time and that process we could see that we had some pieces coming in this sophomore and freshman class that may be able to contribute that surge to get back to the state tournament.”
Cobb has averaged just under 20 points per game as Upperman rolled to the District 7/AAA and Region 4/3A championships. The Bees have won 18 games in a row entering the state tournament.
While the depth of Upperman’s roster is shown by their eight, nine and ten-man rotations. Cobb emerged as a superstar.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty when we first got started. Obviously, we knew he would probably be our point guard of the future (in middle school), but to be able to come in and contribute immediately… we just didn’t expect him to have the impact that he’s had,” said McWilliams. “Probably due to the physicality of the sport. He’s been able to take quite a bit of punishment that in the past most freshmen and sophomores haven’t been able to. The reason it’s been able to work is probably because of the other guys around him.”
The Bees opened the season with nine players not with the team due to the UHS football team’s run to the state championship game. Upperman opened the season winning three of their first four games, with the only loss coming to 4A state tournament team Brentwood. Cobb hit two buzzer-beaters to knock off Wilson Central and Summit and the Bees got key contributions from players like Brayden Roberts, Jack Torrence and Evan Huddleston among others.
The arrival of key contributors including Bronzden Chaffin, Clayton Harris, Branson Turnbow and Kam Bush gave the Bees their full compliment of weapons.
The Bees dropped two games as they looked to build chemistry, falling to 4A Siegel and Homewood (AL). Following a lopsided fourth quarter which saw them fall to district rival Stone Memorial, the Bees caught fire. Rolling through District 7/AAA play with eight double-digit victories in nine district contests.
The roll continued through the district tournament. In the semifinals of the Region 4/3A tournament, the run appeared to be ending against Stone Memorial. Trailing by three in the final seconds, Cobb once again showed he was ready for the big stage. The freshman rose up and buried a three to tie the game. Then, following a five-second violation, Chaffin buried a free throw to secure the win.
The Bees then rolled through Lawrence County to secure a home substate game. Cobb scored 25 points as the Bees routed South Doyle and booked a trip to Murfreesboro.
“To be honest, this year was a little ahead of schedule,” said McWilliams. “We thought being able to compete at the state level would probably be next year or maybe the following year. We were able to piece together some younger guys who have came along and really matured, and our older guys have become really quality players. When you put that together it’s made for a really good basketball team.”
The Bees enter the state tournament at 29-4. They will take on Hume-Fogg (24-4) in the quarterfinal round on Thursday at 7:15 at the Murphy Center. The game will be audio streamed on the Frontier Chevy UCR Media Network.
“We’re going with the intent to win,” said McWilliams. “We feel like on any given night we can beat any team in the tournament. We know you’ll be on a quick turnaround against high-level, competitive teams if you win. We’re focused on one game at a time. It’s going to take a good team with a good effort to knock us out.”