'We came for one thing and left with another': Milan boys basketball falls in first TSSAA championship game in 80 years
Wynston WilcoxMURFREESBORO - Milan boys basketball coach Jason James tried to put this season into perspective as best as he could as he sat in the postgame news conference room fighting back tears.
As much as he wanted to reflect on the run made by the Bulldogs reaching the state championship game for the first time in 80 years, it was hard for him to accept second place in the TSSAA BlueCross 2A Boys state championship game on Saturday.
"We came for one thing and left with another,” said Jodarius Robinson, who was named to the 2A tournament team.
Milan (25-8) wasn’t able to recover from the lackluster start as it fell to East Nashville 72-55 at Middle Tennessee State's Murphy Center.
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The Bulldogs were down 18-5 after five turnovers and giving up 10 points off steals. Though they were able to cut into the lead late, getting as close as 12 points in the fourth quarter, East Nashville (33-3) pulled away.
Robinson played a big part in helping Milan stay in the game. Regardless of the score, his energy remained high. He continued to push the tempo, setting up his teammates and scoring. He finished with 20 points.
“They wanted to play on the last day and unfortunately,” James said, “we just weren’t our best today. But that doesn’t take anything away from what we accomplished.”
It was a season Milan can appreciate how far it came. Last season, it was a six-win team and last in the district. A year later, it finished as the No. 2 team in 2A.
"Our guys were chasing something,” James said. “They were chasing something the last month of the year. They were chasing for something and that was perfection.”
The Bulldogs have a lot to appreciate in a year that probably should have been a rebuilding year. They are ahead of schedule. James said he told his team it could play as long as it wanted to this season. And the Bulldogs wanted to be playing on the last day of the season.
"As happy as we are to have an opportunity about playing here today,” James said, “there’s still a little bit of us that says, ‘Man, I don’t know that we played our best.’ That’s what we’ll try to get to.”
Reach Wynston Wilcox at wwilcox@gannett.com and on Twitter @wynstonw__.