Lukas Walls' time with Webb basketball ends with TSSAA semifinals loss to Brentwood Academy

COOKEVILLE – Lukas Walls' favorite moments from his Webb basketball career came during his freshman season and his senior season. 

Both times he had the pleasure of being a part of a team that made it to the final four of the Division II-AA state tournament. 

“Making it to the state tournament and being with your team in the hotel and bus rides, I can’t explain how good a feeling it is,” Walls said. 

Both of those times, however, ended with the Spartans falling short of the ultimate goal of a championship, which they haven’t won since 2018

CATHOLIC ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP:Sydney Mains' 3-point shooting leads Catholic girls basketball to TSSAA DII-AA championship game

TOP PERFORMERS:Knoxville area high school basketball top performers during region and Divison II state tournament

CAK FALLS IN OVERTIME:Senior-laden CAK girls basketball falls to MTCS in overtime of TSSAA Division II-A semifinals

Webb’s season came to a close in a 62-57 loss to Brentwood Academy (29-3) in the semifinals Friday at Eblen Center. The Spartans trailed 56-38 with 5:19 left in the fourth quarter when teams substituted players for both teams later and the Spartans ended the evening on a 14-1 scoring run. Freshman Owen Lentz scored a team-high 18 points. 

Walls, who has signed with Samford, finished with 12 points and five rebounds for Webb (24-8). Brentwood Academy’s Tyler Tanner finished with a game-high 24 points, making 10 of 17 shots. Both Walls and Tanner are Mr. Basketball finalists. 

“They just got a lot of pieces, led by their point guard (Tyler Tanner),” said Webb coach Ricky Norris. “I love the way he plays. It’s obvious that his teammates love playing with him. He’s talented, he plays with a great pace.”

Brentwood coach Andy Blackston said that he studied copious amounts of film of the 6-foot-4 Walls to devise a plan for his team to slow him down.

“He’s a nightmare, I’m waking up in the middle of the night because I watched so much tape of him,” Blackston said. “He’s an excellent player.”

Blackston said that he wanted his team to make it difficult for Walls to catch the ball. When Webb’s star player did catch the ball, they had a player leave a weaker shooter open to help the defender guard Walls alone. 

“Very sad that it’s over, but I’m glad it happened.” Walls said. “Watching everyone grow closer together was awesome. So I'm really glad it happened. I'm really glad the young guys got to experience this because this is something you don't get to experience all the time.”

Sophomore guard Jaylen Pompey, who finished with eight points and three assists in the loss, explained how much he enjoyed playing with Walls. 

“It’s been very fun to play with him,” Pompey said. “He’s very unselfish and he’s just a very good leader. He knows how to communicate to everybody … It was just amazing to play with him.”