COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Notre Dame coach Jonathan Adams knew that his Fighting Irish basketball team would have to play a near-perfect game on Saturday to have a chance of beating the Goodpasture Christian School Cougars.
Facing a team with a record of 31-2 entering the state final in the Bluecross State Championship Division II-Class A boys division, the undersized Irish more than held their own for the first half before falling in the second half.
Goodpasture prevailed by a 59-48 to claim their second state title in the last three years at Tennessee Tech’s Hooper Eblen Center.
“We knew we had our work cut out for us long before the game started, but they were just way more physical than us and they scored a lot of second-chance points,” Adams said after his team ended a great season with its first-ever berth in the state finals with a 23-9 record.
“They did a much better job on the glass than we did, but they just gave us a whole lot of problems overall. We battled and had our chances, but we just couldn’t sustain in the second half what we did in the first.
“I thought we did a good job executing our offense in the first half, but they killed us with offensive rebounds in the second and that may have been the difference in the game.
“There are no excuses on our side as we had a really great season. I hate that it’s over, but Goodpasture has a great team and they won 32 games for a reason. We were just happy to have this opportunity," Adams added.
Goodpasture coach Adam Sonn knew that Notre Dame had a good team and could be really strong shooting the ball from outside, so he wasn’t surprised when the Irish got off to such a fast start. He was just happy that his guys didn’t panic and were able to get back in the game.
“I was well aware of what kind of team Notre Dame has, so it wasn’t a shock to me to see them get off to such a great start. The key for us at that point was to play defense, rebound and start running to turn things around,” he said following the game.
“For us to be in this game three years in a row is really special and there are a lot of teams that never get this chance. But this is a 32-minute game and we have to remember that, but we just had to lock in when Notre Dame made their last run in the fourth quarter,” Sonn added.
Notre Dame did in fact get off to a great start as they converted six of their first field-goal attempts, including three of five from long range.
D.J. Brown bagged the third 3 with 5:35 left in the first followed by a drive down the lane by Cole McCormick to give Notre Dame its biggest lead of the half at 13-7 with 4:22 left.
A layup by Gabe Flowers put the Irish up 16-13 at the first break.
The Cougars never regained the lead in the first half, but they knotted the score three times, including 27-27 at the break after Isaiah West scored on a slick drive down the lane just ahead of the buzzer.
The second half was a totally different story.
Notre Dame didn’t sink its first field goal until the final 2:27 as Goodpasture started the half on an 11-3 run for a 38-30 lead following a layup by West at the 3:35 mark.
The Irish then scored eight straight points in the next three minutes to even the score at 38 after McCormick sank the first of two free throws with 41.1 seconds left.
West sank a jumper from the line 22 seconds later to give the Cougars the 40-38 lead with one quarter remaining.
Gaas Herman sank three free throws to start the final quarter as Notre Dame had its last lead at 41-40 with 7:29 left before the Cougars took over by scoring 10 of the next 12 points for a 52-43 lead midway through the quarter and it never got much closer.
Two free throws by McCormick with 3:23 left cut Goodpasture’s lead to 52-45, but the Cougars put the game away by scoring the next seven points, a 3 from Wyatt Shope with two seconds left being the final points for the Irish.
Jayden Jones scored 19 points to lead Goodpasture while West had 16 and Jack Carter 14.
West also had eight rebounds and four steals to earn MVP honors for the tournament.
Herman and Brown both scored 13 points to lead Notre Dame while McCormick followed with 12, despite missing significant time in the second half with a leg injury.
Goodpasture had a commanding 38-18 advantage in rebounds as Carter grabbed 11, Jones nine and West eight. Brown had five to lead Notre Dame.
While West earned MVP honors, he was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Jones and Carter. Brown, Herman and McCormick were honored for Notre Dame while Clarksville Academy’s Eddie Ricks III was the other all-tournament selection.
GOODPASTURE 13 14 13 19 -- 59
NOTRE DAME 16 11 11 10 -- 48
GOODPASTURE (59) – Link, Isaiah West 16, Keary 4, Jayden Jones 19, Jack Carter 14, Moss, Collum 3, Whitman 3, Moulton, Campbell, Robinson.
NOTRE DAME (48) – K. Hammond, Houston 5, Gaas Herman 13, D.J. Brown 13, Cole McCormick 12, Kelley, B. Hammond, Daniel, Jordan, Shope 3, Roberts, Flowers 2.
3-POINT GOALS: Goodpasture 1 (Collum); Notre Dame 6 (Houston, Herman 2, Brown 2, Shope).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)