Youthful Humboldt basketball savors TSSAA state tournament appearance despite Hampton loss

MURFREESBORO − Humboldt boys basketball coach Ron Abernathy walked into the Murphy Center media room with a smile on his face.

The Vikings had just lost to Hampton, 71-48, in a TSSAA Class 1A state tournament quarterfinal. Abernathy's demeanor made it impossible to tell.

"You know what?" he said. "No complaints."

Humboldt (19-13) surely wanted to extend its stay here beyond Wednesday, but the fact remains that the Vikings, by many measure, weren't supposed to be here at all.

Coming off an 8-19 season, Humboldt graduated two senior starters and returned a roster composed mostly of underclassmen, with no seniors and just three juniors. Abernathy chuckled Wednesday while recalling the Vikings' preseason expectations.

"Our expectations were really to get better, and I knew we would," he said. "... We are far and beyond expectations. I'm really proud of them and proud of the effort they put forth as a team and family."

Added junior center Fredrick Moore: "We just knew we were gonna give it all we had. It meant more to us than it did last year."

WATCHLIST:Here are the TSSAA boys basketball players we can't wait to see in 2023 state tournament

STEPHON SHIVERS:Meet the Humboldt football player that has an Arkansas offer at age 14, other SEC interest

Humboldt began the season 9-8 before winning 10 out of its next 14 games, finishing as District 14-1A and Region 7-1A runners-up. Abernathy thinks the Vikings face one of the toughest schedules in Tennessee, with perennial powers Middleton and Peabody also inhabiting their district. When it came time for their sectional game at Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering, they were ready, pulling out a 51-48 win.

"Just the fact that we were able to go through and get here the way we got here," Abernathy said. "It was a tough game, we finally broke through. Just getting here was tremendous."

According to Abernathy, Hampton's weakness all season long has been outside shooting. That was the case against Hampton (27-8), as the Vikings hit only one of eight 3-point attempts. In contrast, the Bulldogs shot 52% overall and 39% from deep, led by Mr. Basketball finalist Cadon Buckles' 29 points.

But Bulldogs coach Ned Smith praised Humboldt's inside duo of Moore and Stephon Shivers, and said his team tried to center their game plan around stopping them. Moore still had 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds, while Shivers, an SEC-recruited defensive lineman, scored eight points and pulled down 13 boards.

"We prepared well," Abernathy said. "Our team was ready, they were prepared. It's just a matter of it not being our time, and it’s just a matter of losing to a better team."

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.