How Reese Beaty led York Institute to OT win vs McMinn Central in TSSAA basketball tournament

MURFREESBORO — Reese Beaty put her hands on her shorts and took a couple long breaths before attempting the game’s decisive free throws Thursday. 

Beads of sweat dripped off her forehead as she stepped to the line. 

“I was gassed if you couldn’t tell. I was bent over,” said Beaty, a York Institute junior and Clemson commitment. “But the last set, we have a thing we say, it’s called ‘Bring it on.’ And coach (Michael) Green looked at me and said, ‘Bring it on.’ I just blocked everything out and shot them.” 

Beaty’s two free throws with 20 seconds left secured York Institute’s 66-63 overtime win over McMinn Central (31-5) in their TSSAA basketball state tournament Class 2A girls quarterfinal. She finished with a game-high 33 points and six assists. 

York (27-5) will play Gibson County (36-1), a 58-49 winner over Huntingdon, in a state semifinal Friday as the program seeks its first state title since 1984. 

Beaty, a Class 2A Miss Basketball finalist, left the court with a big smile. The experience felt much better than last year’s state quarterfinal. She scored six points in the Dragonettes’ 44-42 loss to eventual champion Westview. 

“It’s a terrible feeling. Anybody’s season ending is awful,” Beaty said. “We kind of realized whether it’s today or Saturday, our season is going to be over. We’ve got three days (here) … I’m proud of us for just battling.” 

The Dragonettes rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit and trailed by as many as 12 early in the second half. 

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Beaty was 14-of-21 from the field and played all 36 minutes as the teams battled through eight ties and 11 lead changes.

“Playing a whole game is enough, but then you go into overtime and they’ve been pressing the whole time, it takes a lot out of you,” Beaty said. “I remember my freshman year when we were here, it felt like every game we were down 10 at halftime.” 

York made its third consecutive state tournament appearance without three of its five starters from 2022-23. 

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The Dragonettes won a game that was reminiscent of a state championship to reach the state semifinals for the second time since 2022, when they finished state runner-up to Westview.

“This is three straight years here. (We said) don’t sell your teamates short by not giving you max effort on the floor,” Green said. “In the second half, I think everyone left everything on the floor.”

Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.