Ripley boys breeze to brink of first TSSAA basketball tournament championship game appearance

MURFREESBORO – Ripley boys basketball coach James Sales couldn’t sleep Wednesday night. He was nervous. He was watching game film to help calm those nerves.

Sales finally got to bed around 3 a.m. on Thursday with a 6:30 a.m. wakeup call to get his Ripley Tigers ready to roll.

“I’m not sleeping,” Sales said with a smile. “We’ve got work to do.”

Ripley has more work to do after securing a 61-41 win over Cannon County in the TSSAA Class 2A state quarterfinals at MTSU’s Murphy Center. The Tigers (29-7) will face defending state champion Alcoa in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Thursday marked the third time the Tigers have qualified for the state tournament, and the first since 2015. That season, Ripley advanced to the semifinals and lost to Fulton. In the Tigers’ first appearance back in 1982, Ripley lost in the semifinals to Kirkman.

Each of the Ripley squads that have qualified for the state tournaments have been largely different. Thursday’s game was the first time any of the players had been to Murphy Center. Sales had been in the building before, watching other teams play for state championships.

“I kept saying, ‘I’m going to be on the court coaching,’” Sales said. “So, I’m excited about it.”

The Tigers were able to hold off the butterflies until they arrived at Murphy Center on Thursday. Seeing the building for the first time was exciting, but walking to the court was even better.

“It felt good,” said Ja’Marion Whitelow, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds. “Just coming up the tunnel for the first time, getting on the court (was good).”

Whitelow and his twin brother, Ja’Marcus, are part of a three-man senior class that is setting up the program for success beyond this season. But for those three, this season is all they’ve got on the mind.

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“Just go out there, play and have fun,” Ja’Marion Whitelow said. “It’s my last year, never going to be back here. We’re just trying to get that gold ball.”

Ja’Marcus Whitelow scored 16 points and had six rebounds for the Tigers. Junior forward Makhi Maben led the Tigers with 17 points and added six rebounds.

Maben has given a massive lift to the Tigers.

“I made a really big jump since last year,” Maben said. “We’ve been working hard and it definitely paid off today.”

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Sales knows these opportunities don’t come by often. He has the Tigers understanding what it means to be here.

Most importantly, the Tigers believe.

“They’re built for this,” Sales said. “I keep telling them that you’re made for this, you’re built for this. We’re looking forward to it.”