Tennessee: Jackson Leads White Station to Class AAA Title

MURFREESBORO - Raleigh Egypt defeated White Station 83-72 back on Nov. 22 in the second game of the year for both teams.

But Saturday night when the two Memphis foes met for the Class AAA state title, White Station turned the tables on Raleigh Egypt, 64-61, in overtime behind junior guard Joe Jackson’s game-high 35 points.

The win marks the Spartans’ fifth Class AAA state title this decade and first since 2004.

“We had heard them talking trash around town telling everyone that they owned us,” Jackson said. “This is the best stage to win the state and to beat them was even better.”

Spurred by Jackson’s 22 points at the half, White Station led 44-37 at the end of three quarters. But No. 1 Raleigh Egypt (35-3) rallied in the fourth quarter.

The Pharaohs went on 11-2 to start the second half and took a 47-46 lead with 5:25 left in the quarter.

“Raleigh has a lot of heart like everyone in Memphis and we knew they were going to come back and make a run at us,” Spartan senior center Ferrakohn Hall said.

White Station regained the lead 49-48, but Raleigh Egypt fired back with a 6-0 run to take a 54-49 lead on the No. 4 Spartans (30-7) with 2:07 left in regulation.

But with the heart of a champion, White Station came back to tie the game to send the game into overtime as Andre Hollins hit a layup to tie it at 56.

The overtime was all White Station and Jackson as the Spartans outscored the Pharaohs 8-5. Jackson scored seven points on 5-of-6 from the line.

Mr. Basketball - Drew Kelly, a Miami-Ohio signee from Centennial high school. Kelly averaged 31.7 points per game and captured the honor over Jackson and Siegel’s Kerry Hammonds.

All-Tournament Team - Joe Jackson, White Station (MVP); Andre Hollins, White Station; Ferrakohn Hall, White Station; Rashad Harris, Raleigh Egypt; Ronald Brown, Raleigh Egypt; Anthony Jones, Raleigh Egypt; Telvin James, Northeast; Jeremy Purvis, Northeast; David Ware, Walker Valley; Brice Sharp, Walker Valley.

Class AA: Knoxville Fulton 56, Booker T. Washington 55

Knoxville Fulton almost blew a chance to repeat as Class AA state champions.

Almost.

Leading 41-21 at the start of the fourth quarter, Fulton saw Booker T. Washington bring on a full-court press that forced the Falcons into mistake after mistake.

The No. 7 Warriors (29-3) outscored No. 3 Fulton 29-10 in the last 5:45 of the game as the Falcons turned the ball over 10 times, leading to easy buckets for BTW.

Tournament MVP Jalen Steele had a game-high 22 points and hit 3-of-4 free throws in the last 13 seconds to give Fulton a 56-52 lead.

Larry McGaughey banked a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to cut the lead to 56-55, but Courtland Styles inbounded the ball deep enough down court that BTW couldn’t get a shot off.

BTW outscored Fulton 34-15 in the fourth quarter as McGaughey scored 20 of his team-high 22 points in the second half.

Steele keyed an 18-5 run in the third quarter scoring 12 points on three 3-pointers that helped stake the Falcons to a 39-17 lead.

Fulton (30-6) got a good offensive effort from Knoxville Central transfer Styles who scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, and grabbed nine rebounds for the Falcons.

Fulton also made history by becoming the first Knoxville team to repeat as champions.

“To do something like win it back-to-back, to my knowledge, has never been done in the city of Knoxville," said coach Jody Wright. "That makes it pretty special."

Mr. Basketball - John Jenkins, a Vanderbilt signee from Station Camp, led the nation in scoring at 42.6 points per game. Jenkins won his second consecutive Mr. Basketball over Livingston Academy’s Chase Dunn and Jackson North Side’s Casey Prather.

All-Tournament Team - Jalen Steele, Fulton (MVP); Courtland Styles, Fulton; James Gallman, Fulton; Robert Boyd, Fulton; Larry McGaughey, BTW; Douglas Rosser, BTW; Martavious Nuby, BTW; Lester Wilson, Carter; Ricky Tisdale, Bolivar; Fred Sturdivant, Brainerd.

Class A: Manassas 60, Tennessee Temple 34

The fourth time was finally the charm for Manassas in the state finals.

The Tigers had been runners-up in Class AA 1977 and 1985 and in Class A last season, but on Saturday they made school history by defeating Tennessee Temple 60-34 for their first gold ball in basketball.

The happiness of this year’s state title erases the painful memory of blowing a 17-point halftime lead to Union City and losing 83-81 in last year’s Class A final.

The Tigers (27-2) won their last 21 games of the season and become the first Memphis team since Westside in 1986 to win a Class A state game.

It was made sweeter for the simple fact that they had to play most of the second half without Class A Mr. Basketball Reginald Buckner, who was ejected from the game after picking up two technical fouls.

When Buckner was ejected at the 3:54 mark in the third quarter after logging eight points and 10 rebounds, Manassas was ahead 30-19 and he had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Neither Buckner nor his coach Gerald Harris would comment on the officiating.

“I really wasn’t worried about the calls because I knew they guys were going to win without me,” Buckner said.
“I’m really happy that I won Mr. Basketball though.”

Buckner, a Mississippi signee tipped a Shaq Walker shot back in and was given his second technical foul on his way back down the floor.

After Buckner left the game his teammates took over outscoring Temple 23-3 and putting the game away.

Junior guard Shaq Walker scored seven points during the run and Kendall Woodard scored six. Tournament MVP Marcus Holloway and All-Tournament selection Joseph Northington both scored four.

Northington led four Manassas players in double figures with 14, Holloway added 12, and Walker and Woodard both had 10.

Temple which shot only 21.6 percent from the field on 11-of-51 shooting and was led by senior guard and Mr. Basketball Finalist Jeremy Sexton with 17 points.

Mr. Basketball - Buckner, a Mississippi signee who averaged 18.9 points per game, 15.4 rebounds and 7.1 blocks per game, won the award over Temple’s Sexton and Wes Long from Summertown.

All-Tournament Team - Joseph Northington, Manassas; Reginald Buckner, Manassas; Kendall Woodard, Manassas; Marcus Holloway, Manassas; Jeremy Sexton, Temple; James Kemp, Temple; Brandon Herman, Grace Baptist; Patrick Shauhnessy, Grace Baptist; Wes Long, Summertown; Logan Harville, Summertown.