MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — After watching all four games of the Class A state basketball tournament Wednesday, I’m convinced Tennessee Temple was simply the victim of a bad draw.
No matter the eventual outcome of the state tournament, after going toe-to-toe with the state’s only unbeaten team before falling by four, Temple certainly proved to be one of the best teams up here.
None of the other six teams in the Class A games that followed were as impressive or played with the intensity of the Crusaders and the Tornadoes.
Ideally for Temple it would have drawn any of the other six potential opponents besides Union City in the first round, simply to allow an inexperienced team to get past the jitters that accompany the first game.
But luck was not on Temple’s side and because of that they made an early exit.
When the TSSAA announced its brackets at last weekend’s blind draw, many people felt Union City (35-0) and fourth-ranked Manassas (34-5) would wind up meeting for the title. That is still the likely scenario, especially after Manassas cruised to an 18-point win over Jackson County. But having seen every other team I believe the best two played in the opening game of the tournament.
Stephen has covered high school sports in the tri-state area since the early 1990s, starting at the News-Free Press as a 19-year-old reporter. He has been with the Times Free Press since its inception and has been an assistant sports editor for more than seven years. Stephen is among the most decorated writers in the TFP’s newsroom, winning numerous state and regional awards for his writing on high school athletics. He has two children, Riley ...
