Temple falls short in state tournament

Slideshow: State Basketball Championships

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Minus a disastrous first six minutes, Tennessee Temple proved it could compete with the state’s top-ranked Class A boys basketball team.

Because of what happened during that span, the Crusaders missed an opportunity to come away with a stunning upset.

An 11-0 opening run made the difference for undefeated Union City on Wednesday morning, when Temple fell 59-55 in the first round of the state tournament at Middle Tennessee State University.

“Ultimately, that hurt us,” Crusaders coach Caleb Marcum said. “We had to expend so much effort getting back in the game. It’s hard to always be fighting for the lead, but I knew we would do it. That’s just the type of kids that we have. I’m just so proud of them.”

With one senior starter and one player with previous state-tournament experience, the Crusaders weathered the storm the Tornadoes created to start the game. Their smothering press had forced seven turnovers by the time Temple made its first basket.

Once Jeremy Sexton found Ben Montgomery open underneath the goal, the Crusaders finally got on the board and began the long process of battling back. Sexton scored the first of his game-high 30 points with 2:05 left in the first quarter, and Temple trailed 18-9 at the end of the period.

The junior scored 12 of the Crusaders’ 14 points in the second, and his 3-pointer with 2:15 remaining got them within seven before Union City (35-0) scored six straight to take a 36-23 lead at the break. Despite the deficit, Sexton and his teammates came out confident for the second half, which they opened with a 9-0 run.

“We never gave up,” Sexton said. “We had it in our minds that we were not going to let this team run all over us.”

Jarrod Johnson scored the first of those points for Temple, and his rebounding was key in helping keep Union City’s lead to single digits. A 3 from James Kemp made it a four-point game with 4:20 remaining, and the Tornadoes led by that margin entering the final quarter.

After a three-point play from Sexton, senior Kendall Petersen’s 3 gave Temple its first lead at 44-42 with 6:34 remaining, but Union City Mr. Basketball finalist M.J. Brown responded with a quick basket to even the score.

“That was big,” Kemp said. “I really thought we were going to have the momentum after that, but M.J. came right back and hit a big shot for them.”

Brown’s score sparked the Tornadoes to a 10-0 run, fueled by four more Temple turnovers. Trailing 52-44 with 3:40 remaining, the Crusaders stayed alive with baskets from Petersen and Sexton, and two free throws from Kemp cut it to 54-50 with 1:39 on the clock.

With just two team fouls, the Crusaders had to spend valuable time getting Union City to the free-throw line, but after a miss from Lavan Mosley, Temple’s Montgomery was again the recipient of a long pass from Sexton. His layup with 31 seconds left made it a two-point game, and was followed by two more Mosley misses 10 seconds later.

A rebound from Johnson gave the Crusaders an opportunity to even the score in a game few had expected to even be competitive.

“We knew we were huge underdogs,” Marcum said. “We knew what people were saying, but Saturday after they made the draw, I said it was going down to the wire. We expected to come out and compete, and be there at the end with a chance to win.”

Temple got the ball in Sexton’s hands, but he was swarmed near midcourt by several Tornado defenders, who got their hands on it as well. Union City had the arrow in its favor when a jump ball was called, and Temple had to send Brown back to the line with 8.4 seconds left.

He connected on both shots, but Sexton got his team within 57-55 four seconds later on two foul shots. After narrowly missing a steal, Temple’s last chance was to again foul Brown, who made two more free throws and his fourth steal in the final three seconds to secure a spot in Friday’s semifinals.

The Crusaders end the year 23-10, but with high hopes of working their way back to Murfreesboro next season.

“Next year the whole team is going to have state experience,” Sexton said. “We’ll be ready.”