New Chattanooga look: teams left not in Class A

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Forget everything that had come to be expected from Chattanooga prep basketball at the TSSAA Division I state tournament in the last 10 years.

For only the second time in the last eight years there won’t be a Chattanooga team in the Class A championship game, but Howard and Red Bank each is just one win from ending the area’s bigger-school title-game drought.

Not since Cleveland beat Brainerd for the 1997 AAA championship has Chattanooga had reason to brag about anything other than Class A hoops. Teams from West Tennessee have claimed 16 state titles in the two largest classifications since then.

In Thursday’s quarterfinals, Howard overcame a history of falling flat in the AA bracket by claiming its first state-tournament win since 1993, while in AAA, Red Bank has the Murphy Center’s new wizard of aahs.

All Dominique McDuffie was missing was the top hat, because he certainly was a showman, continually exciting the crowd in the Lions’ win over Dobyns-Bennett. It began when the 6-foot-2 pogo-legged McDuffie blocked a shot and then outhustled everyone else to save the ball from going out of bounds, starting a fastbreak that ended in a layup. He also had two dunks, one assist that he tossed between his legs and another behind his back, then punctuated his night by volleyball spiking another Indians shot attempt in the fourth quarter.

All the while he was playing bad guy by taunting the Dobyns-Bennett crowd, staring into the student section and clapping at every big basket, then waving goodbye and pointing to the exit after the game.

“I love playing in front of a big crowd,” said McDuffie, who had 18 points and nine rebounds and was the only player on either team to play all 32 minutes. “I’ve always loved being the fan favorite or the most hated. It’s a lot of fun to play like that.”

Should Red Bank advance to its first state-title game, it will do so by beating perennial Memphis power White Station, a four-time state champion.

“A lot of our kids have played on a big stage in football and other sports, so they aren’t intimidated up here,” said Red Bank coach John Cherne, who has used 11 different starting lineups this year. “One of Dominique’s characteristics is he feeds off the crowd’s energy, even if its negative. He loves creating excitement.”

Howard’s win may have come with less flair — solid defense and making 27 of 39 free throws — but boring is just fine when you haven’t won a tournament game since Bill Clinton’s first year as president.

The Hustlin’ Tigers are now just two wins from snapping a record they want no part of. Their 21 state-tournament appearances without a title is the most in TSSAA history.

“When our game got close late, I called time out and told our guys, ‘You’re not the typical Howard team of old,’” Hustlin’ Tigers coach Walter McGary said. “You’re better. Now go prove it.”