BAXTER, Tenn. - With the final possession and the clock running down as Chattanooga Central led 47-45, Upperman had the game plan: Get the ball into senior Ben Guffey's hands.
Guffey already had hit six 3-pointers in the contest and the Bees tried to work a screen toward him in the waning seconds. It appeared he did get open, but Upperman couldn't get him the ball and junior Austyn McWilliams ended up taking the final shot.
It was off-balance and the Purple Pounders survived to advance to next week's TSSAA Class AA boys' state tournament. Central (20-6) will find out its opponent this evening during the tournament draw.
"To come up to this place and win this game, it's just amazing," Pounders coach Rick Rogers said. "We played the last five minutes of the game without a point guard after Terron (Hayes) went down. Emmanuel Lane stepped up and took control in those last five minutes and played smart basketball.
"We closed it out with great defense in those last three possessions, and that was the ballgame."
And it all came down to that final shot.
"We felt like they were going to try to take a 3 to win the game," Rogers said. "We've seen them do it before when we were checking them out this week, and the way Guffey shoots the ball, he could almost kick it and it'd go in.
"But it's been such a gratifying season so far. We're just happy to be heading to Murfreesboro. It's not over yet, and hopefully we'll get everybody healed up before next week."
Hayes led Central with 14 points before leaving the game with cramps, while Ryan Montgomery scored 10.
Leading 23-18 at halftime, the Purple Pounders saw their lead grow to 12 points (33-21) in the third quarter before Upperman made a comeback.
Guffey hit a 3-pointer to give the Bees a 39-37 lead - their first of the contest - but Rodney Benford tied the game with a jumper and Jamichael Poole put the Pounders back up 41-39 with 4:40 remaining in the game.
Guffey knotted the game at 45 with 41.5 seconds remaining with his sixth 3-pointer of the game. He led Upperman with 18 points, while McWilliams scored 11 and Austin Shrum added 10.
The Bees end their season with a 28-5 record.