JASPER, Tenn. - There's nothing overly complicated about Dustin Sullivan's game plan. The Van Buren County boys' basketball coach simply reminds himself of the KISS rule. Not the legendary rock band, although the formula has resulted in the Eagles rocking on game night and partying every day after. Instead, Sullivan's plan is just Keep It Simple Stupid.
That typically means getting the ball to 6-foot-5 all-state wing Caden Mills, and by doing that during the crucial moments of the Region 3-A championship game Thursday night at Marion County, the Eagles claimed their third straight title, pulling away from Arts & Sciences for a 68-54 win.
"We knew we had a size advantage and Caden can just do so many things for us," Sullivan said. "He's a guard so he likes to handle the ball out on the perimeter, but tonight we just kept feeding him the ball down low, and when they weren't doubling him, it was a layup about every time."
The Eagles (26-6) will host Pickett County (20-12) in Monday's sectional round, while CSAS (23-9) must travel to Clay County (29-4). Clay County owns a pair of double-digit regular-season wins over the Patriots already.
"We didn't do what we were supposed to defensively - what we had talked about before the game - and it cost us," CSAS coach Mark Dragoo said. "We're not that big and Mills is long and tough to defend. They played a great game."
The Patriots pulled within three with 2:39 remaining on Darius Graves' three-point play, but Van Buren answered with consecutive 3-pointers from Bo Walker. Those were the first points from anyone other than Mills, who scored 16 straight during one second-half stretch and finished with a game-high 37 points.
"Once you get that feeling of winning like we have the last few years, and winning the region, you want to feel it over and over," Mills said. "We didn't want to give that up."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.