East Hamilton stuck with its game plan throughout Monday's TSSAA Class AAA boys' basketball state sectional, and it paid off in the end. And it took until the end.
No. 3-ranked Blackman scored the first nine points at East Hamilton and led all the way until inside the final 1:30. The unranked Hurricanes led from that point on and earned the first trip to the state tournament in the program's eight-year history with a 72-68 victory.
The tournament is March 15-18 at Middle Tennessee State University's Murphy Center.
"This is the fruits of all the labor and all the work put in this thing for three years," East Hamilton third-year coach Rodney English said. "The reward is we got over the hump.
"I'm crazy excited for our school. I'm crazy excited for our basketball team. And I'm crazy excited for these students. This is what it's all about right here. We're going to keep playing. We're going to keep doing what we do, and ride this thing out."
What East Hamilton (25-10) did Monday was make up for deficiencies in other areas by simply shooting the ball well, particularly in the second half. Senior Noah Fager, who scored 14 points, made four of the Hurricanes' 12 3-point goals, none bigger than the one with 1:46 to play that got them within a point.
"We just had that feeling," Fager said. "We knew we were going to Murfreesboro this year. This was the one year to do it. We stayed with it. We played our game. We just looked at it as we're playing five guys, not Blackman."
Cam Montgomery's sixth 3-pointer came from left of the key with 1:22 to go and sent an already pumped-up crowd into a frenzy when East Hamilton went up 67-66.
The Blaze's largest lead was 22-9 in the final minute of the first quarter. The Hurricanes closed within three late in the first half and within one late in the third quarter.
"Every time we'd get close, they'd do something or something would happen and they'd push it back out," English said. "I kept telling my guys, 'If we could ever get it tied or take the lead, it was ballgame. We'll win it.'"
East Hamilton's last points came on 5-of-7 free-throw shooting in the final 46.1 seconds. Montgomery capped his 27-point performance by making two with 3.1 seconds remaining after Blackman's Nathan Nelson overshot a turnaround jumper from the left wing that would've tied the score had it gone in.
"They made 12 3s," Blackman coach Barry Wortman said. "They shot the ball well. They made 22 of 27 free throws. That's big time. They made a lot of contested 3s. They rose up and made some big buckets."
The Hurricanes had difficulty guarding 6-foot-3 junior post player Brandon Thomas on the low block. Fourteen field goals, primarily from in close, accounted for most of his 30 points.
However, he did not score in the game's final four minutes. An offensive foul prevented his basket with 58.9 seconds left that would've allowed Blackman (26-5) to retake the lead.
"It was a bang-bang call," Wortman said. "The game was well-officiated. I can leave here knowing that."
Point guard Justin Dozier contributed 13 points for East Hamilton.
Trent Gibson scored his 12 points in the first half for the Blaze. Donovan Sims added 10 points.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.