McMinn Central basketball players claim their championship trophy after defeating Macon County 48-37 in the Tennessee D1-AA championship game Saturday in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mike Strasinger)MURFREESBORO, Tenn.-Of all the impressive numbers put up by the McMinn Central girls’ basketball program, the most important of all is one.
That’s how many state championships the Chargerettes can now claim after beating Macon County 48-37 in Saturday’s Class AA title game at Middle Tennessee State University. It was the Englewood school’s first team state championship of any kind.
“I’ve been so wrapped up in just preparing for the next game and trying to win the next game that I really didn’t think about the fact of just how big this would be,” said Chargerettes coach Johnny Morgan, who will be inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame in April. “With about two minutes to go and we were up pretty comfortably, it hit me and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, we’re playing for a state championship. We’re about to be state champions.’
“This is the first time in my career that we can go into the summer on a win instead of a loss, and it feels pretty good. But we did lose a game this year, so we’ve got something to work on for next year.”
In 33 seasons with the program, Morgan has nearly 740 career wins, has taken the Chargerettes to 11 state tournaments and finished runner-up three times, including last year when they lost after leading by 19 in the second half.