CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The path to Walker Valley’s first region championship since 2016 didn’t necessarily start in the offseason.
It started at Ocoee Middle School during a COVID-19 pandemic-altered year where nothing was the same. The Colts had a group of sixth-graders — names including Ashton Davis, Turner Clayton, Isaac Sausville, Wyatt Keeton and others — that vowed to stay together and play together through the next seven years.
What resulted in high school has been 101 wins — and possibly counting — and now a second consecutive Class 4A state tournament appearance after the Mustangs led wire-to-wire for a 74-58 win over Lebanon Monday night in a TSSAA state sectional, which was the first time they’ve hosted the game in a decade, and the first time for head coach Will Campbell.
With 2:40 to play and the game in hand, Campbell had Sausville, Davis, Clayton, Michael Wood and Cael Coates — all seniors — on the court together. With 1:21 to play, he pulled all five.
Walker Valley vs. Lebanon boys’ basketball on March 9, 2026
“This group, they’ve done it the right way,” Campbell said. “They’ve been here since freshman year, worked their way in, came off the bench as sophomores, and some as juniors, and just waited their time. They’re just great kids, great families — I mean, some of these families I’ve had for eight or nine years because of their older siblings.
“We say family all the time, but it really is. It just grew and they’re all best friends.”
That chemistry was evident from the opening tip as the Mustangs (29-3) built an 18-5 lead that swelled to 26-10 after a quarter. By then, Clayton had 10 of his 12 points and junior Zach Davis had nine of his game-high 27. The Blue Devils (18-15) did rally, cutting the lead to 32-29 on a four-point play by TJ Searcy, but Sausville responded with a three-point play of his own to put the Mustangs up six going into the break.
Walker Valley held Lebanon without a field goal for the first 4:33 of the third quarter and stretched the lead to 13 points and cruised the rest of the way.
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Sausville finished with 11 and Coates 10 for the Mustangs, while Zach Davis finished with eight and did a good job handling the Blue Devils’ full-court pressure.
“Today was exciting,” Ashton Davis said. “It’s sad that it’s the last home game ever, but at the end of the day it’s been great because we’ve all been competing together since elementary, battling and middle school playing together.
“Playing in the state tournament is the end goal. It’s where we wanted to be at it at the end of the day.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.