An 11-day layoff heading into the state tournament is not ideal for a young basketball team that had just begun to find its rhythm late in the regular season. But McCallie shook off the early rust of its extended time off with a solid second-quarter run, then held off a late Briarcrest Christian rally to claim a 50-46 victory in a Division II-AA state quarterfinal Saturday.
“I thought we looked like a team that hadn’t played in a while in the first quarter,” McCallie coach Dan Wadley said. “It took a while to find ourselves, but I thought our defense really made them work for every shot. They didn’t get many easy looks, and free throws down the stretch were key.”
During the practice time between games, Wadley would not allow anyone to leave the gym until all 13 players on the roster had made 50 free throws. That extra work paid off as the Blue Tornado made 7 of 10 in the fourth quarter, keeping the Saints at arm’s distance.
The Blue Tornado (19-5) advance to the state final four for the first time in four years and will play the winner between Christian Brothers and St. Benedict this Friday at Lipscomb University in Nashville.
After scoring just four points in the opening quarter, McCallie ran up 23 in the second. Jordan Price made a steal and dunk and followed 15 seconds later with a 3-pointer that put the Blue Tornado ahead for good.
McCallie gained an eight-point lead in the second half, but Briarcrest steadily chipped away and with 6:43 remaining cut the lead to one on an Austin Nichols layup.
Price, a sophomore who was named one of three finalists for the Division II-AA Mr. Basketball award this past week, answered with another 3-pointer. Despite hurting his neck when he was clobbered on a dunk attempt in the second half, Price was the only McCallie player to score in double figures. He had 12 points.
“We’ve come a long way since the start of the season,” he said. “There were a couple of times where I saw my team was struggling for points, so I just wanted to do something to get us going.”