MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The inside/outside combination of 6-foot-4 post Isaiah Crawley and point guard Chad Culbreath were too much for Central to overcome as Memphis Ripley claimed an 84-69 win in the Class AA state basketball tournament quarterfinals Thursday.
Crawley and Culbreath combined for 46 points, eliminating the Purple Pounders, who were making their first state tourney appearance since 2000.
Ripley pulled ahead by nine late in the first half, but Central outscored the Tigers 10-0 in the final 1:33, sparked by 3-pointers from juniors Terron Hayes and Rodney Benford, who also combined for all 10 of those points, to lead by one at halftime.
However the Tigers used a 10-2 run early in the fourth to begin pulling away.