BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Someone suggested to Michael McMeans that he didn't really think his boys basketball team, undefeated through seven games, would win them all this season.
"That's the goal," Tennessee High's fifth-year coach said Friday, sucking down a bottle of water after a hard day's night of mixing and matching. "The goal is to win every single one of them."
As serious as McMeans may've been, he and his powerful Vikings won't be running the table, not after Jefferson County ruled the last three minutes to beat Tennessee High 61-58 in Friday's nightcap of the Commemoration Classic at Bristol Tennessee Middle School.
Up most of the night, including by a 17-8 count at the end of the first quarter, the Patriots trailed 58-54 before scoring the game's final seven points.
Jeremiah Makua, a 6-foot-6 junior, had his hand in two buckets over the final three minutes, the result of terrific offensive boardwork, including one off a teammate's missed free throw.
The Vikings (7-1) were playing without 6-6 junior Reed Miller, sidelined with an illness.
Additionally, sixth man Colby Lamb did not play in the second half, due to fever as well.
"You just can't do that," McMeans said. "And it happened twice tonight. We didn't have our size in there (without Miller), and Colby was running about a 104-degree fever himself and just couldn't get up and down the floor. So, yeah, that was a killer."
Tennessee High was also guilty of leaving the door open, committing turnovers on four straight possessions down the stretch and missing its last four shots from the floor.
Proving that even he makes mistakes, superstar Colin Brown uncharacteristically committed turnovers on three straight possessions.
"Uncharacteristic play -- it happens," McMeans said. "As much as he has the ball in his hands, it's going to happen."
As usual, however, Brown led all scorers, hitting right about his average with 23 points on a night when the Vikings struggled at times for offense with Miller out of the lineup. The senior guard led THS back in the second half with 16 of his points, including a pair of 3-point Js.
Brown unselfishly tried to get teammates involved, but no one consistently brought much help. Zander Phillips hit three 3s and scored 12 points to back Brown, who made three 3s himself.
Jeff County coach Kyle Briggs mixed and matched a bit himself, to deal with the 6-2 Brown.
"He's a hell of a player," the first-year leader said. "We knew he was going to make some tough shots. We're down three starters ourselves, including our best defender (senior guard Jacob Shrader) -- he's usually the one to have the assignment to guard a player like Brown.
"He made some tough shots like I knew he would, but I thought the boys did a really good job of continuing to guard to make it as hard on him as possible. It wasn't going to be a one-man job -- we were going to help and fill gaps. I thought we played really good team defense."
Briggs could not overestimate the value Makua provided with his offensive rebounding, which twice led to subsequent buckets by teammates, as well as a stickback of his own with 34 seconds to play, giving the Patriots their ultimate advantage at 59-58.
"Jeremiah just got back from injury a couple days ago," Briggs said. "He's a big energy guy, a great athlete who plays with a big motor, and he provided some big moments tonight."
But no one for the Patriots had more moments than Brody Carr, a 195-pounder who makes his living in the low post despite standing just 6-feet tall. The junior, who led Jeff County with 15 points, was more than the Vikings could handle.
"We list him at 6 foot but by gosh he plays like he's 7-2," Briggs said, obviously exaggerating. "He's one of the best competitors I've ever known. The kid just hates to lose and he gives it all he has every night. You're going to have to carry him out of here in a casket for him to stop.
"And the team feeds off that. He's our emotional leader and he had a good game tonight, and we made some shots around him."
McMeans acknowledged that the Vikings could have really used Miller to deal with Carr, whose inside presence required help defense, which in turn left 3-point shooters open.
"Again, we didn't have any size in there with Reed being out tonight, and typically that's someone we'd put on a player like that," he said. "Reed would have had four (or more) inches on him and he wouldn't have been able to just go in the post and score on us.
"And they shot it well enough that it was hard to go down and double that kid every single time, because they kicked it out and made shots."
Jeff County matched THS with seven 3s, three by Caleb Franklin and two by Hudson Estes. Estes finished with 12 points, as did point guard Zach Coffey, the floor leader of the Patriots.
Coffey hit both ends of a two-shot foul with 19 seconds left to provide the final margin. The Vikings did get two 3-point shots up on their final possession, but neither were close.
Senior guard Jackson Davidson played well on both ends of the floor for THS, getting extended minutes with the Vikings being two players down.
Tennessee High will try to bounce back in Saturday's nightcap of the Commemoration Classic, when it faces Morristown West. Dobyns-Bennett plays Jefferson County in the 5:30 game.
"It is what it is," McMeans said. "It's frustrating when you lose, but we didn't have our best stuff tonight. But that's OK -- we've got to learn to play through that.
"We've got to learn that when we don't have our best stuff we've still got to make plays and win."
JEFFERSON COUNTY (61) -- Zach Coffey 4 3-6 12, Brody Carr 5 5-10 15, Hudson Estes 5 0-0 12, Isaiah Kirk 2 0-0 5, Jeremiah Makua 3 0-0 6, Caleb Franklin 3 0-0 9, Jacob Chaney 1 0-0 2, Gabe Sawyer 0 0-0 0, Dakota Haun 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 8-16 61.
TENNESSEE HIGH (58) -- Howard 4 0-0 8, Brown 10 0-0 23, Phillips 4 1-2 12, Colby Lamb 1 0-0 2, Singleton 1 1-2 4, Jackson Davidson 2 0-0 4, Landon Graham 0 0-0 0, Micah Norton 2 1-2 5, Totals 24 3-6 58.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |
Jefferson County | 17 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 61 |
Slater (THS) | 8 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 58 |
3-point goals -- Jefferson County 7 (Franklin 3, Estes 2, Coffey, Kirk), Tennessee High 7 (Brown 3, Phillips 3, Singleton). Fouled out -- Howard. Technical fouls -- none.
