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White County's Tavi Simmons, right, works against Beach's James Leach, left, and Jermaine Saxson during the Class AAA second round game Saturday in Cleveland. (Photo/Mark Turner)
A historic season came to an end last weekend for the White County Warriors' basketball team.
The Warriors (18-12) suffered a heartbreaking 57-52 loss last Saturday to Beach in the second round of the Class AAA state tournament.
Three days earlier, the Warriors opened the state playoffs with a 62-58 win over No. 4 Salem, earning the program's second straight trip to the Sweet 16. The win over the Seminoles was just the second home playoff win in state history, a feat accomplished for the first time by the 2021 team.
“Our kids are just built different,” WCHS head coach Robbie Bailey said. “I said it about last year's team and I've said it about this team. They are just different. They don't have any quit in them. They are tough and they will fight, claw and scratch, and battle until it's over. I'm proud of this group.”
Against Beach, the Warriors were on the verge of advancing to the Elite 8 for the first time in school history, leading 39-27 early in the third quarter before the Bulldogs rallied in the fourth quarter for the comeback win.
“It was an incredible basketball game,” WCHS head coach Robbie Bailey said. “We are obviously disappointed, we felt like we had in our hands. I hate to lose that kind of game. It was back and forth; the game had everything in it, we just couldn't close it out.”
Beach moved on to the Elite 8, and on Tuesday, they punched their ticket to the Final 4, going on the road again and beating Burke County 56-52.
Beach is a member of Region 3-AAA, along with Windsor Forest, Johnson-Savannah, and Groves, which all are part of the Elite 8. The region is the only region in the state with all four teams still alive heading into the quarterfinals.
“That region is just different,” Bailey said. “Everybody wants to talk about Region 5 with Sandy Creek, Salem, and those teams, but Region 3 is the best in the state. Beach is the Final 4, and after tonight (Wednesday) they could have all four teams in the Final 4. Beach is a really good team; they are well-coached and a tough bunch of kids.”
The Warriors led by double digits in the third quarter and looked to be in complete control of the game after Tavi Simmons had a steal and a layup, Kenny Simpson scored on a drive and Silas Mulligan knocked down a jumper for a 39-27 lead.
After a timeout, Beach head coach Simon Heyward went to a trapping, full court press and that seemed to wake up the Bulldogs.
“When we were up 12 in the third quarter, I thought if we could put together one of those third quarter runs like we've done all year, the game might be over,” Bailey said. “We knew they were going to press, and when they started trapping, they seemed to find some energy, and it gave up a lot of trouble. We changed our press break a couple of times, but sometimes we made the play and sometimes we didn't, and we got a little rattled. Their length disrupted the passing lanes. We had some opportunities that we didn't take advantage of. Our kids kept fighting their butts off, but we couldn't close it out.”
The Bulldogs forced a handful of turnovers in the final four minutes of the third quarter and hit three consecutive 3-pointers during a 12-4 run, cutting the deficit to 43-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Warriors struggles with the pressure defense continued in the fourth quarter, with the Bulldogs finding success by keeping the ball out of Jadon Yeh's hands.
The Bulldogs pulled even at 45-45 thanks to a 3-pointer from Shamarrie Hugie. Beach then took their first lead of the night, and Hugie, who scored 18 of the Bulldogs' final 20 points, connected on six free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game to seal the win.
“Hugie just took over the game,” Bailey said. “They hit some shots and he took over the game in the fourth quarter. We wanted to foul someone else, but he kept the ball and he made eight free throws in the fourth quarter. He's the best player we've seen this year.”
Hugie finished with a game-high 29 points, with three 3-pointers, and was 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
Mulligan wrapped up his stellar high school career with a team-high 19 points. He scored 11 points in the first quarter to help jump start the Warriors to an early lead. He had a pair of 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the game.
Yeh had 14 points, nine of which came in the opening quarter. The Bulldogs' limited Yeh to only two points in the second half, double teaming him most of the fourth quarter. Dawson Oliver had seven points off the bench, while Noah Futch added five points, and Simmons and fellow senior Kenny Simpson each scored two points.
“It was kind of the same deal as Salem,” Bailey said. “We knew Beach was good. They long and lean, and really athletic.The crowd was good against Salem, but in the three years I've been here, I've never seen a crowd like we had for Beach,” Bailey said. “I've never seen that many people in this gym. It was loud and it felt like playoff basketball. It was incredible.”
Win over Salem
For the second straight year, the Warriors pulled over an opening round win, knocking off Salem 62-58.
The Warriors found themselves down 38-18 thanks to hitting 15-of-22 shots to start the game.
The Warriors opened the game in a zone, trying to neutralize Salem's size advantage, but Bailey didn't anticipate the Seminoles would post a torrid shooting performance right out of the gate.
“We haven't played zone much this year and I thought it would help us match up with all their athletes,” Bailey said. “We went back to what we do best, out bread and butter, and decided to play man.That got us back in the game.”
Futch scored coming out of a timeout and Simpson got things going with a 3-pointer, keying a 14-2 run to end the first half. Yeh added a 3-point play, Mulligan hit a pair of free throws, Oliver scored in transition, and Bailey hit an acrobatic layup in the final seconds of the half to cut the Seminoles' lead to 40-32.
The Warriors took the momentum in the third scoring, going on a 14-5 run to take a 46-45 lead. Simpson had a pair of 3-pointers, and Yeh capped off the run with another shot from behind the arc.
The teams trade the lead down, before Futch scored on a layup for a 55-54 lead. Mulligan knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 58-54, and Yeh sealed the deal with four free throws in the final 1:22 to put an end to the Seminoles.
“It was a great victory,” Bailey said. “I think they were ranked No. 4 in the state, so that showed our guys we can play with anybody in the state.”
Yeh finished with 22 points, with 15 of his points coming in the first half.
“We knew we needed to make some plays, and my teammates got me open and I hit some open shots,” Yeh said about the big first half performance. “It was one of those nights where everything was falling for us and I'm just glad we were able to carry it over to the second half. We were a little scared of their size, we aren't a very tall team, but once we got it going we realized we could compete with them. We manned up like we have all year and got the W.”
Mulligan finished with 14 points, with 10 of his points in the second half.
“We always come out slow,” Mulligan said. “After halftime, we always come out with a burst of something. I was a little timid (in the first half), I felt more comfortable in the second half. It's kind of our nature to scratch and claw to get back in the game. We came up big tonight.”
Simpson came up big for the Warriors, hitting 3-pointers and finishing with 14 points.
“When we switched up the defense, it started clicking,” Simpson said. “We got stops and hit shots. The whole team, when we get open, we can hit shots. It's a big deal to get back to the Sweet 16. We knew we'd win it. We heard a lot of outside noises, but the locker room was positive. It's really special to win and be a part of this team.”