Martel Yeager (24) scored a team-high 15 points on Wednesday but Harriman fell to Wayne County, 62-55, in a TSSAA Class 1A State Quarterfinal at MTSU’s Murphy Center. (Photo by Danny Parker/5Star Preps)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — When Harriman guard Grayson Kreis sliced through traffic and scored on a layup with 45 seconds left in Wednesday’s Class 1A state quarterfinal, the Blue Devils had one thing in mind: comeback win.
It’d been a theme for the them this 2024-25 season. So Friday’s four-point deficit to Wayne county after Kreis’ score seemed surmountable.
Wayne County, though, whipped the ball around on the ensuing possession and siphoned 31 seconds off the clock before Harriman finally fouled. Logan Davis made two foul shots to ice it, and the Wildcats ended Harriman’s rally hopes with a 62-55 victory — the game ending with an unfortunate intentional foul by Harriman that caused some heated confrontations.
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Martel Yeager led Harriman with a 15-point, seven-rebound night.
Kaden Henderson (eight points) and Ace Jackson (nine) hit key 3s late in the third to keep Harriman close.
“That’s been us all year. That’s been our M.O. all year. We’re going to throw a lot of bodies at you,” Harriman coach Shay Shannon said. “Try to wear you down and try to make a run late. We’ve been living that way. We had opportunities.”
But Wayne County kept pushing the lead back up to double digits. It led 55-43 with 4 minutes remaining.
Justice Bell, a 6-1 senior guard, led Wayne County (27-8) with 22 points, as he went 5-for-9 from deep. He hit three 3s in an 11-0 run that gave Wayne County a 39-31 lead with 3:06 left in the third quarter.
“The rim felt huge in that second half,” Bell said.
Bell was also the victim of the controversial final play.
After Harriman missed a 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds, Wayne County sent an outlet pass down the floor quickly to an open Bell. As he went in for the layup, Harriman’s Ace Jackson shoved Bell from behind — sending him tumbling into the cheerleader area far beyond the goal. He lay on the court in pain, as trainers tended to his ailments.
Meanwhile, Wayne County players who were on the court rushed down to confront Jackson.
No punches were thrown. No players were ejected. The intentional foul on Jackson was his fifth, and Harriman coach Shay Shannon sent him to the locker room before the final 0.4 seconds ultimately ticked off to prevent any further issues.
“That’s not who we are. He knows better than that. That’s not who he is,” Shannon said of Jackson. “He let his emotions — emotions are high when you get down here — and he let his emotions get the best of him. He knows better than that.”
As Bell rose to his feet to walk off the court, Harriman players and Wayne County players made amends and shook hands and moved past the incident.
“That (play) isn’t needed in any sport, time or place. But his teammates apologized. They were cool all game — very good people,” Wayne County star Cayman Camfield said of Harriman.
Camfield finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
As for Bell, his status for a semifinal game against Hillcrest (27-3) on Friday is up in the air. He told media after the game that his right shooting wrist and ribs were in pain. He had a bag of ice on his wrist following the win.
He insisted in the postgame that he will be able to play in the semifinal.
Coming into the quarterfinal, Wayne County coach Ryan Franks worried about how his team would deal with Harriman’s pressure.
And it didn’t deal with it well in the first half.
Harriman forced nine first-half turnovers and led 27-24 at the break. Yeager made a buzzer-beating, mid-range jumper with 3 seconds left in the second.
“They have some big, strong kids. We knew that coming in,” Shannon said. “We knew if they came in and just ran their stuff, we were going to be in trouble … We had to make them as uncomfortable as possible and not let them get in their sets and be comfortable running it where they could have just easy passing lanes to the post.
“Even with what we did, they still had some success. But we made them work for it.”
5STAR PHOTOS powered by SmartBank — Harriman vs. Wayne County