The Alcoa Tornadoes took on the Hickman County Bulldogs in a TSSAA Class 2A state tournament quarterfinal at the Charles M. Murphy Athletic Center on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Alcoa boys advanced, 65-55. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — The Alcoa boys basketball team won its 25th consecutive postseason basketball game on Wednesday, doing so in an exercise of experience and depth on the floor of the Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State.
Seven different players scored for the Tornadoes, who seemingly had an counterattack for every run Hickman County mustered.
Alcoa sophomores Condis Cherry and Jamir Dean scored 22 and 21 points, respectively, and Alcoa advanced to the Class 2A state semifinals with a 65-55 win.
“The moment was not too big for them,” Alcoa coach Ryan Collins said. “They’ve got experience. They’ve got experience against big teams.
“But what you need out of your best players is the moment — the moment is not too big for them. And I can say that about these two kids.”
The Tornadoes (24-5) are seeking a three-peat this week in Murfreesboro and built a 15-point lead in the first half Wednesday thanks to Cherry’s playmaking.
But when Hickman County (25-8) cut the score to 42-36 late in the third, Moro Ayl, Dean and Cherry scored to push the lead back into double digits.
The Bulldogs trimmed their deficit to seven points in the first minute of the fourth, but Alcoa senior guard Eli Graf calmly buried a 3.
“I thought Eli’s 3 was huge,” Collins said. “It was a seven-point game. You felt the momentum swing. We’d kind of went stagnant on offense. … There was nobody better than Eli Graf in that moment. He stepped in with confidence and let it fly. Nothing but net.
“That’s who he is. He’s been on the biggest stage in multiple sports. He’s not going to get rattled.”
About the only thing Alcoa didn’t do well Wednesday was shoot foul shots, going a collective 13 of 23 there. It missed enough for Hickman County to be able to cut Alcoa’s lead to 61-55 with 48 seconds remaining.
Dean led Alcoa in foul shooting with a 7-for-9 clip. Oddly enough, he had the same efficiency (7 of 9) in his field-goal shooting Wednesday to go with eight rebounds and four assists.
“Jamir, he contines to wow me,” Collins said. “It’s like, you feel like a momentum swing is about to happen and Alcoa needs the big bucket or the big play or you need the big rebound or the blocked shot, somehow he continuously delivers. He’s not a vocal leader. We don’t need him to be. We just need him to lead with competitive excellence.
‘I thought he was the best player on the floor tonight on both sides of the ball.”
Alcoa also shut down Hickman County star Elisha Puckett, holding him to five points on 2-for-12 shooting. He also fouled out.
Puckett entered the contest averaging 22.3 points per game.
“I thought we did a good job of slowing him down,” Collins said.
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CHERRY OWNS FIRST HALF
Alcoa outscored Hickman County by a 20-9 count in the third quarter and took a 37-22 lead into halftime.
Cherry scored 17 of his 22 before the break.
He scored the last four points of the first quarter for Alcoa, opened the second quarter with a 3 and then scored 10 points in Alcoa’s 15-4 run over the final 3;57 of the second quarter.
Talk about a heat check.
“Condis was phenomenal in the first half,” Collins said. “When you look at separating in the game, I thought his shotmaking ability and what he did defensively (with two steals) was really the difference-maker.”
OF NOTE
Jahvin Carter, the 2024 Class 2A Mr. Basketball who led Alcoa to state titles in 2023 and 2024, was in attendance Wednesday. The two-time 5Star Preps Player of the Year and two-time state tournament MVP announced earlier in the day that he would be entering the transfer portal after spending his freshman season of college basketball at Penn State.
Brandon Winton, a key piece of Alcoa’s championship run in 2023, also attended the game. He’s now playing football at South Florida.
UP NEXT
Alcoa will face Jackson County (29-2) in a 2A state semifinal at 2:15 p.m. Central time Friday. Jackson County, which made its first state appearance since 2008 on Wednesday, eliminated Jackson Central-Merry 66-56.
Jackson County is led by 6-foot-5 senior Will McCrary, who averages 21 points and 10 rebounds — and who boasts a 7-foot wingspan.
He had 28 points and 16 rebounds against JCM on Wednesday.
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