Condis Cherry scored 20 points, but the Alcoa Tornadoes fell to unbeaten Loretto, 68-66, in overtime of the Class 2A boys championship game at MTSU’s Murphy Center on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Photo by Danny Parker/5Star Preps)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Coaches will tell you: repeating as state champion is hard. And three-peating is even tougher.
Alcoa sought on Saturday to be just the ninth boys’ programin TSSAA history — and first from East Tennessee — to win three consecutive titles.
But when sophomore guard Condis Cherry rose up from the 3-point line in the final seconds of overtime, his attempt at the game-winner was deflected oh-so slightly by a defender and the shot fell shy — allowing unbeaten Loretto to complete its perfect season with a 68-66 victory at MTSU’s Murphy Center.
“We competed our tail off,” Alcoa coach Ryan Collins said. “The outcome just didn’t go our way.”
Cherry, fellow sophomore Jamir Dean and junior guard Jibriel Koko made the all-tournament team for Alcoa (25-6), but that was small consolation since the Tornadoes could have joined the following schools that have won three ore more titles in a row: Brentwood Academy (2003-06), Ensworth (2011-14), East Robertson (1987-89), Hume-Fogg (1921-23), Memphis East (2016-18), Mitchell (2014-16), Perry County (1955-57) and White Station (2002-2004).
Kasen Buie, a 6-foot-8, senior forward for Loretto (35-0) won tournament MVP. He had 19 points and 14 rebounds Saturday.
Cherry finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Dean had 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Alcoa (25-6) will play in Class 3A next season.
SETTING THE STAGE
Alcoa enjoyed a semi-comfortable, eight-point lead at the half. That vanished quickly behind a 12-0 run by Loretto in the first four minutes third quarter. Alcoa went 0-for-8 shooting in that span to help the Mustangs’ cause.
“We’ve struggled coming out of halftime all year long,” Collins said.
“We just didn’t have the necessary energy and enthusiasm. Some of that was dictated; we couldn’t get a shot to go. But whether or not you’re hitting shots can’t dictate what you do defensively.
“But how about the character of our kids to crawl back in it? You can never count these kids out.”
A 3 from the top of the key by Jay Kirk spoiled Loretto’s unanswered spurt, making it a 40-39 Loretto game.
Still, despite the team’s poor shooting and foul trouble to Eli Graf in the third, Dean’s two foul shots with 17 seconds left in the quarter leveled the game at 44-all heading into the fourth.
THE FINAL STRETCH
Loretto took command, 54-46, on a Mason Tidwell 3 from just in front of his bench at the 3:45 mark of the fourth.
That wasn’t a knockout blow, though. Not even close.
Alcoa trimmed its deficit to 54-50 a minute later, forcing a turnover and scoring in transition after Loretto tried to play keep-a-way and milk clock.
Dean sank a corner 3 with 2:00 left to play to slice Loretto’s lead down to 56-53.
Cherry took over from there.
He drove and scored to make it 58-55 Loretto with 1:27 to go. With 54 seconds left, Cherry made two free throws to trim the deficit to three again.
After a Loretto turnover, Koko converted a Mustangs passing mistake into a layup, making it Loretto 60, Alcoa 59.
Cherry swooped in from the left side and made a reverse layup to tie the score at 61-all with 23 seconds to go, taking advantage of Loretto missing a free throw on the previous possession.
Loretto’s Buie missed a mid-range jumper in the final seconds, producing overtime.
THE OVERTIME
Cherry continued to cook after regulation, as his 3 put Alcoa ahead 64-63 early in the extra time. Loretto scored on a putback, though, on the opposite end to regain advantage.
Cherry tried another 3, but it hit back iron and fell into Loretto’s hands. The Mustangs increased their lead to 66-64 with a Grayson Burleson free throw.
Loretto double-teamed and stole the ball from Cherry on Alcoa’s ensuing possession.
The sophomore guard made amends on Alcoa’s next offensive look, scoring on a layup with 16.8 left to make Loretto’s lead 67-66.
Loretto shot 52.4 percent from the foul line and went 1-for-2 there after Cherry’s layup, leaving the door open for a tying or winning shot by the Tornadoes.
“We knew, coming in, they weren’t a good team at the line,” Collins said.
But 6-1 guard Corben Reynolds got a couple fingers on Cherry’s 3-point shot shortly after it left his hand to clinch the win for Loretto.
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ALCOA DOMINATES EARLY
Alcoa led 36-28 at the half. The Tornadoes needed a couple minutes in the first quarter to size up their unbeaten opponents – who looked bigger and more physically developed at each starting spot — and fell behind, 6-3.
After that, though, the tough 2024-25 schedule Alcoa faced against bigger schools like Oak Ridge, Webb, Maryville and the like — all that preparation paid off. The Tornadoes led 22-16 after the first eight minutes, as the defense of Graf, the 3-point shooting of Jay Kirk and the rim-attacking of Dean propelled Alcoa ahead.
The lead swelled to as many as 12 with 3:19 left in the half. Alcoa had constructed an 8-0 run to go ahead 32-20 behind 3s from A.J. Love and Dean. Meanwhile Loretto shot 31 percent in the second quarter and couldn’t keep pace.
Alcoa made five 3s in the first half, and Cherry’s right-wing 3 with just under a minute left in the second quarter pushed the lead to 11, but Loretto’s Burleson answered from deep on the ensuing possession to trim Loretto’s deficit to 36-28.
Loretto’s size definitely did its thing early, getting seven offensive rebounds and producing 11 second-chance points.
But Alcoa had eight offensive rebounds and scored 11 points off nine Loretto turnovers.
“I think what you do with your non-conference schedule is extremely important. You look at size and the teams that have bothered us the most — the Webbs, Oak Ridge and Maryville — we have found a formula that we thought, rather than just let them pound us through the post and beat us with size, to eliminate it,” Collins said.
“We were phenomenal in the first part of the game. And then we got into some foul trouble and other different things. We went away from it. We just weren’t able to sustain it. And, they did a great job of generating second opportunities. They got timely cutbacks and we couldn’t generate enough stops. Regardless of size, you have to find a way to nullify it. I thought our kids did a great job of nullifying it. We had a chance to win. Just didn’t happen for us.”
5STAR PHOTOS powered by Smartbank — Alcoa vs. Loretto (2025 Class 2A Championship)