Nick Steen (top) and the Fulton Falcons matched up with the Fayette-Ware Wildcats in a TSSAA Class 3A state tournament quarterfinal at the Charles M. Murphy Athletic Center on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Fayette-Ware boys advanced, 57-49. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Sometimes, there just aren’t enough Nick Steens.
Steen, a muscle-bound, 6-foot-3 sophomore prospect from Fulton High School, helped propel the Falcons back to the TSSAA Class 3A State Tournament this season alongside senior guard Derrick Smith Jr. when most doubted the Falcons could return.
But in Thursday’s state quarterfinal, Fayette-Ware trotted out a lineup full of Nick Steens. And its subs looked the part, too.
Fayette-Ware proved to be bigger, stronger and faster over four quarters, ousting the two-time defending Class 3A champions from this year’s tournament with a 57-49 decision.
“They’re athletic. They’re quick. They’re a lot of things we’re not,” Fulton coach Jody Wright said about Fayette-Ware. “They’re big and strong. I got guys who look like they spent six weeks in a POW camp. It is what it is. A lot of that is just youth. We brought six freshmen and two sophomores down here. These guys won’t stay young forever.”
Neither Steen nor senior guard Derrick Smith Jr. — the two leading scorers this season for Fulton (18-17) – scored in the first quarter.
And they combined for just five points in the first half on 2-for-10 shooting.
“Their length, obviously, affected some shots,” Wright said of F-W. “Affected a lot of stuff in the paint.”
Fulton trailed by a 28-16 margin at the halftime break to the Wildcats (28-5), who sought revenge from a 2024 quarterfinal loss to Fulton.
But then Smith started to cook.
He connected on a 3, his shot from the corner falling at the 2:13 mark of the third to cut Fayette-Ware’s lead down to single digits (35-28) for the first time in the second half. His baseline jumper with 55 seconds left in the third trimmed Fulton’s deficit to just three (35-32).
“We got back in the ball game. Our message at halftime was: we’ve played about as bad as we can play, and we’re OK,” Wright said. “We’re OK. We’re still in the ballgame.”
The Falcons failed to sustain their momentum, tough.
They trailed 47-34 midway through the fourth, as F-W scored with ease on multiple back-cuts to the basket.
Smith buried a couple of 3s late and finished with 16 points on 6-for-18 shooting.
Steen wound up with 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Fayette-Ware got its first win over Fulton, having lost to the Falcons in the 2016 semifinals and 2022 and 2024 quarterfinals.
“We finally got the monkey offf our backs,” F-W coach Demarius Chearis said. “The three (previous) times we’ve been here, that’s been the team that’s beaten us. I don’t know how we keep drawing them. A blind draw’s got some good glasses.
“We know Coach Wright and give him props. He’s probably one of the best coaches on the high school level. I wouldn’t dare come in here and not give that guy his credit and his props.”
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The 2024 graduations of 2024 Class 3A Mr. Basketball winner Tyler Lee (Central Arkansas), twins Taj and Denaj Kimber (Tusculum), and Dexter Lewis left Fulton bereft of key pillars from the 2023 and 2024 championship teams.
Fulton took a 6-8 record this season into the 2025 portion of its schedule, a demanding gauntlet that included early season matchups with programs like Science Hill, Greeneville, Bearden and West. Weaved into the January and February sections were contests against two-time defending 2A champion Alcoa.
Wright looked to forge the young and inexperienced team into a winner by the postseason.
He did that.
Fulton won the Region 2-3A championship and narrowly won its sectional. The four-game win streak Fulton brought to Murfreesboro was its longest of the season.
“I told them, ‘There’s never any shame,'” Wright said, “‘when you finish your season in the Murphy Center.'”
5STAR PHOTOS powered by SmartBank — Fulton vs. Fayette-Ware (2025 Class 3A quarterfinal)