The Fulton Falcons faced the Jackson South Side Hawks in a TSSAA Class 3A state tournament semifinal at Murphy Center on Friday, March 18, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The South Side boys won. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — The 25-foot shot from the left wing left lefty Denaj Kimber’s hand with a second left and looked destined to send the Fulton boys’ basketball team to the state final.
Kimber, who’d seen three of his 3s fall in the second half, knew different. Pure shooters can tell if a shot won’t fall as soon as it departs from their finger tips.
“When I shot it and felt it, I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s short,” said Kimber.
“I felt like I shot it too fast.”
He had to, though.
Time was about to expire.
Kimber’s game-winning attempt bounced off front iron. And Fulton, which had stolen a deep inbounds pass to even get Kimber the final look, fell to tournament-veteran Jackson South Side, 51-50, in the Class 3A state semifinals.
Kimber finished with 13 points, Tyler Lee had 11 and Taj Kimber 12, but Fulton (30-6) simply ran out of time.
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South Side (25-3) advanced to Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. championship game against Greeneville (30-6), which beat South Side by one point in the 2021 Class 2A state championship.
Fulton was seeking to get to its first state final since a runner-up finish in 2019.
“I was so glad these guys got here and played a couple games here,” Wright said of his youth-laden roster. “Because there’s a difference between being Knoxville good and state good. Sometimes guys can look around and they feel like, ‘We’re the best team in town.’ Or, ‘We’re one of the better teams in town.’ But you get down here and you get a glimpse of what really good basketball looks like.
“They’ve heard me talk about that. But now they’ve seen it and experienced it. I think the best is ahead of this bunch.”
After struggling offensively in the first half, Fulton established Lee down low in the third quarter. He scored seven points in that span to kick-start Fulton’s offense.
Denaj Kimber got going in the third, too. After no points in the first half, Denaj Kimber hit a 3 from the left wing that gave Fulton its first lead (29-28) of the day. His 3 at the 1:15 mark in the third put Fulton in front 32-31, and Desmier Hatchett later added a score in transition to give Fulton a 34-31 lead with one quarter to play.
Not bad, considering Fulton made just five total field goals in the first half.
“I got in foul trouble early, so I had to sit,” said Denaj Kimber. “I had to tell myself that my team needs me (in the second half).
South Side regained the lead, though, 38-37, with a quick 6-2 spurt to the start the fourth quarter.
Two jumpers by Taj Kimber and one by Denaj Kimber kept Fulton nearby.
Taj’s 18-foot jumper from straight on cut South Side’s lead to 43-42, with 2:15 remaining.
After South Side pulled ahead 46-42, the diminutive and feisty Marcellus Jackson got into the paint and got a big score. He was fouled and missed the free throw, but South Side’s Mr. Basketball finalist Rico Sain (15 points) turned it over.
Taj Kimber scored on a drive and fouled — making the free throw — for a 47-46 lead with 49 seconds to go.
Momentum didn’t stay on Fulton’s side, though. Cameron Anderson of South Side scored in the post and then blocked a Fulton shot on the other end. He then got a steal after Fulton regained possession after the block.
Anderson put South Side ahead 49-47 with 20 seconds to play with a free throw.
He made up for a free-throw miss on Fulton’s end, recording another block. Teammate Jaylan Cole got the rebound and made two foul shots for a 51-47 lead with 9.5 seconds to go.
South Side shot 26 free throws to Fulton’s 11.
Still, Denaj Kimber hit an off-balance 3 from the left wing with 5 seconds to go to trim the deficit to 51-50.
South Side inbounded a deep pass to half court. Dexter Lewis of Fulton stole it at midcourt, dribbled once and then flicked a pass over to Denaj Kimber for the potential game-winner.
It just didn’t go.
“I should have made the last one,” said Denaj Kimber. “It just came up short.”
The first half proved to be a defensive battle. Fulton didn’t score the first four minutes of the contest and had just four points in the first quarter. South Side had eight.
All told, the two teams combined for 24 turnovers.
But despite the 22.7 percent clip and South Side making nine of 17 field-goal attempts, Fulton trailed just 20-15 at the break.
The Falcons had made only one 3 and shot just five free throws, making four.
Maybe the math didn’t add up, but Fulton knew it was fortunate to be down just five against a veteran South Side squad.
“Damage control there, just trying to get through the half,” said Wright. “We had some guys on the bench in foul trouble, which it seems like we were trying to manage all game long.
“I told them at half, ‘That’s probably the worst-shooting half we’ve had all year long. We’re down five. We’re fine.'”
5STAR PHOTOS: Fulton Falcons vs. Jackson South Side – March 18, 2022