B.J. Edwards (5) and the Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish faced the Brentwood Academy Eagles in a TSSAA Division II Class AA state tournament semifinal at Hooper Eblen Center on Thursday, March 3, 2022, in Cookeville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
COOKEVILLE – Estimating the foot he injured in Saturday’s quarterfinal win to be at roughly 80 percent, an almost-healthy B.J. Edwards on Thursday night was still better than most.
Hard to argue that.
The University of Tennessee signee and Mr. Basketball finalist scored 23 points with 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks in the Irish’s upset win, 63-55, over tournament-favorite Brentwood Academy.
The Irish outscored Brentwood Academy 25-17 in the final quarter to put the one and only blemish this season on the Eagles’ record: 30-1.
But guess what’s next: another undefeated team.
Catholic (28-3) will face Christian Brothers (27-0) in the Division II-AA state championship at 1:30 p.m. Central on Saturday at Tennessee Tech University. Christian Brothers is led by Florida State signee and Mr. Basketball finalist Chandler Jackson, a 6-foot-4 senior combo guard.
That’s not the storyline, though.
Not only will Saturday be Edwards’ final game in uniform for the Irish but it’s the last game for longtime head coach Mike Hutchens, who announced his retirement on Oct. 28, 2021.
Hutchens led the Irish to the 2020 state championship a week before Covid-19 emerged and wiped out the rest of the basketball postseason in March 2020.
Catholic players are definitely wanting to send him out on a winning note, regardless of the undefeated teams placed in front of them. And they’re doing that by trying to stay even-keeled.
“We just played it (tonight) like it was a normal game. We played a great schedule this year,” said junior Blue Cain, who had 16 points. “That really helped us.
“So we’re not really scared of anybody.”
Cain locked down Thursday on Brentwood Academy star Trent McNair, the son of former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair. Cain held him to 13 points, zero assists and three turnovers. McNair also fouled out.
Catholic didn’t let Mr. Basketball finalist and star sophomore guard Tyler Tanner go off, either. He was 5-for-16 shooting for 11 points. He had seven assists and five turnovers.
“I thought our defensive effort was tremendous,” said Hutchens. “That’s a fast-break team that runs it up and down the floor. They had 95 points on a great Lipscomb team the other night.
“The guys followed the game plan.”
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Neither team could away from the other Thursday night, as the semifinal featured 12 lead changes and seven ties.
Brentwood Academy led by as many as six with 6 minutes, 14 seconds left in the third. But Presley Patterson (11 points) hit a jumper at the midpoint of the third and capped a 9-2 run that gave Catholic the lead, 32-31.
The Eagles soared back ahead, 38-34, with just under 2 minutes to play in the third. Cain scored just before the third-quarter buzzer to trim the Catholic deficit to just two.
Edwards took over in the fourth, however, scoring 12 of his 23 in the final 8 minutes. He made six foul shots in the final 33 seconds to keep Brentwood Academy’s comeback at bay.
Freshman forward Deondrea Lindsey clutched up in the fourth, as well. He went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line in the middle part of the fourth, and he later slammed home an alley-oop pass from Cain with 1:24 to play that gave Catholic a nine-point advantage (55-46).
Yesan Warren scored on a layup with 23 seconds to go for Catholic, giving the Irish a 60-53 lead. But he was whistled for a technical foul after the play for batting the ball away after it fell through the net.
BA took advantage and cut the lead to five, but Edwards kept making free throws — a far cry from the struggles he and his teammates had two years ago trying to ice their win in the state championship.
“Way more confident (now). We work on free throws at least 10 times a practice,” said Edwards. “(Hutchens) puts 5 minutes on the clock and we just shoot free throws.
“That definitely helps us.”