The Battle Ground Academy Wildcats fell just short of its fourth TSSAA boys basketball state championship on Saturday, losing 78-68 to the Providence Christian Academy Lions at Tennessee Tech University.
BGA (24-13) held a four-point lead at halftime, 33-29, but fell victim to foul trouble in the second half and a 15-point second half by Lions star Chris Washington. He helped PCA (30-2) to the lead, 50-49, at the end of the third quarter. Washington finished with 17 and earned all-tournament honors after the game.
PCA pulled away with 4:08 left to play in the fourth quarter after a personal foul and technical by Jake Harney gave the Lions four free throws and the ball and extended the lead to nine.
Senior guard Arnett Hayes Jr. tried his best to keep the Wildcats in the game. He led all scorers with 32 points, 16 in each half. Hayes, who will play football at Murray State University next year, also earned all-tournament honors for his performance.
Greyson Williams and Elijah Fernandez joined Hayes on the team. Both finished with 10 points. Tryce Grensing, who finished with 17, Preston Wade and Aiden Bolden made the team for PCA. Wade, who earned Mr. Basketball finalist honors for Division II-A and averages 20 points per game, finished with just 10. Bolden led the Lions with 20.
The win marked the first-ever championship for the Lions' program and for former MTSU coach and player Kerry Hammonds, who starred at Siegel High School.
Hammonds and the Lions defeated BGA four out of the five times they faced off this season. The lone loss came in a 76-71 game on January 21. PCA prevailed in each of the other games by double-digits.
BGA hoped to capture it’s fourth title in school history, and first since 2014, in its first state tournament appearance since 2015, but came up short against a familiar foe.
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