Independence Boys Basketball Advances to Third-Consecutive State Tournament

There were plenty of doubters when Independence graduated three starters from last year’s state champion team, including career scoring leader Jett Montgomery.

There were still more when the Eagles finished third in District 10-4A regular-season standings. Even more when Indy fell behind by nine points after the third quarter of its sectional game against Beech on Monday night.

But the Eagles still believed as they earned their third-consecutive state tournament appearance by rallying for a 43-36 win over the Buccaneers in front of a big crowd at Indy.

“A lot of people doubted us,” Indy point guard Tylan Lewis said. “They looked at us like an easy game to get by, but we proved them wrong and now we’re here.”

Getting back to state was difficult as the Eagles (23-12) trailed by eight points with about 5:30 remaining in the game.

But Indy stormed back with a 12-0 run to take the lead for good. Senior guard Dawsyn Miller buried a 3-pointer, tying the score at 34 with 3:36 left.

His layup with 2:40 remaining put the Eagles up 36-34 for their first lead since Indy scored the first basket of the game, sending the Indy crowd into a frenzy.

“This is our home court and we have to protect it, and we knew this was our last home game ever,” Miller said. “Could be our last high school game of all-time. We knew we just had to rise together and sit down on defense and get a run going, or else our season was over.”

Lewis, an Abilene Christian signee, extended Indy’s lead to 38-34 with a layup with 2:10 remaining to cap the run.

Cutter Sisk, Beech’s 6-foot-8 junior forward/center, narrowed the deficit to 38-36 on a layup with 1:31 left, but the Eagles scored the last five points of the game.

Indy’s offense was out of sync for the first three quarters before outscoring Beech 22-6 in the frantic fourth quarter. Miller led the Eagles with 18 points and Lewis added 13.

“They stepped up big,” Indy coach Mark Wilkins said. “I think we finally loosened up a little bit (in the fourth quarter) and started getting a little bit more aggressive and hit some shots.”

Montgomery and Korben Walling, a forward on the state champion team, were at the game cheering on the Eagles.

Sisk led Beech (24-9) with 12 points and six rebounds as Indy bottled him up with double teams from 6-4 Jacob Duryea, 6-6 Jack Morris and 6-4 Harris Hall all night. Talon Davenport and TJ Ruffin added 11 points each.

The Buccaneers held the Eagles to single digits in each of the first three quarters before falling at Indy in the sectional for the second straight season.

“We led the whole game; we controlled the whole game,” Beech coach Kip Brown said. “I thought there were some very questionable calls in the second half that went against us. They were beating the crap out of our big man down low and he wasn’t getting the calls that he deserved. He was fighting his butt off and I feel like we outplayed them, and we should have been moving on.”

Beech finished one win short of its first state tournament appearance since 2022 when it lost to Bartlett in the first round.

The Eagles won their first state championship with a potent offense last season, but defense is the formula this year. Indy has held its seven postseason opponents to an average of 35.9 points per game.

“Dawsyn and Tylan, both coming back, were great defenders for us last year and kind of gave us our identities as we start the next year with those two guys playing so many minutes,” Wilkins said. “Everybody just kind of fell into line and it was, ‘Hey, let’s be a little more defensive-focused.’ Our first state tournament game (last year) against LaVergne, we had (88) points, so that was kind of more of our identity."

This season, the Eagles make things tough on their opponents with a stingy half-court defense.

“Yeah, defense is everything for us,” Miller said. “That’s our identity. We want to sit down and play the toughest defense we can in and out, and if we hold a team to 40, 45 points, no one’s going to beat us.”

Indy finished second in the state during its second appearance at the 4A tournament at Middle Tennessee State’s Murphy Center in 2023.

Even though Indy trailed for most of the first three quarters, Miller remained confident the Eagles would return to Murfreesboro.

“I never had any doubt in my mind that we were going to lose that game,” Miller said. “I never had a thought creep into my mind that this was it. I knew that we just had to keep battling, and I knew we were going to come back and win that game. I know how much work this team has put in to get us to this moment.”

Lewis calls it the "Indy Way."

“I think we just came out and just left it all out there,” Lewis said. “We knew this was win or go home. We’re really locked in on defense.”

Centennial Falls at Hillsboro

The Centennial High School Cougars came up short in their quest to capture their first trip to the state tournament, falling 51-23 to the Hillsboro High School Burros in the sectional round Monday night.

Centennial had a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 7-6, and trailed by just four, 15-11, at halftime. But the Burros ballooned their lead in the second half, thanks to several turnovers and easy transition baskets.

Hillsboro outscored Centennial 18-10 in the third and held the Cougars to just two points in the fourth quarter, pouring in another 18 points in the final frame.

Senior guard Cortez Graham led Hillsboro with 13 points, while Carter Ezell led the way for Centennial with seven points.

Hillsboro held Centennial’s all-district performer Daniel Patton to just four points in the contest. Riley Turner added six points from beyond the 3-point line. Ryland McKelvey followed up his 10-point region championship performance with four points as well.

The Burros (31-5) will advance to the state tournament for the seventh time in school history and third time since 2020. Hillsboro will face Maryville in the state semifinal on March 20 at MTSU.

Centennial finishes the year 19-15 and will have a deep postseason run to build upon going into next season.