Brentwood falls to Bartlett in state basketball tournament

Brentwood’s surprising run to the state tournament finally ended after a loss to Class 4A’s top-ranked team.

But the Bruins gave them quite a battle.

Daniel Cochran scored 21 points and his younger brother, Davis, added 14, but it wasn’t enough during a 51-45 defeat to Bartlett in a quarterfinal at Middle Tennessee State Uiversity’s Murphy Center.

“Sometimes it just kind of became one racehorse is better than the other,” Bruins coach Troy Bond said. “But our guys, again, I can’t say enough about how resilient they’ve been all year. I’m super proud of our effort today.”

The Cochran brothers accounted for 78% of the Bruins’ points.

“Davis is totally different than (Daniel,)” Bond said. “Coaching the two is [a] night and day difference, but it’s fun. Both really produced on the floor for us.”

Daniel, a 6-foot-8 University of Chicago signee, hit 8 of 13 from the floor, including three 3-pointers.

Davis, a 6-5 freshman inserted into the starting lineup late in the season, made 6 of 11 from the floor, including two 3’s.

“Daniel is very studious to the game, very prepared, very organized in the sense of how he looks at everything,” Bond said. “Davis is kind of fly by the seat of his pants, but I think that makes it work well for him. He doesn’t overthink.”

Brentwood (20-13) finished sixth in the all-Williamson County District 10-4A before winning six of its last eight games to make it to the Glass House.

Both losses were to defending state runner-up Independence.

“I think our district, in general, was brutal,” Bond said. “You can take one through eight and where you finished, throw it out the window. We had eight losses in the district by an average of 3.5 points so you’re a bucket or a free throw away from winning some balllgames.”

Brentwood led 35-33 after the third quarter, but Bartlett (32-4) outscored the Bruins 18-10 in the last eight minutes.

“This one, regardless of how it ended up, it will be something that we talk about forever.,” Daniel Cochran said. “It’s a special memory.”

Christian Alston, a 6-5 Abilene Christian signee, posted a double-double for Bartlett with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

R’chaun King, a 6-6 senior forward, added 10 points.

“Christian doesn’t usually rebound,” Bartlett coach Dion Real said. "[Brentwood] did a really good job of covering up King, keeping him off the glass, making things difficult for him. Christian did a good job of cleaning it up.”

Bartlett outscored Brentwood 22-4 at the foul line and outrebounded the Bruins 26-13, including a 14-2 advantage on the offensive glass.  

Brentwood outshot Bartlett 57%-38%.

"I’ve really got to be a lot better for my team because down the stretch I feel like I didn’t close like how I wanted to,” Alston said. “I had a lot of people score on me and then I had a couple of turnovers.”

The Panthers will face Cookeville (31-3) in a 9:30 a.m. semifinal Friday.