BY JESSE SMITHEY
CLARKSVILLE — By the fourth overtime of Thursday night’s marathon matchup against Briarcrest at the Division II-AA state tournament, Knoxville Catholic head coach Travis Mains had no choice but to entrust his team’s fate to one lone starter — who hadn’t fouled out — and four reserves, some of whom hadn’t seen many meaningful minutes this season.
Yet, despite the attrition to the Irish’s starting lineup due to superfluous foul calls, they still had a chance.
With just 52 seconds left in the fourth OT, Catholic back-up Finn Kerschbaum scored on a putback and knotted the score at 72-all.
But by game’s end, Briarcrest had logged 40 free-throw attempts, and the Saints made 3 of 4 at the line in the final 30 seconds to finally pull away from the Irish in the Division II-AA state semifinal at FM Bank Arena, the new host site for the Division II state tournaments.
Cade Murphy was the only starter for Catholic (24-7) who didn’t foul out. And his near full-court heave couldn’t find the right trajectory to even have a chance, because of the arena’s low-hanging scoreboard over center court, and Briarcrest outlasted the Irish, 75-72.
The game proved to be the longest game in TSSAA Division II state tournament history.
“It was definitely a first for me. I’ve played a lot of basketball. It’s the first time I’ve ever played that many minutes in a game,” said Murphy, who logged all 48 minutes. “But, as the game went on, it was just in the back of my head to make a play. Down the stretch, I tried to step up and make plays. The shots just didn’t really fall.
“I’m just proud of our team for the effort we gave.”
Murphy, an Eastern Kentucky signee and Mr. Basketball finalist, drew rave reviews in the postgame from longtime Briarcrest coach John Harrington, as Murphy finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Briarcrest sophomore Joshua Huggins scored a game-high 32 points and went 18 of 20 at the foul line, knocking down the two foul shots in the fourth overtime that broke the 72-all game in the final minute.
Fred Smith Jr., a 6-foot-6 senior and Mr. Basketball finalist for Briarcrest, scored 21 and was 7-for-12 shooting at the free-throw line. Not great, but he made two foul shots with 3.3 seconds left in regulation to knot the score at 51-all after Murphy, who shoots around 90 percent at the foul line, had made just 1 of 2 with 23 seconds remaining in the fourth.
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THE OVERTIMES
Catholic got a huge 3 by reserve Brady Renfree midway through the first overtime that put the Irish ahead 57-55. That score held for a while until Huggins’ layup with 45 seconds left in the first OT created another tie.
Warren Brown of Catholic scored on a putback at the buzzer in second overtime to force a third extra period.
Murphy’s only 3 of the night banked in from the top of the key during the third overtime, giving Catholic a 67-66 advantage. But he went 1 of 2 at the foul line with roughly a minute left in the third OT, and Briarcrest tied the game at 68-all on a Smith Jr. score with 25 seconds left.
Briarcrest opened up a four-point lead early in the fourth overtime, but two made foul shots by Murphy and Kerschbaum’s layup pulled Catholic even once more with Briarcrest.
But a foul call on Catholic reserve Mack Bartholomew ushered Briarcrest’s Huggins to the line with 29 seconds to go, and Huggins made both.
Smith Jr. only made 1 of 2 at the foul line with 3 seconds left for Briarcrest, giving Catholic a small glimmer of hope for a fifth OT. But Murphy couldn’t get within range to get a feasible chance at sinking the shot.
The Saints advanced to Saturday’s championship game, where they’ll face Pope John Paul II.
“The kids who came in made plays,” said Mains, who was in his first season at the helm of the boys program at Catholic after leading the Lady Irish to a pair of state titles during the 2020-25 seasons.
“It felt like, to me, it was our game to win. I felt like we had a chance with 10 seconds to go. And our kids shared that belief. We’ve put so much into it, they didn’t want to lose.”
MORE ON CATHOLIC
Travis Martin scored 10 of his 17 points in the first half, as Catholic toiled to stay within striking range of Briarcrest, which flirted with but never got a double-digit lead before the break.
The Irish shot just 20 total free throws to Briarcrest’s 40. Catholic made 15. Briarcrest made 29.
Michigan signee Malachi Brown had 10 points, including a few emphatic dunks, but he, Martin, Warren Brown, Jovis Erwan, and Landon Lee were all relegated to the bench for reaching a fifth foul. Briarcrest had only one starter foul out. Smith Jr. had one foul. Huggins amassed four.
Coach Mains loses Murphy and Malachi Brown from his starting lineup to graduation.
“We had five new kids come in, four new coaches. We grew together as a family,” Mains said. “As you watched those kids play, they gave it everything they had. That’s pretty much from their first practice to the last horn (tonight).”