The Alcoa Tornadoes knocked off Fulton, 57-48, in the 2026 Class 3A state championship game on Saturday, March 21, in Murfreesboro. (Photo by Danny Parker/5Star Preps)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Imagining Alcoa coach Ryan Collins and his Tornado players donning traditional white TSSAA state championship hats seemed like a far-fetched thing to conjure up midway through the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon.
Not only did Alcoa trail East Tennessee foe Fulton by nine points with 4 minutes, 56 seconds to go in the Class 3A Championship, but star players Jay Kirk and Jamir Dean also were saddled with four fouls apiece.
But a team that had ridden quite the roller coaster of a season had one final apex on that ride.
Alcoa somehow flipped a switch and closed on a 20-2 run over the final 4:56 to rally past Fulton for a 57-48 win at MTSU’s Murphy Center, giving the Tornadoes their first-ever 3A title and a third championship in the last four years.
“I’m just proud of our kids’ fight. I feel like this game was a microcosm of our whole season,” Alcoa coach Ryan Collins said. “A lot of highs. But, at the same time, a lot of lows. Two four-game stretches of losses.
“But you got kids who kept showing up and buying into the right things and battling. Kept fighting. I thought they did that (today), possession by possession. I thought at times this year, when things weren’t going our way, we played too much out of emotion. Tonight, I saw great poise out of all of them. They battled their tails off together, every possession.”
Alcoa (24-13) fell in the 2A finale last season in overtime by two points.
And it looked like the Tornadoes were going to experience similar pangs of disappointment Saturday, as Fulton — which was seeking its third 3A title in the last four seasons — had all the momentum coming out of the third quarter and for the first 3 minutes of the fourth.
Alcoa made its final seven shots from the floor.
Fulton missed its final six attempts and committed six turnovers in that critical 4:56 span.
Nick Steen led Fulton in scoring Saturday with 19 points and 15 rebounds. He, Justin Burris, and Joe Hairston made the all-tournament team, as well.
Condis Cherry led Alcoa with 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting while Kirk (13 points) earned tournament MVP. Dean (14 points, 8 rebounds) and Jibriel Koko (10 points) joined Cherry and Kirk on the 3A All-Tournament Team.
“I’m feeling great right now,” Cherry said. “We got here last year and fell short because of the third quarter. And it looked like that was going to happen this year, too.”
HOW THE GAME
WAS WON
Saturday’s matchup of Alcoa and Fulton was the first boys basketball championship game featuring two 5Star Preps area teams since the 2018 Division II-A championship game between Webb and Grace Christian.
Fulton reversed its first-half script of play Saturday and dominated Alcoa in the third quarter, outscoring the Tornadoes 25-9 to take a 41-32 lead into the final quarter. Sophomore guard Chaz Wood and Mr. Basketball finalist Nick Steen starred in Fulton’s surge.
Moreover, Alcoa stars Dean and Kirk entered the final stanza with four and three fouls, respectively.
Kirk picked up his fourth foul on a charge with 6 minutes, 33 seconds left, and Alcoa trailing 41-35.
Alcoa went 3 of 8 at the foul line in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, as well, hindering its ability to chop into Fulton’s lead. Down 43-37, Alcoa guard Jibriel Koko missed an open layup. And on Alcoa’s ensuing trip down the floor, Koko got whistled with a charging foul during a transition layup opportunity. Alcoa missed two more layup chances near the 5-minute mark.
Fulton guard Albert Harris made Alcoa pay.
The lanky, diminutive sophomore guard popped in a corner 3, giving Fulton a 46-37 advantage.
“My exact comments to them were, before the game, that my experience has told me that the 4-minute mark, generally the 4-minute mark of the fourth quarter, it’s going to get hairy. It’s going to get hairy.
“And it did.”
Alcoa was in its fourth state title game in a row, and you had to know a last-minute effort was coming.
And it arrived.
Condis Cherry and Koko made two quick scores, bringing Fulton’s lead down to 46-42 with 3:43 to play.
Cherry’s 3 from the left wing made Fulton’s lead just 46-45 some 30 seconds later.
Kirk’s 3-point play with 2:29 left gave Alcoa a 48-46 lead with 2:29 left.
Dean’s transition score off an alley-top pass bumped Alcoa’s advantage to four, and a 13-0 run had Alcoa out front, 50-46.
Kirk scored with 1:11 left for a 52-48 advantage. And his defensive rebound with 50 seconds to go put Alcoa in winning position.
Cherry made 3 of 4 foul shots in the final minute to seal the victory.
“Hats off to Alcoa, they got it hectic, which is what they needed to do,” Wright said. “And we didn’t handle it really well.”
THE FIRST HALF
Alcoa and Fulton didn’t settle much in the opening 8 minutes, combining for nine turnovers and playing to a 10-all tie. Dean popped in a 3 with roughly a minute left in the first quarter for a 10-8 advantage but Fulton’s Joe Hairston answered with a bucket to knot the score. For Fulton, it shot 27.3 percent in the first quarter, opposed to Alcoa’s 44.4 percent, so being tied proved huge for the Falcons.
Dean and Kirk each had two fouls by the 6:15 mark of the second quarter.
They re-entered with 4:06 left in the half, and Alcoa still led 15-14.
Fulton failed to do much damage offensive while the two Alcoa standouts sat.
Alcoa closed the half on an 8-2 run.
Dean’s dunk with 2:36 left in the second quarter bumped Alcoa’s lead to 17-14. Cherry added a 3 from the deep left wing with 1:55 remaining, giving Alcoa a 20-14 lead. Jibriel Koko sank a 3 from the right wing with 50 seconds left in the half for a 23-16 score.
Fulton turned the ball over 10 times by the break and shot 19 percent through the first 16 minutes.
“Just played disfunctional on offense,” Wright said. “Missed a lot of shots I thought we could make. A lot of that goes to Alcoa.
“But we’re down seven. So, the game plan offensively didn’t change (after the half). We wanted to keep playing through the pain — and just settle down. This is a relatively young team, and they played like it early. But we had a really good third quarter and start to the first part of the fourth quarter.”
SETTING THE STAGE
FOR THE FINISH
Dean picked up his third foul in the first minute of the third quarter.
And Chaz Wood sank a corner 3 to cut Fulton’s deficit to 26-23 at the 7:07 mark, to stir up some momentum.
He popped in another 3 to give Fulton a 28-26 lead, prompting a timeout by Alcoa with 5:48 left in the quarter.
Steen rattled in a jumper, and Fulton’s 14-3 run to start that half produced the Falcons a 30-26 lead.
Fulton opened its biggest lead (34-28) on a Steen transition score with 4:30 left in the third.
Wood struck again from the corner, and his 3 put Fulton ahead 37-30 at the 2:32 mark.
“Between Chaz and Albie (Albert Harris), those guys came make shots. And made some big ones today,” Wright said. “That was a good complement, because we were trying to go inside so hard that they (Alcoa) were just collapsing in the paint, creating some kickouts for Chaz. And, man, he made some big buckets.”
A fourth foul on Dean relegated him to the Alcoa bench with 1:10 left in the third and Fulton leading 39-32.
Justin Burris banked in an 18-footer at the buzzer for a 41-32 Fulton lead. Alcoa shot just 33 percent in the third quarter. Fulton made 10 of 19 shots in that span.
Fulton also out-rebounded Alcoa 16-5 in the third.
The Falcons finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds and 19-second chance points.
But Alcoa forced 20 total turnovers by Fulton, and the Tornadoes’ final defensive push changed the tide.
“It means for all of us, the whole city of Alcoa,” Dean said. “Most people just think we’re a football school. We’re an all-sports school.”
FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS — click here.
ALCOA POST GAME INTERVIEWS — click here.
FULTON POST GAME INTERVIEWS — click here.