The Alcoa Tornadoes faced the East Nashville Eagles in a TSSAA Class 2A state tournament quarterfinal at the Murphy Center on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Alcoa boys won 74-40. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — The last time the Alcoa boys basketball team graced MTSU’s Murphy Center, they had the place rocking.
On Thursday, they rocked the arena to sleep.
The defending state champion Tornadoes opened their Class 2A state tournament stay this week with a resounding rout of East Nashville, 74-40.
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This one was a snoozer by the half, as East Nashville (15-10) trailed 32-16 and showed it was both outmatched and unable to keep up. The Eagles didn’t win their district tournament nor their region tournament this postseason.
Alcoa (24-13) didn’t play down to its competition.
It turned the quarterfinal into a dunk-fest show for freshman Jamir Dean who threw down a handful to please the crowd en route to finishing with a team-high 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting.
Newly minted Class 2A Mr. Basketball winner Jahvin Carter, who made the game-winning shot in Alcoa’s championship win over Douglass last year, scored 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting in his return to Murfreesboro.
He added seven rebounds and four assists — both of which led Alcoa on Thursday.
“We thought it was one of those (games) where if we executed a game plan, we were going to be in good shape,” Alcoa coach Ryan Collins said. “Lot of respect for their program for getting here. They’ve had a top-level program, especially the past couple of year.
“For us, it all started and ended with gap integrity (on defense); we felt like, if they drive and we make them see bodies, they’d turn it over or force shots. That would allow us to get out in transition.”
Alcoa scored 22 points Thursday off East Nashville turnovers.
The Tornadoes will face Ripley (27-7) at 5:30 p.m. Central time Friday in the state semifinals. Ripley ousted Cannon County, 61-41, on Thursday. The Tigers have won 14 games in a row and are led by JaMarion and JaMarcus Whitelow — twins and two 6-3 senior forwards.
JaMarion Whitelow averages 21 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocks per game. On Thursday, he had 11 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and two assists. JaMarcus had 16 points.
Ripley is back at state for the first time since 2015.
Alcoa played like the veteran club it is on Thursday, shooting 25 of 51 from the floor over the final three quarters.
It out-rebounded East Nashville 41-33 and forced 18 turnovers.
East Nashville shot just 28.8 percent from the floor and went 3-for-24 at the 3-point line.
The Tornadoes never trailed, and Carter sat the final 4:24 of the contest.
“I’m just happy to see so many kids go out there and have success. We have a very deep team. We have a lot of kids on the roster we believe in,” Collins said. “For that many kids to go in and contribute to winning, I thought, was huge for us.
“And I think there’s some added value to getting these (starters) off the floor with a quarter to go.”
BOXSCORE: Alcoa 74, East Nashville 40
Alcoa (74): Jahvin Carter 18, Brady Haun 5, Moro Ayl 4, Jamir Dean 20, Jibriel Koko 5, Eli Graf 4, Kamden Lanxter 7, A.J. Love 9, Jay Kirk 2
East Nashville (40): Antonio Graham 9, Cortez Murphy 8, Je’von Carter 7, Pocjowk Nyapal 13, Jordan Vanlier 3
Alcoa 13 19 20 22 — 74
ENash 10 6 9 15 — 40
FG Percentage: Alcoa 30-65 (46.2 percent), EN 15-52 (28.8)
3-pointers: Alcoa 10-27, EN 3-24
Free Throws: Alcoa 4-6, EN 7-12
Rebounds: Alcoa 41, EN 33
Turnovers: Alcoa 8, EN 18