The Fulton Falcons took on the Upperman Bees in a TSSAA Class 3A state tournament semifinal at the Murphy Center on Friday, March 15, 2024, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Fulton boys won 52-30. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — The postgame question might have been directed towards Class 3A Mr. Basketball and Fulton senior forward Tyler Lee on Friday night, but fellow senior Taj Kimber had no problem chiming in with his answer before Lee could.
After another so-so offensive night this week at the state tournament, 5Star Preps asked Lee if Fulton had played its A-game at any point in the quarterfinals or semifinals.
“We’ll say D-game,” Taj Kimber said.
Nevertheless, Fulton is finding a way to advance.
And doing it with their trademark: defense.
Fulton forced 28 turnovers against Upperman and rode the offensive path Denaj Kimber created to force their way back into the Class 3A Championship via a 52-30 win over Upperman on Friday night.
“I tell you what: offensively, we were just non-existent there for a while,” Fulton coach Jody Wright said. “I think we let the fact that we weren’t making shots get us a little tentative. The pace of the game got really slow, and we didn’t want it really slow.
“It seemed like we were stuck on 25 or 26 (points) for forever. But, again, our defense was good enough. And it gave us some time. We created some stuff with our press. We got a few buckets. Got going a little bit. But, this game was won on the defensive end. That’s a really good, highly skilled, well-coached basketball team (in Upperman).”
The Falcons (34-2) will take on Ridgeway (27-5) at 6:30 p.m. Central time Saturday night at MTSU’s Murphy Center.
Ridgeway enters with a 21-game win streak and has wins this week over David Crockett (62-39) and Creek Wood (65-29). Like Fulton, they boast many a player who averages double figures in scoring. Brian Carter Jr. — a 6-5 senior forward — leads Ridgeway at 17.3 points per contest followed by 6-5 senior forward Emanuel Allen (15.5), 5-9 senior point guard Marlon McShane (14.4) and 5-9 senior point guard Joshua Thornton (10.1).
Ridgeway has four state championships, the last of which came in 2008.
Fulton has four, as well, and is looking to repeat like it did in 2008 and 2009.
“They’re big. They’re fast. Just really impressed. Today was the first time I’ve seen them,” Wright said of Ridgeway. “They got all the pieces … We’ll have our hands full. From what I saw tonight, that’s by far the best team we’ll have seen this year — which is what you should see, normally, in a state tournament.”
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HOW FULTON TOPPED UPPERMAN
The Falcons stormed to a 17-3 lead after one quarter and flustered Upperman’s freshman star Ty Cobb. The 6-0 guard didn’t score until 5:57 mark of the second quarter. He finished with just nine points — 10 below his average — on 4-for-13 shooting. He had just two assists and six turnovers.
“Our plan was to keep different bodies on him, make him work for everything,” Wright said.
Still, Upperman made a game of it. The Bees (30-5) outscored Fulton 14-5 in the second quarter and trailed 22-17 at the break. After shooting 50 percent in the first quarter, Fulton’s offense turned stagnant in the second, and the Falcons made just 2 of 10 field-goal attempts.
Fulton’s offense didn’t look much better in the third; though, it ramped up its defensive efforts to pull away.
Denaj Kimber, who had a game-high 19 points for Fulton, sank a 3 at the top of the key to remedy a failing possession. That shot gave Fulton a 25-19 lead at the 4:53 mark of the third.
But after Upperman made it a 25-21 game with 4:11 left in the quarter, Fulton held Upperman scoreless the next 7:46 of the contest.
By the time the Bees snapped that scoreless drought midway through the fourth, Fulton held a 38-23 lead.
Fulton shot 50 percent in the fourth quarter. Tyler Lee did not score in the first half. But his jumper in the paint with 1:41 left in the third proved to be his first bucket, and it trigged the 13-0 run for Fulton that led to the win.
Lee scored four in that span and he, Dexter Lewis and Nick Steen each finished with 10 points.
Denaj Kimber’s two layups in the opening minute of the fourth sent the message that this contest belonged to Fulton.
“We had to grind out every possession,” Lee said, “but we ended up getting the job done.”
5STAR PHOTOS powered by SmartBank: Fulton Falcons vs. Upperman Bees (2024 Class 3A State Semifinals)