Bearden senior forward Hayden Moseley (5) and the Bearden Bulldogs faced the Dobyns-Bennett Indians in the TSSAA Class 4A state championship at Murphy Center on Saturday, March 19, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Dobyns-Bennett boys won 69-60 in overtime. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — A white towel covered in Gatorade logos draped over Hayden Moseley’s head Saturday night following Bearden’s overtime loss in the 4A state championship, as the Bearden senior who had almost single-handedly led a rally for the ages tried to process the swirling emotions behind the veil the towel provided.
“It hurt, really,” Moseley said of the moment. “I guess it’s every high school basketball player’s dream to win a state championship.”
His 3-pointer from the corner as time expired in regulation took him to the peak.
Fouling out a few minutes later and seeing Dobyns-Bennett win 69-60 in the extra period, though, proved a sobering feeling for Moseley and the Bulldogs. The program was seeking its first state title since 2019 and second overall, and it was attempting to match the 4A championship won a week ago by the Bearden girls’ basketball team.
But Dobyns-Bennett (33-6) made all the history Saturday night, as it won its first boys’ basketball state title since 1945. The Indians hadn’t played for a state championship in boys basketball since 1973.
They led by 15 points going into the fourth quarter. Bearden (31-7) awoke from its three-quarter slumber and made Dobyns-Bennett earn the title, though.
“I’m proud of them,” Bearden coach Jeremy Parrott said, referencing the team’s effort after taxing wins over midstate powers Cane Ridge and Lebanon the first two rounds. “They definitely had the tougher road to hoe.”
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Jack Browder was named tournament MVP. The Dobyns-Bennett 6-foot-4 guard had 30 points and 13 rebounds. He scored seven in overtime and hit the 3 with 1 minute, 37 seconds left in overtime that broke a 56-all tie and sent the momentum into the Indians’ favor the rest of the way.
How Bearden even got to that point was remarkable in itself.
The Bulldogs’ start was nightmarish, like they were in a trance they couldn’t escape. Mr. Basketball finalist Elijah Bredwood got two fouls in the first quarter and didn’t score until 51 seconds remained in the second quarter.
Bearden’s 6-6 wing Darian Bailey got hit with three fouls in the first half.
The Bulldogs went 2-for-11 on 3s and didn’t attempt a foul shot in the first 16 minutes.
The outlook didn’t change much for Bearden in the third, as it fumbled easy transition opportunities and Bailey got hit with a fourth foul at the 2:54 mark. Bredwood missed a pair of free throws with 1:05 left in the third, Walker Kyle got the rebound and missed a putback opportunity.
And then Browder hit a jumper to send D-B into the fourth with a 39-24 advantage.
Game over right?
It seemed so, as Malachi Hale had two consecutive scores to give D-B a 43-28 lead with 5:58 to play.
But then Bearden dialed up some serious defensive pressure, and Moseley went off. Starting with his 3-point play at the 5:52 mark in the fourth, the high-flying, 6-3 wing scored the next nine points in the contest.
After that spurt cut D-B’s lead to 43-37 with 4:15 to go, Moseley added a 3 to make it 45-40 Indians with 3:46 left.
Bredwood, who had 13 points, hit a 3 with 1:20 to go that trimmed D-B’s lead to 48-47.
Moseley put back a Bredwood missed slash to the basket with 10.2 seconds left to make the Indians’ lead 50-49.
Browder hit a pair of free throws with 7.8 seconds remaining, giving D-B a three-point cushion. The Indians went 5-for-5 at the foul line in the final 2:17 of regulation.
But Bredwood drove the length of the court and found Moseley open for 3 in the corner, and he buried it.
He scored 17 points in the fourth quarter.
“I was just trying to spark something in us,” said Moseley, who was 10-for-14 shooting with 11 rebounds and five steals.
Bearden simply ran out of steam and players in overtime. The fouls had mounted up and the effort the comeback demanded looked to have zapped some legs.
Wyatt Shomaker and Bredwood each made a pair of free throws near the midpoint of overtime to remain tied with D-B. But Bredwood fouled out with 1:26 left in overtime. Moseley fouled out 48 seconds later. Bailey had fouled out with 2:42 left in the fourth.
Browder’s 3 with 1:50 remaining in overtime spurred an 8-2 run over the next 60 seconds.
Bearden didn’t have any 3s left in the tank to make one last rally.
The Bulldogs went 5-for-26 from the 3-point line and shot 16 fewer free throws than Dobyns-Bennett.
“We just didn’t have the first 8 minutes (of the game) we needed to have,” said Parrott. “If we had a better first 8 minutes, I feel like this would have been a little different.
“We played poorly early and had to play catch up. Got into some foul trouble. We finally got behind the 8-ball enough where we had to make the game faster (in the fourth quarter). … we would have gone to it earlier, but we were already in foul trouble. We were just kind of keeping it in our pocket until our backs were against the wall.”
5STAR PHOTOS: BEARDEN vs. Dobyns-Bennett (Class 4A Championship, March 19, 2022)