Fulton’s Deshawn Page led all scorers Friday with 19 points, and the Falcons advanced to the Class AA state championship. (Photo: Charles Pulliam).
MURFREESBORO – Deshawn Page brought his personal box of Skittles into the post-game press area with him Friday morning, fresh off of beating East Nashville in the Class AA state semifinals.
“It’s just a pregame snack,” said Page. “Like Marshawn Lynch.”
Well, he had some after the game, too. Maybe there’s something to it.
Page definitely went “Beast Mode” against the Eagles, scoring a game-high 19 points and pulling down six rebounds in Fulton’s 66-55 win that sends the Falcons to the state championship for a second consecutive season.
Fulton (28-4) ran its win streak to 18 games and will face tournament-favorite Wooddale (32-4) at 1 p.m. Central time on Saturday in the Class AA championship. Wooddale features 6-8 senior and Oregon signee Chandler Lawson and his 6-8 sophomore brother Jonathan.
Fulton won it all in 2008, 2009 and 2016 but has finished runner-up five times, including last season’s 60-58 loss to Hamilton in the season finale.
“It hurt so much. We don’t really like losing. That’s not the (Jody) Wright way,” Page said, referencing Fulton’s legendary head coach.
“We just want to get back what we didn’t get last year.”
Experience won out in the second half.
East Nashville (27-7) cut Fulton’s lead to 32-22 early in the third for a quick boost of motivation. But the Eagles’ freshman guard Willie Wilson gambled on a steal on the ensuing inbounds play, and Fulton senior guard Trey Davis made him pay, racing down the court and making a floater in the lane. Davis finished with 10 points.
Wilson fired an ill-advised 3 late in the third quarter, airballed it and Fulton rebounded. Page converted via an offensive rebound on the other end for a 41-29 lead.
Page scored 10 third-quarter points and gave the Falcons a 47-35 lead heading into the fourth on a post score with 6 seconds left in the third.
“We’ve really been practicing hard. Ever since we got down here, we’ve been practicing hard all day, every day,” said Page. “So we’ve just been trying to get back to this point and this place and finish what we didn’t finish last year.”
East Nashville cut the lead to five twice in the fourth quarter.
But Edward Lacey’s floater with 4:50 and 10-foot jumper at the 3:46 mark kept Fulton in front 55-46.
Then, with Fulton lead 60-54 with less than 2 minutes left, Lacey forced a jump ball with his defense. Possession went to Fulton, and Page made a layup for a 62-54 advantage.
Fulton went 7-for-8 at the foul line in the final 3:09 minutes. Lacey finished with 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
“He’s a great ball-handler. He’s been a big part of this season since his freshman year,” Page said of Lacey. “So, he’s really a big piece to this team.”
5STAR PHOTOS: Fulton 66, East Nashville 55 (Class AA state semifinals)
Fulton built a 28-15 first-half lead on grit, hustle and fire.
The Falcons turned East Nashville over 10 times.
They held the Eagles to 36.8 shooting.
They outrebounded East Nashville, and Fulton also made 11 of 23 field goals.
It was 16 minutes of pure energy and execution — a stark contrast to the Falcons’ performance in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, where they won 44-41 in overtime playing with their C-game.
And all parties contributed in the first half. Domenic Holland, normally a role player, contributed four key first-quarter points. Page, a Class 5A Mr. Football winner, reached the half with seven points. Senior reserve Trey West hit a 3 for a 26-13 lead late in the second quarter.
But maybe the tell-all play of the first half was Lacey’s mid-range jumper at the 2:31 mark of the second quarter, where he blew left past his defender and rose for the shot.
Edward Lacey pours in two of his 13 points during Fulton’s 66-55 win over East Nashville on Friday. (Photo: Charles Pulliam)
He buried the shot while getting fouled and made the subsequent free throw.
Maybe the whole team had Skittles, not just Page.
“I felt like this game would be much different than what Wednesday’s game was, from a tempo standpoint and from a defensive standpoint. I felt like good shots would be a little easier to come by,” said Wright. “And that’s no knock on East Nashville. They’re a really good defensive team, but Memphis Mitchell was another level.
“So I felt like we would have to score some points team. That’s a tremendously talented offensive team (in East Nashville), as you guys saw in the second half. We did a nice job in the first half. But the second half was kind of hang on.”