Region Tournament Recap: Four UC Boys’ Teams Win Region; Will Host Sectionals

Thursday night was good for four of the five Upper Cumberland boys’ basketball teams participating in their respective Region Tournament Championship games, and as a result, those four teams will host Sectional round games on Monday. Van Buren County, Clay County, York Institute and Stone Memorial all claimed Region Tournament titles, while the Jackson County Blue Devils lost to York in heartbreaking fashion.

Blaine York took an inbound pass for the Dragons with 3.2 seconds, made his way to the right side elbow and drained a jumper as time expired to give York the thrilling 47-45 victory over the Blue Devils in the Region 3-2A Championship game. It was the fourth meeting of the year for the two teams. Jackson County beat York Institute last week in the District 5-2A Tournament Championship, with both games being played at Watertown High School. Jon Heddings and Nic Smith each scored 14 for the Dragons (25-7), who will host Pearl Cohn (20-10) in the Class 2A Sectionals. Jackson County (23-7) was led by Ramon Cuevas and Tre Monette, who each had 15. The Blue Devils will travel to East Nashville (27-3) for their Sectional round game.

Meanwhile, Grant Strong had another remarkable postseason night, as he scored 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Clay County’s 63-43 rout of East Robertson in the Region 4-1A Tournament Championship. Strong was named tournament MVP, and the win was the 500th in the coaching career of Coach Rob Edwards. The Bulldogs (22-6) are set up up with a home game against Chattanooga Prep (10-4) in the Sectionals. Van Buren County took care of Chattanooga Prep in the Region 3-1A Championship, as the Eagles (20-11) rolled to a 75-59 victory to claim the Region 3-1A Tournament Championship. Van Buren County will host East Robertson (23-6) in Monday’s Sectional round.

The Stone Memorial Panthers earned a home game in the Class 3A Sectionals, as they dispatched Page, 57-48, in the Region 4-3A title game at Tullahoma. Panthers’ freshman Cade Capps was named tournament MVP, and was joined by Dylan Whittenburg and Matthew Bilbrey on the All-Tournament team. Stone Memorial (21-10) will host Austin East (9-16) for the right to go to the State Tournament, Monday night.