Three
straight titles
- Spartans' senior halts North Side
Commercial Appeal By Jim Masilak March 21, 2004
White
Station's Courtney Pigram is fouled on his way to the bucket by Jackson North
Side's Dell Coleman (front) as teammate Ramon Williams defends. The Spartans won
their third straight state title on Saturday night.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - In the bowels of the Murphy Center on Saturday night, Reiley Ervin held the freshly cut net, the MVP plaque and the championship winner's medal tight against his chest.
"And I'm not letting go," said Ervin, appropriately, of the hard-earned fruits of his considerable labor.
Just minutes earlier, the feisty senior point guard had helped hold together a White Station boys basketball team that seemed on the verge of collapse in the TSSAA Class AAA state championship game.
Ervin scored 12 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter to help the Spartans fend off Jackson North Side, 82-71, and claim their third straight state championship and fourth in five seasons.
"I tried to keep my composure and keep everybody involved, and my teammates found me in return," said the unheralded Ervin, who also had six assists, five rebounds and three steals while being named tournament MVP.
"My family really inspired me. They told me it didn't matter about points or accolades as long as I have them out there."
Ervin, who went 10-for-16 from the field, ended up with plenty of both in the final game of his prep career, and he left an indelible impression upon the Indians.
First, he hit a pair of key 3-pointers to stymie a third-quarter rally by the Indians, who had whittled an 11-point halftime deficit to just four.
Then, in the final, decisive period his irrepressible dribbling skills and determined finishing left the already frustrated Indians grasping at air.
"He's the little engine that could," said junior forward J.P. Prince of Ervin. "When we're all out of gas, it seems like we've got a full tank."
Courtney Pigram, Ervin's senior backcourt mate and a Mr. Basketball finalist, added 17 points for the Spartans (39-2 and rated No. 11 nationally in USA Today's Super 25 rankings).
White Station became just the fourth Tennessee school to win three consecutive boys state titles, and the first to win four in five years since Hume-Fogg in the mid-1920s.
"It's hard to describe how it feels," Spartans coach Terry Tippett said. "Blessed, lucky, grateful ... It's been a great 9-year run."
Jackson North Side, which was making its first state tournament appearance, got 21 points from Ramon Williams. Twin brothers Reginald and Richard Delk, the nephews of Dallas Mavericks guard Tony Delk, scored 14 and 13 points respectively.
The athletic Indians (29-3) caused the Spartans plenty of problems the first three quarters. But their paper-thin bench was cruelly exposed when foul trouble sent Reginald Delk and fellow starters Dell Coleman and Jarrell Shanklin to the bench.
"We tried to play defense real hard and play aggressive, but it just got us in foul trouble," said Reginald Delk. "We thought we could win if we kept on playing hard, but they just stepped it up on us."
While the Indians shot well early, hitting 4-of-10 first-half 3-pointers, they cooled off as the Spartans' pressure and superior numbers began to tell.
That didn't happen until White Station survived second-half runs by North Side.
"Coach said at halftime that they were gonna make a run," Ervin said. "He told us if we kept our composure and keep their run to a minimum, we were gonna win."
White Station rolls to state title - White Station 82, Jackson North Side 71
March 20, 2004
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) - Tournament MVP Riley Ervin scored 26 points as White Station claimed its third consecutive Class AAA title with an 82-71 win over Jackson North Side in the TSSAA Boys State tournament on Saturday.
Ervin had 12 points in the fourth period, helping White Station (39-2) extend a three-point advantage, 60-57, to 12 points with 4:07 remaining. Ervin started the 11-2 run with a pair of free throws at the 5:58 mark and contributed six points before the Spartans settled into the 71-59 advantage.
Jackson North Side (29-3) could only come within 10 from that point on. White Station led by as many as 17 in the closing minutes.
Mr. Basketball finalist Courtney Pigram added 17 points for White Station, which has worn the AAA state crown four of the past five years.
Ramon Williams sank four three-pointers and finished with 21 points to pace North Side.
White Station took the lead for keeps after surviving five lead changes in the first nine minutes.
Colin Cunningham had four of eight unanswered points to help White Station build a six-point lead midway through the second period. The Spartans reeled off another 8-3 rally to close the quarter and head into halftime with a 43-32 advantage.
North Side opened the third quarter with seven unanswered points and continued to chip away until Richard Delk's three-pointer with 38 seconds left drew the Indians to within 55-53. North Side stayed within five points until Ervin rallied White Station early in the fourth period.