Spartans Pull Off State Title 3-Peat
Commercial Appeal by Jim Masilak March 21, 2004
Spartans Pull Off State Title 3-Peat
Commercial Appeal by Jim Masilak March 21, 2004
White
Station players and fans celebrate their basketball program's third straight
state title, and fourth in five years.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Once again, it's White Station.
The Spartans won their record third straight TSSAA Class AAA boys basketball state title Saturday night, but not without a scare or two along the way.
Tournament MVP Reiley Ervin scored 26 points and Courtney Pigram added 17, as the Spartans pulled away to an 82-71 victory against a game Jackson North Side at Middle Tennessee's Murphy Center.
For the Spartans (39-2 and rated No. 11 nationally in the USA Today Super 25 rankings), it also was the fourth title in five years. During that remarkable stretch, coach Terry Tippett's teams have compiled a record of 176-12.
White Station became the first program to win three straight titles since East Robertson pulled the hat trick in Class A from 1987-89, and the first to win four in five years since Hume-Fogg did it between 1921 and 1925.
"Historically, we've really done something," said Tippett, whose team became the first in state history to win three successive Class AAA titles. The TSSAA expanded its playoff system to three classifications in 1973. "The players have done a great job, and they've made White Station proud."
But the Spartans' latest championship didn't come easy.
North Side, with 21 points from Ramon Williams, trimmed an 11-point halftime deficit to pull within three points at 53-50 late in the third quarter.
White Station, however, had been in battles before, and its experience showed against a team making its first state tournament appearance.
"We've been through this plenty of times, and we don't panic," junior forward J.P. Prince said. "They just got close, but we always keep our composure. We don't panic under pressure."
Ervin's play down the stretch, combined with the Indians' foul trouble, helped White Station make it look easy in the end.
Ervin, a 5-11 senior point guard, hit a pair of 3-pointers to stop a North Side run in the third quarter.
Once Reginald Delk and two other North Side starters fouled out, Ervin took over and dribbled furiously to run off the final minutes.
Afterward, the Spartans struggled to come to grips with their accomplishment.
"This has all happened so fast," said senior forward Johnathan Ball, who finished with 10 points Saturday. "I came to White Station from Bellevue Middle School because I wanted to win, and we did exactly that."
- Jim Masilak: 529-2311
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