Catholic survives at Lipscomb
Battling one of the state’s top teams in a hostile environment in a Division II-AA State Quarterfinal game, Knoxville Catholic High School’s boys basketball team survived and advanced to this week’s State Final Four.
The Irish had a roller-coaster ride of a game in a 64-55 victory at Lipscomb Academy Saturday, Feb. 28, in what coach Travis Mains labeled a team victory.
“All of the kids contributed something,” Mains said after the Irish punched their ticket to the Volunteer State’s grand state at Austin Peay State University’s F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville. “It was truly a complete team victory.
“Everybody played their roles.”
Catholic (24-6) led by seven points heading into the fourth quarter, but it was far from over as the Mustangs opened the final frame on a 9-0 run to take a narrow lead.
“We had a seven-point lead going into the fourth quarter but they have some great basketball players and great athletes,” Mains said. “They came out and scored the first nine points, and the crowd was just nuts in that cracker box.
“It was a tough environment, but things didn’t come unraveled for us. We had some games, like the three games against Webb, where we really fall apart. But we learned from it and we didn’t fall apart.”
Cade Murphy led the way for Catholic’s offense as he scored 21 points. He also posted a double-double as he pulled down 10 rebounds. Landon Lee added 14 points for the Irish, who advanced to the state quarterfinals with an 81-55 victory at home over Christian Brothers School.
Malachi Brown, who battled foul trouble throughout the contest, finished with 11 points. Travis Martin chipped in with seven points and six assists for the Irish.
Catholic will open tournament play on Thursday against Briarcrest Christian School with tipoff slated for 6 p.m. EST. The Irish defeated Briarcrest to win the 2020 state championship before things were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
