Shock to the System: Upsets and the Players Who Made Them

Hours, months spent seeding, sorting, analyzing teams and then on this specific day teams and players still Shock the System.

42 Polk County

40 Sweetwater

Sweetwater entered the game 21-5, with a 10-0 District Championship run and a District Tournament run.  SHS is a proud program, hardly a fluke to be #1 out of their district.

Polk County finished as the fourth seed from a difficult district.  Somehow they won!

For Polk County, Noah Shaw scored 10 points and Tucker Patterson Tucker Patterson 6'1" | SG Polk County | 2023 State TN (pictured) also scored 10 points.  For Patterson, two three-pointers keyed the second half success for Polk County. 

"Very loud and excited," Patterson described the post-game locker room.  This marks just the second time Polk County won a game in a Regional Tournament.

Caleb Milen lead Polk County with 12 points and Alex Armstrong helped with 6 points.

Sweetwater only made six shots in the entire second half! Kaden Duprey helped with 10 points, but only a single bucket after the break. Starter Dalen Gibby was the Wildcats’ best offensive threat, and his 17 points were all desperately needed.  His ability to get into traffic and finish kept the game close until the end.  

43 Brentwood

45 Columbia Central

Columbia Central was coming off a fantastic District Tournament Championship after a fantastic District Regular Season Championship

The Brentwood team lacked stars, save sophomore Daniel Cochran Daniel Cochran 6'7" | SF Brentwood | 2024 State TN , a true post presence most teams simply cannot answer.  

How did Brentwood put together the lead? 

Columbia getting active on the glass. They are not hitting the outside shots, but the press is helping them speed up BHS. In the half-court, the Bruins look really steady and calm. In the backcourt...not so much. 24-19 Brentwood leads. Great game for Daniel Cochran Daniel Cochran 6'7" | SF Brentwood | 2024 State TN (BHS).

The Bruins solved the press much better as the fourth quarter moved along.  In fact, the Bruins put together a nice run, to lead 36-29 with just under three minutes to play. 

Roni Bailey (Columbia Central) was everywhere on the floor, practically burning himself out completely.  He understood the urgency and Brentwood’s casualness was not to be tolerated or accepted.

Bailey forced a turnover or two, and his teammates capitalized.  Still, the problem became limiting Cochran’s effectiveness on the low block.  The tall forward kept making smart, composed passes alleviating pressure.

Brentwood used Cochran as a key pressure release valve.  Anytime the guards of Central nudged too tightly into the BHS guards, and pried at the ball, the Bruins tossed it up to Daniel.  He held the ball high, surveyed the floor, and made good decisions. 

Omari Franklin Omari Franklin 5'11" | PG Columbia Central | 2022 State TN caused many problems in the final run-up.  He took the ball directly to the basket, absorbing contact and finishing.  He poked free a dribble from a Bruin guard.  Franklin was the best player in the final two minutes, whereas Cochran was the best player from wire-to-wire. 

In the end, Columbia’s hectic, invested defense was too constrictive, like a snake intent on eating its prey. 

They move on, despite a very real scare.