Heartbreaker
Clarksville fights to very end, losing in double OT 69-66
By JIMMY TRODGLEN
The Leaf-Chronicle
MURFREESBORO — Almost from the beginning, the intent was to carve out their chapter in Clarksville High basketball history.
Without a doubt this season's edition of Wildcats basketball accomplished nearly all of their goals along the way, although the ultimate goal was left on the floor Saturday night at Middle Tennessee's Murphy Center. Still, the Wildcats did more than most expected.
There have been some great basketball teams in county history, and the '06-7 Clarksville Wildcats will go down as one of them, even with their double-overtime 69-66 loss to Maryville in the Class AAA state championship game.
It was the second consecutive night Clarksville High went overtime. In the tournament semifinals against Oakland on Friday, the Wildcats won in triple-overtime. In the championship game against Maryville, the Wildcats trailed by 14 when it mounted an incredible comeback in the fourth quarter to force the overtime. Clarksville trailed the entire game, but tied the score 50-50 on two free throws from Tyrone Caldwell with 26.3 seconds left.
At the end of the first overtime period, Caldwell stole an inbounds pass with 1.5 seconds left and hit two free throws to force the second overtime. Caldwell finished with 26 points and was named to the all-tournament team, along with Ryne Harper and Shaun Merriweather.
Although it is an unofficial record, TSSAA officials said no other team in tournament history had played more minutes in a state tournament. In their three tournament games, the Wildcats played a total of 116 minutes.
No basketball team from Montgomery County has won a state championship, although Clarksville High has come close twice, and Saturday's championship game will go down as a classic.
In their ninth state tournament appearance, the Wildcats reaped a chance to win the ultimate reward when they beat Franklin in the sectionals to reach state.
Clarksville finished state runner-up in 1964 and has a pair of third-place finishes, but no trophy or designation as state's best.
Clarksville came close to the state tournament field last season, losing to Hunters Lane in the regionals. This year the Wildcats wanted to take their season one step further, which they did with a win over Franklin.
Clarksville has had its share of greats to wear a Wildcats uniform, including the likes of current Wildcats coach Ted Young, along with Henry Thomas, Trenton Hassell and Shawn Marion. Now Caldwell can add his name to that list.
Clarksville rode a 23-game winning streak into the championship game and finished its season at 33-3. Along the way, the Wildcats blew out teams, with margins of victory exceeding 20 points during the regular season.
Once the postseason began, the margins of victory were trimmed dramatically, but each win moved the Wildcats closer to Saturday's climatic ending.
Along the way, Clarksville's fans grew, with the largest fan base in the three tournament rounds supporting the Wildcats.
Since the postseason began with a 65-52 win over Northeast in the District 10-AAA Tournament, the Wildcats had a flair for the dramatics. The Wildcats had to rally late in the fourth quarter to beat Springfield for the district tournament championship, then beat Gallatin, La Vergne and Mt. Juliet in the Region 5-AAA Tournament. A relentless and smothering defense stopped Franklin in the sectionals, sending Clarksville to its first state tournament since 1997.
To reach the championship game, Clarksville had to buck the odds. The Wildcats were placed in the toughest portion of the AAA bracket, opening with Memphis Ridgeway, then facing Oakland in the semifinals.
Ridgeway, which produced a state title two years ago — and three of its star players have played for Austin Peay in the past eight seasons — knocked off Raleigh-Egypt, ranked in USA Today's Top 25 national poll, to reach state.
The Wildcats trailed by 14 in the first quarter to Ridgeway, then took a nine-point lead with just over a minute remaining when Ridgeway mounted a furious rally, cutting the margin to one. Free throws from Harper sealed the win.
Against Oakland, the Wildcats again rallied from a big first-quarter deficit, then built a 10-point second-half lead before Oakland rallied to force overtime. The game went three overtimes, before the Wildcats eventually wore down the Patriots.
Jimmy Trodglen is sports editor of The Leaf-Chronicle and can be reached by e-mail at jimmytrodglen@theleafchronicle.com or by phone at 245-0261.
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