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MURFREESBORO ― Kasen Buie headed to the bench late in the fourth quarter and plopped into his seat, wrapping his arm around teammate Jaxon Roberson with a smile stretched wide across his face.
Loretto was moments away from advancing to the TSSAA boys basketball state championship game for the first time since 2018, after clearing the penultimate hurdle standing between the Mustangs and a perfect season.
Loretto defeated Tyner Academy, 59-47, in the Class 2A semifinals on Friday, with a matchup against Alcoa (25-5) awaiting the Mustangs in the state title game at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Mustangs are now 34-0, seeking to become the first public school since Union City in 2008 to finish a TSSAA boys basketball season undefeated and win a state title.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ty Cobb drops 28 points to lead Upperman in Nashville area top TSSAA state tournament performers
"I was just praying that we'd win," Mr. Basketball finalist Grayson Burleson said. "It was a close game the whole time but we had the guys that step up ... we got one more and hopefully we can go get it (Saturday)."
The Mustangs were led by senior Kasen Buie who dropped a game-high 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting while grabbing 10 boards.
Last season Buie lost roughly 30 pounds after being plagued with mono for much of the year, which limited the minutes of the 6-foot-8 center, as the team suffered a heartbreaking playoff elimination against Cannon County on a last-second 3-pointer in the region semifinals.
That defeat lingers for Buie, and it's made this year's unbeaten run all the more special.
"It's a big motivation, not being able to perform like I wanted to last year," Buie said. "And now we've got Grayson in, we just all motivate each other to be better every day."
MORE: How Tullahoma basketball coach Jason Welch overcame heart surgery, lead team to TSSAA semifinals
WATCH: How to watch TSSAA boys basketball state tournament
Buie's performance was indicative of a next man up mentality that's been a defining factor behind the Mustangs' success this season. After leading Loretto with 19 points in Wednesday's state quarterfinal win over Liberty Creek, Burleson had a self-admittedly quiet game on the offensive end, but never once worried about where the production may come from.
"I don't worry about who scores, or who scores what, because we've got so many guys," coach Greg Tipps said. "That's what I'm so proud of with these guys, it's not often times you have a team with a 2,600-point scorer, two or three others with over 1,000 points in their career, that have bought into defending and rebounding like we did."
While this is the Mustangs' first state championship appearance since 2018, many players have been on this stage before. Mason Tidwell helped bring a state baseball championship to Loretto in 2024 and that experience has only given him further motivation to lift another state title.
"Being at that stage kind of helps stay calm for this, it's just another game," Tidwell said.
Harrison Campbell covers high school sports for The Daily Herald and The Tennessean. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA boys basketball state tournament 2025: Loretto to play for 2A title
Continue reading...
Loretto was moments away from advancing to the TSSAA boys basketball state championship game for the first time since 2018, after clearing the penultimate hurdle standing between the Mustangs and a perfect season.
Loretto defeated Tyner Academy, 59-47, in the Class 2A semifinals on Friday, with a matchup against Alcoa (25-5) awaiting the Mustangs in the state title game at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Mustangs are now 34-0, seeking to become the first public school since Union City in 2008 to finish a TSSAA boys basketball season undefeated and win a state title.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ty Cobb drops 28 points to lead Upperman in Nashville area top TSSAA state tournament performers
"I was just praying that we'd win," Mr. Basketball finalist Grayson Burleson said. "It was a close game the whole time but we had the guys that step up ... we got one more and hopefully we can go get it (Saturday)."
The Mustangs were led by senior Kasen Buie who dropped a game-high 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting while grabbing 10 boards.
Last season Buie lost roughly 30 pounds after being plagued with mono for much of the year, which limited the minutes of the 6-foot-8 center, as the team suffered a heartbreaking playoff elimination against Cannon County on a last-second 3-pointer in the region semifinals.
That defeat lingers for Buie, and it's made this year's unbeaten run all the more special.
"It's a big motivation, not being able to perform like I wanted to last year," Buie said. "And now we've got Grayson in, we just all motivate each other to be better every day."
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MORE: How Tullahoma basketball coach Jason Welch overcame heart surgery, lead team to TSSAA semifinals
WATCH: How to watch TSSAA boys basketball state tournament
Buie's performance was indicative of a next man up mentality that's been a defining factor behind the Mustangs' success this season. After leading Loretto with 19 points in Wednesday's state quarterfinal win over Liberty Creek, Burleson had a self-admittedly quiet game on the offensive end, but never once worried about where the production may come from.
"I don't worry about who scores, or who scores what, because we've got so many guys," coach Greg Tipps said. "That's what I'm so proud of with these guys, it's not often times you have a team with a 2,600-point scorer, two or three others with over 1,000 points in their career, that have bought into defending and rebounding like we did."
While this is the Mustangs' first state championship appearance since 2018, many players have been on this stage before. Mason Tidwell helped bring a state baseball championship to Loretto in 2024 and that experience has only given him further motivation to lift another state title.
"Being at that stage kind of helps stay calm for this, it's just another game," Tidwell said.
Harrison Campbell covers high school sports for The Daily Herald and The Tennessean. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA boys basketball state tournament 2025: Loretto to play for 2A title
Continue reading...
