Whitehaven knocks out Bartlett with sectional victory for second year in a row

BARTLETT — For the second straight season, Whitehaven picked up a road win over Bartlett in the sectionals to advance to the Class AAA state tournament.

Matthew Murrell scored a team-high 18 points, highlighted by an early high-flying dunk and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the first quarter.

"Coach just wanted us to come out intense," Murrell said. "He said if we get off to a slow start, they're going to be up on us and it would be hard for us, so we just came out strong."

Nonetheless, Bartlett took the lead on a third-quarter 3 from Wynne Brown. Sylvester Thompson was the catalyst behind the comeback, getting steals and knocking down timely shots. 

"That's just who he is," Bartlett coach Dion Real said of Thompson. "He's an under-the-radar kid. A lot of people not giving him a lot of praise. But he is something special. He's quick. He can score the ball. Defensively he can do some things. He's what this program is about. I'm going to fight. I'm not scared of you. Until the end."

Bartlett (31-3), which featured 12 seniors, enjoyed its winningest season since it went 33-5 and won the state title in 2001.

"We've had a blast," Real said. "Probably the most relaxed, the most fun I've had as a coach."

Whitehaven (24-7) bounced back from Thursday's loss to East, which advanced with an 85-67 victory over Bolton behind James Wiseman's second straight triple-double. The possibility for a 10th meeting between the teams within the past two years remains intact. 

"Coming off of that tough loss to East after having a chance to win at the buzzer, it's been a merry-go-round," Whitehaven coach Faragi Phillips said. "It's been a see-saw. And I challenged them so hard the other day at practice, I got in them so good, and they came out today and played the way I knew we could play."

Whitehaven was set to find out its first state-tournament opponent on Tuesday night.