East's bid for fourth straight state title ends with championship game loss to Bearden

Khari Thompson
Memphis Commercial Appeal

MURFREESBORO — The last image of James Wiseman as a high school basketball player at East materialized with 1:15 left in Saturday's Class AAA championship game.

With his team down by 10, the nation's top player in the Class of 2019 fouled out and made his way down to the end of the bench. The 7-footer used his jersey to shield his face from the crowd as the tears began to fall.

Malcolm Dandridge, who missed the state tournament due to a knee injury, came over and motioned for a few of his teammates to scoot down so he could give Wiseman a hug and whisper a few words of comfort. Both are Memphis signees.

The Mustangs wanted to get one last championship for Dandridge, who had won the last three.

"It wasn't the pressure, it (winning) was just something we wanted to do," said Jevonte Holmes, who became the coach this season after Penny Hardaway became the Memphis Tigers coach. "And then once we got it going we wanted to do it for each other. Then when Malcolm went down we wanted to do it for Malcolm."

But the combination of Jacques Glover (24 points) and Trent Stephany (22 points) was too much as Bearden (32-5)  prevailed over East (26-9) with an 83-68 victory for its first boys basketball state title.

Memphis East's James Wiseman walks off the court after fouling out in their game against Bearden during the Class AAA boys basketball state championship at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. on Saturday, March 16, 2019.

Wiseman was not among the players East brought out for media interviews after the game. This was his second season at East after transferring from Ensworth in Nashville.

It was a painful end to a spectacular four-year run for East that produced three state championships, three Class AAA Mr. Basketball awards, and a 123-17 overall record. 

"I knew we had to just stay patient and keep chipping away at the lead but they kept making shots," said East guard Dee Meriweather. 

Wiseman posted a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Khylan Haywood added 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Merriweather scored 13 points and hit three threes. 

East is now 34-7 all-time in state tournament games.

 

UPDATES:TSSAA girls basketball state tournament quarterfinal games

SCHEDULE:TSSAA high school girls basketball state tournament 2019 pairings

PARKING:TSSAA basketball tournaments to impact traffic, parking around MTSU

WHERE TO EAT:TSSAA tournaments: Best places to eat in Murfreesboro