Knoxville Catholic beats Christian Brothers to reach boys basketball championship in first year of Division II

B.J. Edwards has wanted to play against Briarcrest five-star junior point guard Kennedy Chandler since he found out Knoxville Catholic was entering Division II this school year.

Edwards, a sophomore, will get his first chance to play against Chandler after the Irish's 75-60 win over Christian Brothers in the Division II-AA state semifinals Friday at Lipscomb's Allen Arena.

Catholic (24-4) plays Briarcrest (25-5) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the DII-AA state championship game.

"Every since we switched to this division and I heard about Briarcrest winning last year and seeing all the (college) offers he has and that everyone knows him, I've been wanting to play in the championship."

Chandler, the No. 15 college basketball prospect in the country for the Class of 2021 according to the 247Sports Composite. He's also the No. 2-rated point guard in the country. Edwards is the No. 2-rated prospect in Tennessee for 2022 and No. 18 point guard in the country.

Edwards scored 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in Catholic's win over Christian Brothers. 

However, it was the post play of Catholic's post players Akeem Odusipe and Hanje Tamba that impressed Christian Brothers coach Bubba Luckett. It was a luxury his team didn't have.

"We felt like the big guys were the difference of the game," Luckett said. "We're small; we've got some things we can do against one big man. But it's tough to deal with two because we're guarding them with guards."

Oduspie had 12 points and nine rebounds and Tamba had six points.

But Catholic also hit from the perimeter, hitting 6-of-9 from the 3-point line in the first half and 8-of-15 from the game. 

The Irish shot 66.7 percent from the field for the game.

Chandler Jackson led Christian Brothers with 23 points. Teammate Ashton Strother added 16.

Catholic's trip to the DII-AA championship came in the Irish's return to Division II. Catholic's last previous season in DII was during the 2004-05 season. Catholic has never won a boys basketball state championship.

"It was better competition this year, more people with taller height," Edwards said. "And games were closer."

Reach Tom Kreager at tkreager@gannett.com or on Twitter @Kreager.