Josh Heard answers dad's halftime challenge, lifts Cookeville to first TSSAA basketball championship game

MURFREESBORO — Sliding to his left, Josh Heard had a clear view of the steal that will be remembered as long as high school basketball is played in Cookeville.

As Heard rushed into the paint, he saw Bennett Reeves poke the ball away from Bartlett's Arkansas State-bound forward, R'Chaun King. Then he saw Colin Ayers wrap his arms around the ball and the Panthers with no one in position to foul and extend the final seconds of Friday's Class 4A TSSAA boys basketball state tournament semifinal.

This view let Heard begin his celebration a split-second before any other Cavalier. Before the final horn had even sounded, he was racing — leaping, really — down the court with his right arm raised, his momentum carrying him all the way to just in front of the Cookeville student section.

Heard may only have been a spectator in the game's final seconds, but the Cavaliers wouldn't be heading to the TSSAA state championship game without him. The senior scored 18 points and hit four 3-pointers, leading his team to a 41-39 win over Bartlett and into Saturday's title game against Independence (32-6) at Middle Tennessee State's Murphy Center.

Cookeville (32-3) is competing in its first state tournament in 70 years. Just two days ago, the Cavaliers had never won a game there. Now they're set to play for a title.

"I hit my first two threes and I said I'm gonna keep shooting the ball," Heard said. "I knew coming out of halftime, we gotta get stops. But in the back of my mind, I'm like, I gotta go score the ball to win this game. So I did what I had to do."

Bartlett (32-5) ended the first half on a 17-4 run and led by 11 points before Cookeville slowed down the tempo, looking to play the game at its own pace. Ayers scored five points to help the Cavaliers come within 32-27, and with 1:45 to go in the third quarter, Heard took his chance.

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Heard came into Friday having hit 53 3-pointers and had drained two more in the first half. He got the ball on the edge of the halfcourt logo, isolated against Bartlett's Austin Howard with one thought: "I'm gonna let it go." As he took his second dribble, he knew Howard had given him too much space.

Turns out Heard was right. The 6-foot-6 forward's release was too high for Howard to contest; his aim too true, even from 25 feet away, for the ball to go anywhere but the bottom of the net.

Three minutes later, Heard got the ball on the right wing; the 6-7 Axton Perry with his right hand already in his face. It took Heard less than a second to decide what he wanted to do. His shot swished through, bringing Cookeville within 34-33. His next shot, a 2-pointer, put the Cavaliers in front.

“I tested their manhood in the locker room and they tested their manhood in the locker room," said Cookeville coach Josh Heard, Josh's father. "I basically told them, if (Bartlett) thinks they're gonna come and punk us, they gotta do it face up."

Despite being outrebounded 29-14, Cookeville dictated game flow and made 13 of 25 shots. After Bartlett's Christian Alston tied the game on a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left, Heard drew up a final play. Ayers crossed over his man, took a gather step between two Panthers and dished it to a wide-open Joseph Owens under the basket.

"We knew our game plan was steady and strong," the elder Heard said. "We needed to man up. Just showing what we showed in that third quarter and that fourth quarter, that fight that we have, just shows the true nature of these Cavaliers."

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.