After a hard-fought game in the 3A State Title games where Tullahoma came up short to the Upperman Bees, losing 65-55, three Wildcat players were named on the State All-Tournament Team.
Junior Austin Tinnon and seniors Xavier Farrell and Khani Johnson were selected based on their high-level performances at the tournament.
Xavier Farrell
Coming off of a record breaking season prior to the state tournament, that saw Farrell break Tullahoma’s all-time scoring record and single season scoring record, Farrell’s play on the court by no means dropped off when he arrived in Murfreesboro.
Over the three-game span the Wildcats played at the Murphy Center Farrell averaged 24.3 points a game, including a 33-point efficient 15 of 21 shooting performance in the first round against Jackson South Side High School.
“Xavier was in all likelihood 10 points away from being named the MVP of the state tournament,” head coach of Tullahoma Jason Welch said.
“His effort and leadership helped in making this team so successful.”
Farrell’s intense demeanor and dynamic scoring bag will be missed when the Wildcats take the floor next year without him, and other season starter for Tullahoma Khani Johnson.
Khani Johnson
The #33 and #11 punch of Farrell and Johnson was a major part of how the Wildcats made it to their first state-final game in school history. If Farrell was a little off Johnson picked up his slack, and vice versa. The two beside each other on the court were a match made in heaven. Teams didn't know what to do to stop them, especially in the state tournament. In all three games the Wildcats played Johnson and Farrell finished as the team’s first and second leading scorers.
Johnson over the three games Tullahoma played averaged 20 points a game, including a 23-point performance against Fayette-Ware High School in the second round. Johnson played an integral part in the Wildcats' advancing to the big game, by scoring a team-high eight points in the final period, which included a show-stopping dunk that sealed the game in the closing seconds of their 67-58 win.
“Khani had 60 points in the state tournament, and in the fourth quarter of the championship game he was the best point guard in the state of Tennessee (he scored 13 points in the final period of the Wildcats’ loss against Upperman). His hard-nosed play made us a great team this year,” coach Welch said.
Both Johnson and Farrell, following their amazing high school careers, want to play college basketball.
“Xavier and Khani will both go on and play college basketball and be successful,” said coach Welch.
Austin Tinnon
The junior big man will be the only one returning next season out of the three Wildcats that made the all-tournament team.
Tinnon’s play over the year greatly improved game by game, and he put together some solid performances at state that helped Tullahoma navigate their way to the finals.
He averaged eight rebounds a game in the three games at state, including a 16-rebound performance against Fayette-Ware. Fayette had no answer for Tinnon’s presence in the paint, as he dominated the glass, giving the Wildcats extra possession after extra possession.
Tinnon’s defense was huge in the three games as well. He helped heavily contest shots against the highly athletic guards featured on all three teams Tullahoma played.
“Austin is the backbone of our two-man defense,” said coach Welch.
“His deep thigh injury in the first half of the state final game really hurt our chances of making a comeback (Tinnon tried to play through the injury the best he could against Upperman, but his mobility was severely limited). Austin had a great season and I'm excited to watch him work and improve over the summer. We will ask him to score more next year. Great coachable players are not easy to find and we have a team full of them.”
Juniors Sam Bobo, Jayden Thompson, Lukas Price, Will Hyden, Andrew Carmack, and Cayden Poff all logged minutes for the Wildcats this year, and will all hopefully be a part of another deep post-season run next year.
It'll be a new look squad without either Johnson or Farrell, but there is still so much to like about what the team will look like next season, as well as in the future, with a new talented class of freshman on the way.
