Lebanon boys basketball's postseason run was a memorable one, despite semifinal loss
MURFREESBORO – Jim McDowell sat in his chair; junior Jarred Hall was flanked to his right, and Rolando Dowell, one of two seniors on his Lebanon boys basketball team, was to his left.
The Blue Devils had seen their season end about 30 minutes earlier, losing 62-44 to Knoxville Bearden on Thursday at Middle Tennessee State's Murphy Center.
And now, as the final questions were asked to his players, a sense of pride took over his face.
Sure, this one hurt. No Lebanon boys basketball team had ever reached a state championship game, and the Blue Devils (29-7) were one game from a Class 4A title appearance.
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"This last month has been a heck of a ride," said McDowell as his eyes started to tear up. "Our fan support, our community — Lebanon is a special place. We're a 4A school, but it's almost like a single-A town.
"It's a type of place where these kids, I've been watching them grow up since they were in the fifth grade. We've talked about getting to this point since that time. ... This team has been so fun to coach."
Lebanon didn't lose a game in the postseason until the state semifinals, going 7-0. That included handing Beech its first loss of the season.
Hall led Lebanon with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting with 13 rebounds. Yarin Alexander and Dowell added nine each.
Elijah Bredwood led Bearden with a game-high 26 points and had five steals and four assists.
"It's disappointing," Hall said. "I feel like up until this point we'd played strong this season and came in here thinking we were going to win."
Lebanon was making its first boys basketball state tournament appearance since 2001 and played the Bulldogs in their first semifinal since 2000. The Blue Devils' locker room was a somber one with some tears, McDowell said.
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It's why McDowell was called for a technical after senior Alexander was called for a charge — his fifth foul of the game. He realized that was the last play he'd make in a Lebanon uniform.
"I think (the team) knows I am going to fight for them," McDowell said. "We all have each other's back. In a string in that fourth quarter we had a string of three calls that didn't go our way. They were pretty big plays. Not that they were bad calls, or wrong calls, just that there were three in a row that didn't go our way."
Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lebanon basketball: Blue Devils lose to Bearden in TSSAA semifinals
