Tempers flare in final moments of Wayne County's TSSAA boys basketball tournament win

Yahoo

19-03-2025

MURFREESBORO — Ryan Franks has no hard feelings.
The last second of Wayne County's 62-55 win over Harriman in the Class 1A quarterfinals on Wednesday nearly marred the 31 minutes and 59 seconds that had proceeded it.
Wayne County junior Justice Bell had no one in front of him as he cruised towards an easy fast-break layup. But as Bell went up for the shot, Harriman senior Ace Jackson shoved him with both hands, causing Bell to fall hard to the floor.
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Tempers flared, and several Wildcats and several Blue Devils ran towards the scene to stick up for their respective teammates with pushing and shoving. Bell, meanwhile, remained on the ground in pain for minutes as Wayne County coaches and trainers attended to him.
Ultimately, the fireworks didn't start a full-on blaze — players from both teams exchanged hugs and handshakes as Kace Bryant took Bell's place to shoot a pair of free throws after the intentional foul. Jackson was not ejected, but the foul was his fifth.
Wayne County (27-8) will face Hillcrest (24-6) Friday at 11 a.m. in the semifinals of the TSSAA boys basketball state tournament.
"This is an emotional game," Franks, Wayne County's coach, said. "The stakes are high up here. Some people play their whole career and don't get an opportunity to play here. We don't have any hard feelings to them. (Jackson) just got caught up in the moment.
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"My guys showed a lot of character there at the end. Their guys did too. They were apologetic. Cooler heads prevailed, and I'm proud of them for their maturity. I've got great guys, and it doesn't surprise me at all that they handled it the way they did."
MORE: TSSAA boys basketball state tournament brackets, schedule and scores
Bell, who led the Wildcats with 22 points, nursed an ice pack on his right wrist as he answered questions from reporters in the Murphy Center media room. While his wrist and ribs ache, he said he'll be good to go Friday.
"First thing I knew, I was just on the ground," Bell said. "Hurt a little bit, but I know my teammates got my back."
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Junior Cayman Camfield was among those teammates, rushing to confront Jackson. The confrontation remained mostly verbal, though.
"I shouldn't have acted the way I did, but I was trying to just back my teammate up," Camfield, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds, said. "I wasn't gonna let anyone do that without hearing some words from me."
Harriman coach Shay Shannon regretted the incident, saying that the intentional foul is "not who we are."
Wayne County forward Cayman Camfield (25) looks to pass the ball as Harriman's R.J. Jones (11) and Martel Yeager (24) defend during a TSSAA 1A basketball state quarterfinal game at Middle Tennessee State University's Murphy Center Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
"He knows better than that," Shannon said of Jackson, who scored nine points. "That's not who he is. Emotions are high when you get down here, and he let his emotion get the best of him."
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In the end, the Wildcats and Blue Devils both chalked the incident up to a scrappy, hard-fought game between two evenly-matched teams with plenty of mutual respect. Harriman led by three at halftime before Wayne County took control with a 17-2 run in the third quarter, though the Blue Devils rallied to close their deficit to four with 45 seconds to play.
"We were just competing, not much talking," said Harriman senior Grayson Kreis. "We just like to compete. I think both teams realized that we were just out to war, and that's what happened at the end of the game."
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at [e-mail] and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA boys basketball state tournament 2025: Wayne County beats Harriman