CLEVELAND — White County led by seven, Beach’s best player -- Shamarrie Hugie -- had just picked up his fourth foul, and the Warriors led 43-39 with just over 6 minutes left.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be right where the Bulldogs wanted them.
Hugie sparked a 17-9 run over the final 6:17 with a steal and thunderous dunk to help Beach rally for a 57-52 win in the two teams’ Class 3A Sweet 16 matchup at Warriors Arena on Saturday.
The loss for the Warriors (18-10) denied them for a second consecutive season a first-ever trip to the Elite 8 in program history.
“That was our goal this year,” White County coach Robbie Bailey said. “It was still a successful season for the program. We made the playoffs and won another playoff game. But we definitely feel like we let them one get away from us. It hurts a lot right now.”
Hugie scored 18 of the Bulldogs final 20 points, benefiting greatly from a tenacious full-court press the Bulldogs employed from the mid-third quarter on.
White County led 39-27 with 5:14 left in the third quarter. But the Beach press forced 11 turnovers over the final 12-plus minutes. The Warriors had no answer but also passed on several open shots as they tried to find a crack in the defense.
A Hugie 3-pointer tied the game at 45 for the first time since it was 8-8 in the first quarter. He finished off the game hitting six straight free throws over the final 32 seconds to seal it for the Bulldogs, who moved into their first Elite 8 since 2007.
“Their press was the difference for sure,” Bailey said. “We didn’t handle it well. They got a lot of momentum from that and we just couldn’t get it back.
“We also passed up some good looks. Our guys have been so unselfish all year and I think they were just trying to find a better shot. I can’t fault them for that.”
The first half was back-and-forth for the first 11 minutes as the two teams were tied twice (at 3 and 8) and swapped eight lead changes.
Beach struck first with a 3-pointer from Hugie but White County’s Silas Mulligan answered moments later with a trey of his own. The Warriors took their first lead at 8-7 on a second Mulligan 3-pointer.
That sparked five consecutive alternate possessions of lead changes with Mulligan again scoring on a driving layup to make it 12-11 Warriors. That ignited a 10-4 run, with Jadon Yeh scoring five points and Mulligan converting a three-point play for a 20-15 Warriors lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs opened the second with a 6-0 run to retake the lead at 21-20 just a minute into the period. But the Warriors responded with a 13-4 run over the final six minutes, capped by a Yeh basket with 7 seconds left for a 33-25 lead.
The Warriors controlled the first half shooting 13-of-26 from the field compared to just 8-of-25 for the Bulldogs. Beach also was a dismal 1-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half.
Tavi Simmons opened the second with a steal and a layup for White County, Kenny Simpson knocked down a jumper, and Mulligan had a driving layup to give the Warriors their 39-27 lead. But after missing 11 straight 3-pointers, Beach hit three straight to cap a 12-4 run to close out the third quarter trailing just 43-39.
Mulligan poured in 19 points to lead White County in his final game for the Warriors. Yeh had 15 points for White County but was held to just a pair of fourth quarter free throws in the second half.
Hugie finished with 29 points, 13 coming in the fourth quarter, including a perfect 8-got-8 from the free throw line. Larry Johnson had 10 points for the Bulldogs.
