Is 35-0 realistic? How Loretto is shooting for the moon at TSSAA boys basketball state tournament
MURFREESBORO ― Greg Tipps flopped back in his chair as he recalled thoughts that flooded his head if his Loretto basketball team had lost the first game of the TSSAA boys basketball season.
Just weeks before the start of the 2024-25 season, his players told Tipps in no uncertain terms, their goal was to go undefeated.
Tipps scoffed at that idea.
"If we lose the first game, where are we at," he said, minutes after Loretto eliminated Liberty Creek 49-34 in the Class 2A quarterfinals of the TSSAA boys basketball state tournament Wednesday at MTSU's Murphy Center. "Geez, we got to pick up the pieces and we're in late November. That was kind of where I was at."
Tipps didn't have to worry about that first game, a 78-32 win over Franklin County. And he hasn't had to worry after any game this season — so far. Loretto is 33-0 and will put that perfect record on the line when it faces Tyner at 12:45 p.m. CT in Friday's semifinal.
"It's been one heck of a ride," he said. "I love them to death. They probably don't think so at times, but they know me. They know my psycho-ness, if that's a word. They understand I'm all over the place."
The last public school in Tennessee to finish its season undefeated with a TSSAA boys basketball state championship was Union City in 2008, which went 40-0 after winning the Class 1A tournament.
Since then, six teams across four classifications have gone into the state tournament unbeaten. Each has come up short. Blackman did it three times, entering the 2013 Class 3A state tournament 30-0 and the 2016 and 2018 tournaments 32-0. Memphis East's quarterfinal win against Blackman in 2018 was vacated after the TSSAA ruled former Memphis East coach Penny Hardaway violated its recruiting rule regarding James Wiseman's transfer there.
Humboldt, sporting a 33-0 record, lost to Manassas in the 1A quarterfinals in 2009. Cane Ridge went into the 2021 tournament with a COVID-shortened 14-0 record but lost to No. 1-ranked Houston in the 3A state championship game.
Douglass is the most recent to enter the tournament undefeated, going into last year's 2A bracket 33-0 before losing to Alcoa in the state title game.
"When I transferred (from Summertown) I thought to myself, we could really do it," Loretto senior Grayson Burleson said after finishing with 19 points and five rebounds Wednesday. "But really that was like a fantasy thing because basketball is basketball. You never know what can happen. But then we looked up and we're 20-0 and it just kept going."
The ankle injury to Mason Tidwell in the Region 5-2A semifinals could have ended the streak. But Loretto got past Grundy County 77-70, beat Cannon County in the region final 59-54, and dropped Harpeth with little problem 71-44.
Wednesday was Tidwell's first game back since the region semifinal. He had only two points but also took only four shots.
"I remember in football, we were 10-0 (in 2003) and lost in the first round of the playoffs," said Tidwell, who was a sophomore on that team. So we understand what can happen. Our job is to make sure it doesn't. We don't take this season for granted but we are also a very confident team."
Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinsontheleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA boys basketball state tournament 2025: Loretto remains perfect
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