Middle Tennessee Christian School's boys ultimately came up short, but the Cougars certainly proved they belonged in the TSSAA Class A BlueCross Championships on Thursday.
Making their first-ever state tournament appearance, the Cougars showed no signs of state fright despite suffering a 54-41 setback to two time defending state champion Memphis Mitchell at Murphy Center.
"We were one of the best eight, and that's why we were here," said MTCS point guard Kavan Hill, who had eight points and six rebounds. "We were ready to go out and compete."
And compete they did.
Despite a shaky start and trailing 39-27 after three quarters, MTCS pulled within 41-34 with 4:50 remaining in the game on Hill's driving layup.