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MURFREESBORO — Brentwood junior Davis Cochran went to the bench after being whistled for his fifth foul and took a deep breath as he watched the final seconds of the season trickle away.
A large group of Brentwood students applauded his effort, and rightfully so.
Four-star junior recruit Dylan Jones scored 22 points for Bartlett and five-star sophomore DJ Okoth added 18 points in the top-ranked Panthers' 65-56 victory over Brentwood in the Class 4A TSSAA boys basketball state tournament quarterfinals on March 19 at MTSU's Murphy Center.
But it wasn’t the blowout some expected, and on a crowded floor of high-level recruits, Cochran stood out with a game-high 28 points and added eight rebounds for the Bruins (30-4).
More: Why Ty Cobb's explosive game, fiery passion is what Upperman basketball needs
More: TSSAA boys basketball state tournament. What to know about 2026 championships
Bartlett (33-4) advances to play Bearden (37-1) in the state semifinals at 5:30 p.m. on March 20.
“Davis is an amazing player,” Jones said. “I played him this summer actually in Augusta (Georgia). He played for Brad Beal and I played for Team Thad. He was an amazing player then and he’s only gotten so much better. Just his post game. And he’s a three-level threat. We have to guard (his) jump shot, we have to guard the hooks. He’s an amazing finisher, good touch. He made some good reads as well. Davis is definitely one of the better players we played this year.”
Jones’ offers include Memphis and MTSU. Okoth’s include Tennessee, Memphis and Mississippi State.
If any college coaches watch the pair’s clips from the 4A quarterfinals, they’ll definitely notice Cochran, whose current offers are largely mid-majors like Lipscomb University, Belmont, Austin Peay and Samford.
Cochran was 10-of-15 shooting, 7-of-7 from the free-throw line and had two assists and two blocks.
“Honestly, I know people talk about it a lot, but I don’t really care what the rankings say. I think I can compete with anyone in the country, anyone in the state,” Cochran said. “I went out there with the mindset that I've got to prove to myself and everyone else that I feel like I can compete with anyone.”
Brentwood never trailed by more than nine and battled back to take two second-half leads, but those were short lived.
Brentwood coach Troy Crane texted his players clips from “Rocky IV” this week to illustrate what people were saying about the Bartlett matchup. It was billed as David vs. Goliath.
It was a tough draw, the Bruins were told.
They got tired of hearing that.
“A lot of (the motivation) was the stuff we were hearing on the outside,” said Brentwood senior guard Hudson McKnight, who scored 12 points. “We didn’t want to come in here and feel sorry for ourselves. We wanted to throw the first punch.”
Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.
He also contributes to The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bartlett defeats Brentwood in TSSAA boys basketball state tournament
Continue reading...
A large group of Brentwood students applauded his effort, and rightfully so.
Four-star junior recruit Dylan Jones scored 22 points for Bartlett and five-star sophomore DJ Okoth added 18 points in the top-ranked Panthers' 65-56 victory over Brentwood in the Class 4A TSSAA boys basketball state tournament quarterfinals on March 19 at MTSU's Murphy Center.
But it wasn’t the blowout some expected, and on a crowded floor of high-level recruits, Cochran stood out with a game-high 28 points and added eight rebounds for the Bruins (30-4).
More: Why Ty Cobb's explosive game, fiery passion is what Upperman basketball needs
More: TSSAA boys basketball state tournament. What to know about 2026 championships
Bartlett (33-4) advances to play Bearden (37-1) in the state semifinals at 5:30 p.m. on March 20.
“Davis is an amazing player,” Jones said. “I played him this summer actually in Augusta (Georgia). He played for Brad Beal and I played for Team Thad. He was an amazing player then and he’s only gotten so much better. Just his post game. And he’s a three-level threat. We have to guard (his) jump shot, we have to guard the hooks. He’s an amazing finisher, good touch. He made some good reads as well. Davis is definitely one of the better players we played this year.”
Jones’ offers include Memphis and MTSU. Okoth’s include Tennessee, Memphis and Mississippi State.
If any college coaches watch the pair’s clips from the 4A quarterfinals, they’ll definitely notice Cochran, whose current offers are largely mid-majors like Lipscomb University, Belmont, Austin Peay and Samford.
Cochran was 10-of-15 shooting, 7-of-7 from the free-throw line and had two assists and two blocks.
“Honestly, I know people talk about it a lot, but I don’t really care what the rankings say. I think I can compete with anyone in the country, anyone in the state,” Cochran said. “I went out there with the mindset that I've got to prove to myself and everyone else that I feel like I can compete with anyone.”
Brentwood never trailed by more than nine and battled back to take two second-half leads, but those were short lived.
Brentwood coach Troy Crane texted his players clips from “Rocky IV” this week to illustrate what people were saying about the Bartlett matchup. It was billed as David vs. Goliath.
It was a tough draw, the Bruins were told.
They got tired of hearing that.
“A lot of (the motivation) was the stuff we were hearing on the outside,” said Brentwood senior guard Hudson McKnight, who scored 12 points. “We didn’t want to come in here and feel sorry for ourselves. We wanted to throw the first punch.”
Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.
He also contributes to The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bartlett defeats Brentwood in TSSAA boys basketball state tournament
Continue reading...
