Blackman’s Donovan Sims (3) passes the ball between Science Hill’s Holden Hensley (14) and Christopher Linville (30) during the Class AAA quarterfinals on Wednesday March 16, 2016.
MURFREESBORO — Blackman needed a half to get in sync offensively Wednesday afternoon in its Class AAA boys basketball quarterfinal.
But only a half.
The Blaze breezed past Science Hill 57-34 at MTSU’s Murphy Center to reach its third consecutive semifinal.
The Blaze (33-0) play Memphis East (30-2) at 11:30 a.m. Friday.
“We tried to sort of find our way a little bit in the first half,” Blackman coach Barry Wortman said. “I thought we played well, missed some little balls around the goal.
“We fouled a 3-point shooter. We had some things that made us out of rhythm offensively. I thought we found our way nicely in the second half, and didn’t settle.”
Blackman, which was making its fifth consecutive state tournament appearance, shot 48.9 percent from the field for the game, but was 58.3 percent in the second half against the Hilltoppers (25-11).
Blackman was 10 of 12 shooting in the third quarter when it extended an eight-point halftime lead to 45-27.
Cedriontis Wilson led the Blaze with 16 points. He was 4 of 10 from the 3-point line. Teammate Christian DeWitt added 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
“We just had to get used to the floor again and make shots,” Wilson said.
DeWitt, the District 7-AAA regular season and tournament MVP, said he played with a “groin pull” sustained a week ago in practice.
Brandon Thomas came off the bench to score 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting. Nine different players scored for Blackman and everyone on the roster played.
Holden Hensley led the Hilltoppers with 12 points.
“Donovan (Sims) and Cedriontis did a great job of recognizing the changing offenses,” Wortman said. “We didn’t settle. We ran good offense. We had some good ball reversals and mid-post touches against the zone.
“Then we got man (defense), we didn’t settle. We drove it and made teammates better, and got some balls around the goal.”
Blackman attacked the zone multiple times with Sims lobbing alley-oops to Wilson and teammate Jarrell Reeves, who had gotten behind the Hilltoppers’ defense.
“They kept coming up (in the zone),” Sims said.
However, Science Hill was even colder from the field. The Hilltoppers shot 25.6 percent for the game.
“Look, (Blackman) is as solid and as fundamental of a team that you will see around,” Science Hill coach Ken Cutlip said. “But if you shoot 25 percent, you aren’t going to win many games — if any.”
Reach Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Kreager.