McCallie Basketball Beats Baylor at the Buzzer on the Road

(photo by Matt Hamilton, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

McCallie senior guard Ernas Valauskas rose up from the 3-point line at the top of the key with just over 10 seconds to play Friday night. The Blue Tornado trailed Baylor inside the Red Raiders’ Duke Arena by two points.

If McCallie was to snap a nine-game losing streak to its archrivals, it would probably be up to Valauskas, the Dartmouth signee, to be the hero. He fired. The shot swished. McCallie 46, Baylor 45, the Blues’ first win over Baylor red since 2022.

"I am not leaving McCallie without a win against Baylor,” Valauskas said afterward as more than 200 Blue Tornado students spilled out of the visitors’ stands to celebrate. "We practiced that play 20 to 25 times in practice and I knew I was going to make it. It was a great call by Coach (Kenneth) White and a great pass by Pat Meyers."

White called the play that got Valauskas the shot while Baylor was shooting free throws to take the lead. “I didn’t want them to get a chance to set up a defense or change defenses,” he said. “Ryan Wingard set a great screen, and Pat got Ernas the ball in his shooting pocket. When we run that play in practice he hits that shot a lot more than he misses it.”

Still, 10 seconds can be an eternity in a basketball game. Valauskas and teammates knew better than to celebrate too soon. They rushed down the court to impede a last-second Baylor drive to the basket that missed.
 

For White, who was on a McCallie team in 1995 that beat Baylor in double-overtime, a lot of 31-year-old memories came rushing back.

“I made some plays that night,” said White, who left for basketball power Oak Hill after that season. “The kinds of plays (freshman) Jarris Walker made for us tonight. Beating Baylor is always special. Thirty years later I still remember that feeling.”

Valauskas led the Blue Tornado with 17 points and Walker added 12 as McCallie overcame an 11-point first quarter deficit (17-6) and 10-point holes at halftime (30-20) and the end of the third quarter (38-28) to improve its record to 17-7 overall and 3-3 in Division II Class AA East Region action.

McCallie returns to region action Tuesday, February 3, when it hosts Knoxville Catholic with its final region game of the season prior to the playoffs coming a week later (Feb. 10) at home against Knoxville Webb.

But as much as White doesn’t want his team to lose sight of the importance of those region contests, he also wants them to appreciate what they accomplished in coming from behind to win at Baylor and top the Red Raiders for the first time in 10 games.

“They’ve heard so much about the losing streak,” White said. “It can be hard for these kids to drown out the outside noise. But our guys never quit out there. We have a true blue-collar approach to how we play. That’s the McCallie way. I’m just so happy for our school. McCallie means so much to me and my family. I was on a McCallie team that beat Baylor in overtime 30 years ago and I’ve never forgotten it or that feeling. Now these guys get to have that same feeling and that same kind of memory.”