Jeremy Sexton began his senior basketball season at Tennessee Temple with one goal: to win a Class A championship.

But the road to a state title became a little more difficult this week.

Instead of entering the Region 3-A tournament as a No. 1 seed, the Crusaders will be seeded second when the boys’ first round starts Saturday night because of their loss Tuesday to Grace Academy in the District 5 championship game.

“It was disappointing, but we’re trying not to dwell on it too much,” Sexton said. “We let the pressure get to us, I think. We got caught up in all the hype, and Grace came out and played one of the best games I’ve ever seen them play. But it’s behind us now. We had a meeting about it after the game, and we’re going to use it for motivation.”

Coach Caleb Marcum said the loss might be the best thing that could have happened to his Crusaders, who begin region play with a 23-4 record and a No. 7 state ranking.

“We have four losses this year, and that was the only one where I felt like we were just beaten, hands down,” Marcum said. “And they took it hard, almost as hard as our loss to Union City (in last year’s state tournament). I just told them that it’s one loss and it doesn’t end our season. We’ve just got to move forward.”

Grace (22-5) split with Temple during the regular season but was the No. 2 seed out of the district, and earning the tournament title may have elevated the Golden Eagles into the position of state-tournament contenders in the eyes of many Class A basketball observers throughout the state. But for coach Jon Mattheiss, his team already had all the physical skills it needed to contend for its first state berth since Grace was the Class A runner-up in 2006.

“I’m not worried about other people’s perceptions, but it probably does,” Mattheiss said. “It’s something we felt like we could do all along. The athleticism has always been there, just not the mental toughness. If we can play mentally tough, I feel like we can play with any single-A team in the state.”

The Golden Eagles’ Fuquan Harper was named the district tournament MVP after Grace’s 72-62 win Tuesday, but Sexton was the regular-season District 5 and Region 3 player of the year. He also became Temple’s latest Mr. Basketball finalist when the TSSAA announced its nominees for the award last week, even though his scoring average has dropped a few points since his junior season.

The Crusaders, however, look at that statistic as a bonus. Sexton’s assist numbers have increased along with his teammates’ scoring averages since he moved to the point guard position this season.

“I haven’t scored as much this year because I haven’t felt like I had to,” Sexton said. “My teammates have taken a lot of the pressure off, and it’s definitely a lot easier this year. Instead of me feeling like I have to go score 30 points, I can score 18 and have some assists to get everyone else involved in the game.”

Marcum said Sexton’s unselfishness has helped make the Crusaders a better team after they graduated just one starter from last year’s district and region championship teams.

“I sat him down at the beginning of the season and told him he wasn’t going to have the same year as last year,” Marcum said. “He could easily be averaging 25 to 30 points, and that’s a credit to our team. He’s taken over the few times we’ve needed him to, but it’s really been a team effort all around.”

And regardless of whether the Crusaders’ season ends with the program’s fourth state title, Sexton said it will be tough to say goodbye to his Temple basketball career.

“I feel like I’ve had some great years here,” Sexton said. “It’s been real fun, and I’ve had good teammates and made lifelong friends. I’ve loved every minute of it.

“It’s definitely sunk in that it’s almost over. I feel like this last loss kind of opened our eyes that it could be over at any moment. We know that we have to work hard and make sure our last season ends the way we want it to.”