High school basketball fans who packed Brainerd High School’s gym on Saturday night were not disappointed in what they saw in two hard-fought boys semifinal showdowns in the District 6-AA tournament.
Fourth-seeded Brainerd upset No. 1 Tyner, 64-56, behind Demetrius Kitchens’ game-high 22 points and No. 2 East Ridge overcame No. 3 Howard, 57-49, despite a 24-point effort by the Hustlin’ Tigers’ Brandon Walters.
In girls semifinals, top seed East Hamilton clipped Central, 54-44, and No.
3 Red Bank upended No. 2 Tyner, 33-31, in a mild upset.
Panthers coach Robert High summed up the feelings of all four winning coaches after the day’s final game.
“The bottom line is we won,” said High, who secured his 36th consecutive appearance in a region tournament – he’s coached 36 years, by the way – with Friday’s first-round win over Central.
The tournament resumes Monday with girls and boys consolation games pitting Saturday’s losers – Central’s girls against Tyner at 6 p.m. and Howard’s boys against Tyner at 7:30 p.m.
Championship games are scheduled for Tuesday – Red Bank’s girls play East Hamilton at 6 and East Ridge’s boys take on Brainerd at 7:30 p.m.
“We told the players before the game how important this one is,” High said. “Obviously, it puts us in the finals, but a win there gives us a first-round region game at our place.”
The host Panthers (17-8) got the upper hand on Tyner with a 21-2 run that spanned the first two quarters. That spurt put the Rams (21-6) in a 23-9 hole, but they battled back and trailed by just 29-24 at halftime.
Tyner outscored Brainerd, 9-2, starting the second quarter and regained the lead at 33-31 on Jemicah Bowman’s 3-pointer from the right corner with 4:43 on the clock.
Kitchens, who scored 10 of Brainerd’s first 11 points in the third quarter, hit a bucket and 3-pointer to give the Panthers a 40-38 advantage.
However, about a minute later Kitchens was slapped with a technical foul.
“He made one big mistake all night and that was it,” High said.
Bowman hit 1 of 2 free throws, but the Rams still had possession and Bowman converted a three-point play to give Tyner a 42-40 edge. Brainerd’s Jabari Evans nailed a 3. Tyner’s Alex Watkins made a putback at the buzzer – his only points of the game – and the Rams had a 44-43 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Brainerd started the final period with a 13-2 run, pushing its lead to 56-47 and all but ending Tyner’s hopes for the district title.
Kitchens had eight of Brainerd’s 21 fourth quarter points to finish off his outstanding performance that also included 12 rebounds and five steals.
“He played very, very, very, very good,” High said.
Evans added 11 points and six assists and Jerran Besley scored 12 points for the Panthers.
Bowman paced the Rams with 14 points, including three 3s, and Bristen Bridgeman had 12.
Howard’s talented post Brandon Walters was taking East Ridge to the woodshed for the first two quarters of the first boys’ semifinal showdown.
Walters simply went off.
The big junior scored eight of Howard’s 10 first-quarter points and then rattled the Pioneers with 10 more in the second period, most coming when he converted back-to-back three-point plays less than a minute apart. That helped the Hustlin’ Tigers (17-8) to a 25-18 lead at the intermission.
At halftime, Walters’ matched the entire East Ridge team in scoring.
East Ridge coach Jon Goddard wasn’t thrilled with his team’s intensity or emotion in the first half and he addressed the problem at halftime.
“We basically challenged their manhood,” said Goddard, the District 6-AA Coach of the Year for leading the Pioneers (21-9) to a share of the regular-season title.
The Pioneers responded like champions, blitzing the Hustlin’ Tigers 14-4 to start the third quarter and sprinting to a 32-29 lead. East Ridge’s Eric Traylor converted a three-point play and drained a 3 from the left wing during the run.
Meanwhile, the East Ridge zone defense and a fast-paced tempo were taking a toll on Walters. His field goal with 28.5 seconds left in the quarter pulled Howard to within 36-35, but those were the last points he would score. Walters missed two free throws with 5:03 left in the game and spent much of the final quarter on the sidelines.
“Our plan was to force them to shoot outside,” Goddard said. “But we weren’t moving and they got the ball deep to Brandon in the paint. When that happens, we don’t have a chance.”
Chris Green led East Ridge with 11 points, seven coming in the fourth quarter when the Pioneers outscored the Hustlin’ Tigers, 19-14. Eddie Hitchcock had 10 points for East Ridge.
Anthony Smith, who made three 3s, added 12 points and was the only other Howard player in double figures.
MiShannon Wilbanks scored 17 points and led Red Bank (11-14) to the narrow victory over Tyner in the day’s first semifinal.
“It’s huge,” Red Bank coach Brandon Crews said. “We’ve come a long way. That team over there (Tyner) beat us by 20 a week ago. So, anytime you play for a championship it’s something the players will always remember.”
Both teams made mistakes in bunches and the game was tied at 27 after three quarters.
Red Bank’s LaVaughsia Pittman got a steal and drove for a layup to give the Lady Lions a 32-31 lead with 1:25 left in the game. Wilbanks’ free throw produced the final two-point margin with 6.8 seconds remaining.
Juanita Montgomery scored nine points to lead the Lady Rams (13-10).
East Hamilton’s Lady Hurricanes (20-8), who vaulted into the top seed when Brainerd and Howard were banned from the postseason after a regular-season postgame fight, had trouble shaking the Lady Pounders (4-17).
But a strong one-two punch from Tiffany Lewis (19 points, including four 3s) and Jessica Caudle (12 points) pushed East Hamilton into Tuesday’s championship game. Shay Scott added 10 points for the Lady Hurricanes.
Britanee Foy scored 16 points for Tyner while Sandrea Sylman added 12 and Shamiya Jones 11.
“(Central) made us play hard,” East Hamilton coach Derek Morris said. “We told the girls it’s a different ballgame at tournament time. This was probably a good wake-up call for us because we were fortunate to win.”
BOYS SEMIFINALS
Tyner 8 16 20 12 – 56
Brainerd 15 14 14 21– 64
Tyner (56) – Sadik Spence 1, Iman Jones 9, Travis Murphy 8, Antonique Bonds 9, Mohandez Colvin, Jemicah Bowman 15, Bristen Bridgeman 12.
Brainerd (64) – Jerrian Besley 12, Demetrius Kitchens 22, Marques Tipton 5, Jabari Evans 11, Jeulian High 5, Devante Cooper 5, Orlando Moore 4.
3-Point goals: Tyner 5 (Bowman 3, Bonds 2); Brainerd 7 (Besley 2, Kitchens 2, Evans 2, Tipton 1).
Howard 10 15 10 14 – 49
East Ridge 9 9 20 19 – 57
Howard (49) – Lorenzo McCauley, LaVantez Knight 1, Anthony Smith 12, Antonio Smith 3, Rashad Brummitt 3, Cudjoe Young 2, RodDarius Martin 4, Tevan Jackson, Brandon Walters 24.
East Ridge (57) – Greg Besley 6, Shaquille Holland 7, Derrick Davidson 5, Chris Green 11, Alfonzo Cox 8, Eddie Hitchcock 10, Aaron Sternes 2, Eric Traylor 8, Jeff Douglas.
3-Point goals: Howard 4 (Antonio Smith 3, Anthony Smith 1); East Ridge 4 (Hitchcock 2, Holland 1, Traylor 1).
GIRLS SEMIFINALS
Central 14 9 14 7 – 44
East Hamilton 17 14 13 10 – 54
Central (44) – Shamiya Jones 11, Sandrea Sylman 12, India Corley 2, Britanee Foy 16, Alexus Mitchell 3.
East Hamilton (54) – Jessica Caudle 12, Tiffany Lewis 19, Shay Scott 10, Brynn Moon 7, Lexi Zackery 2, Jessica Dixon 4.
3-Point goals: Central 1 (Jones); East Hamilton 5 (Lewis 4, B.Moon 1).
Red Bank 9 6 12 6 – 33
Tyner 2 12 13 4 – 31
Red Bank (33) – Autumn Babb, Katherine Galiano, LaVaughsia Pittman 4, Shay Cooper 5, Olivia Ferguson, Kelcie Griffin 7, MiShannon Wilbanks 17.
Tyner (31) – Ajee Smith 1, TreKetta Bonds 5, Keyonna Ashford 2, Juanita Montgomery 9, Dasheta Stevens 6, Mia Smith 6, Kennedi Speight 2, Virginia Rivers, Dekeshia Parks.
3-Point goals: Red Bank 1 (Wilbanks); Tyner 1 (Montgomery).
Monday
Consolation Games
At Brainerd High School
Central girls vs. Tyner, 6 p.m.
Tyner boys vs. Howard, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday
Championship Games
At Brainerd High School
Red Bank girls vs. East Hamilton, 6 p.m.
East Ridge boys vs. Brainerd, 7:30 p.m.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at fleminglrry@aol.com)