Brainerd Girls Roll Past Polk Co. In Region 3-AA Opener

Nobody really expected Monday night's game between the Brainerd and Polk County girls to be close.

After all, it was the District 6-AA champion Lady Panthers against the fourth-place team from District 5-AA at Brainerd's High-Jackson Gymnasium in the opening round of the Region 3-AA basketball tournament.

Oh, it was close for a few minutes, but Brainerd had too many weapons and too much height as they pulled away for the 62-29 victory.

With the win, Brainerd improves to 15-12 and will face McMinn Central, a 72-28 winner over Tyner in the semifinals on Wednesday at Loudon High School.

Heather McLain, the only senior on Polk's team, gave her team the lead with a jumper from the baseline in the opening minute of the game, but by the time she canned two free throws at the 4:57 mark of the first quarter, Brainerd was in the middle of an 11-2 run.

The Lady Wildcats, trailing 11-4 following Jamee Ward's bucket from the free throw line at the 3:57 mark, scored seven straight points to knot the score at 11 following a bank shot by Charlie Mitchell with 2:30 to play in the opening stanza.

Mitchell hit a free throw about a minute later to tie the score once again at 12 before Brainerd's Jumeka Brown canned a 3 from the wing in the final minute to give Brainerd a 15-12 edge when the first quarter ended.

It wasn't very close for the next three quarters as Brainerd extended that three-point lead to 30-16 by halftime.A 22-7 difference in the third put the Lady Panthers up by 29 at 52-23 with one quarter remaining.

And while the Lady Wildcats were lacking in size and athleticism, they never quit battling in the final stanza.  Brainerd's biggest lead of 34 points came in the final minute following two free throws by Kenisha Price, but many thought that the mercy rule would be used if the lead ever reached 35 points.

"We're back to same spot where we were this time last year," said Brainerd coach Tyrus Ward after the game ended.

"Our press really helped us, but Polk County never quit.  Those girls are fighters and they always play hard, especially this time of year.  But our girls are ready for the next round," he added.

 Junior Jamee Ward, the coaches' younger sister and the leading scorer for Brainerd, bounced back from a seven-point performance against Central in the 6-AA finals to score 19 points as four Lady Panthers scored in double figures.

Ward had suffered a broken nose against Red Bank 11 days ago and was forced to wear one of those face masks and just didn't shoot very well against Central, but she was much more acclimated to it on Monday and was her usual self shooting from the outside.

"I think she was a lot more comfortable with the mask and I'm really proud of Ebony Calloway.  She's come a long way and we always try to get the ball to her as she's tough inside.  But it's always good to be able to clear the bench and give those younger girls some playing time.  They've worked hard and they deserve a chance too," the coach concluded.

While Ward set the pace with 19 points, Ebony Calloway also had a strong performance to finish with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Jumeka Brown and Keniah Watkins both finished with 11 points with Brown grabbing the same number of rebounds as Brainerd won the battle of the boards by an unofficial 31-20 margin.

Mikayla McClary was the only Polk County player in double figures as she finished with 11.  McLain was next with nine points and six rebounds.

It's been a long season for the Lady Wildcats and young coach Caleb Hindman, the son of former Chattanooga Christian coach Pam Hindman.  When asked what his team's record was before the game, he replied "four and a lot."

But on a night when he had five freshmen who played, he was somewhat upbeat and positive afterward despite the lopsided final score.

"Getting experience for our younger girls in an environment like this was a huge bonus for us," he began once the final horn had sounded.

"Our depth hurt us, especially in the second half, as we had three players either sick or hurt.  I thought we played much better in the first half, but we got what we needed from this team this season and I liked our effort tonight.  We never quit battling," he added.

POLK CO.  12  4  7  6  --  29

BRAINERD  15  15  22  10 -- 62

POLK CO. (29) -- Ball 6, Fritts, Hatcher, Hutcheson, McLain 9, McClary 11, Thomas, Lillard, Mitchell 3.

BRAINERD (62) -- Calloway 16, Brown 11, Ward 19, Williams, Price 3, Sparks 2, Young, McClendon, Ashley, Watkins 11, Alexander.

3-POINT GOALS: Polk Co. none; Brainerd 4 (Brown 2, Ward, Watkins).

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)