Central's Rodney Benford (15) drives to the basket and is fouled by Red Bank's Will Davis (2) as the Pounders fought off a late rally by the Lions and hung on for a 64-61 win Tuesday night in a District 6-AA match-up in Red Bank's gym. The win pushes Central to 16-1, 11-0 on the season. Also pictured is the Lions' Tradyal Autry (24).
photo by Dennis Norwood
The Central Purple Pounders improved to 16-1 overall and 11-0 in District 6-AA with a stirring 64-61 victory over Red Bank at the Susan Ingram Thurman Gymnasium Tuesday night.
And they did it without scoring a single point in the fourth quarter.
Rodney Benford, who just rejoined the Central squad after being dismissed for violation of team rules, sank two free throws with 12.1 seconds left in the third quarter to give his team a 64-50 lead. Benford didn't enter the game until the second quarter, but was received warmly by the Central fans as they gave him a nice ovation when he stepped onto the court.
Kolbi Suttles canned a 3 from the corner at the buzzer to cut Central's lead to 11 with one quarter remaining, but the Pounders never scored another point.
Central missed all five of its field goal attempts and all five of its free throws as well, but the Pounder defense was tough enough to limit the high-scoring Lions to just eight points in the final stanza as the guys in purple headed home with another close win.
"I didn't realize that we hadn't scored in the fourth quarter until you pointed it out, but I guess you could say that our defense wasn't bad as Red Bank only scored eight in the fourth," said Central coach Rick Rogers.
"I got kind of worried when Terron Hayes went to the bench at the start of the fourth with a cramp in his foot as he's the fuel that makes our rocket fly. But I was happy that my guys didn't get rattled. We've played a lot of close games in the last four years and that paid off tonight," the veteran coach continued.
"It's just a matter of time for Red Bank. Nick Fike has done a remarkable job of getting them back on track and I hope we don't have to play them again.
"In that fourth quarter, we weren't really looking to score as much as trying to milk time off the clock. We would have taken a layup, but we never got the chance. This clinches the district regular season and it's special to win another big game on the road, but we finish out our district schedule next Tuesday at home against Tyner," Rogers concluded.
JaMichael Poole scored the first five points for Central as the Purple Pounders started the game on a strong 16-2 run. Tradyal Autry scored on a drive along the baseline at the 6:27 mark to draw the Lions to within 5-2 before Central scored the next 11, highlighted by a dunk from high-flying Ryan Montgomery with 4:17 showing in the first quarter.
A long 3 from Malik McConnell in the final minute trimmed Central's lead to 25-17 when the first quarter ended.
Another even longer 3 from McConnell at the end of the second stanza sent the Lions to the dressing room behind by only seven at 42-35.
Central was able to extend that lead to 11 at the end of the third as Emmanuel Lane scored 10 of his 15 points during that span, setting up the unusual finish in the fourth.
McConnell hit the first of two free throws with 2:29 to play as Red Bank got within five at 64-59 and Suttles sank a pair from the charity stripe 44 seconds later to get within three, but the Lions threw an inbounds pass out of bounds with 14 seconds left and McConnell's shot from half-court was short as the final buzzer sounded.
Needless to say, Red Bank's Fike was still looking for answers after another close loss ended.
"We started out behind the 8 ball again and you can't do that against a team like Central," he began, referring to that slow start where the Lions were down by double digits midway through the first quarter.
"I love these guys and would take every one of them to battle on any day, but at some point, one of these close ones will fall our way. I'm sure there was a lot of emotion as we celebrated Senior Night, but we had every opportunity to win and we didn't.
"At some point, the marbles are going to fall our way, but I still don't think we've peaked yet. I just don't have any answers. I'm doing all I possibly can at this point," he concluded.
Lane and Montgomery both had 15 points to lead Central while Hayes finished with 11 points and seven assists. Benford was next with eight.
McConnell had 18 to lead Red Bank while Suttles followed with 15. Will Thomas and Will Davis were next with nine and eight points, respectively.
Central won the rebound battle by an unofficial 25-14 margin. McClendon Curtis grabbed 11 for the Pounders while Davis had five for Red Bank.
RED BANK GIRLS 49, CENTRAL 47: The Lionettes were behind for most of the game, but all that counts is which team is leading when the final horn sounds.
Shelby Romans had a key steal and layup with 7.2 seconds to play to give Red Bank the lead at 48-47 and her ensuing free throw was just icing on the cake as the Lionettes entered the fourth quarter trailing 41-31.
Red Bank coach Bailey McGinnis rarely shows much emotion one way or the other, but the former Red Bank great was simply thrilled when the game ended and her team was on top.
"I don't know how we did it, but it was just our time to shine," McGinnis said after her team improved to 14-6 overall and 8-3 in District 6-AA.
"I'm speechless right now. All I know is that we needed that win and I didn't care how we got it, but it all happened at once and it feels so good," she smiled.
Dani Usher had 23 points to lead Red Bank, while Romans was next with 11.
Brianna Denton played her heart out as usual for the Lady Pounders and finished as their leading scorer with 20 points. Alivia Smith was also in double digits with 14.
Central is now 10-8 overall and also 8-3 in 6-AA as these two teams are tied for second in the district behind Tyner.
Red Bank returns to action with a trip to Signal Mountain on Thursday while Central faces its biggest test of the season on Friday with a game against nationally-ranked Hamilton Heights at McCallie.
GIRLS SUMMARY
CENTRAL 14 15 12 6 -- 47
RED BANK 8 11 12 18 -- 49
CENTRAL (47) -- Hixson 4, Miller 4, Smith 14, East, Denton 20, Hill 5.
RED BANK (49) -- Romans 11, Pratt, Roberts, Evers 3, Usher 23, Kennebrew 5, Stewart, Babb 4, Claiborne 3.
3-POINT GOALS: Central 3 (Smith, Denton, Hill); Red Bank 1 (Claiborne).
BOYS SUMMARY
CENTRAL 25 17 22 0 -- 64
RED BANK 17 18 18 8 -- 61
CENTRAL (64) -- Lane 15, Poole 5, Montgomery 15, Swafford 4, Hayes 11, Curtis 6, Benford 8.
RED BANK (61) -- Suttles 15, Tate, Davis 8, McConnell 18, Thomas 9, Autry 6, Shelby 2, Sewell 3.
3-POINT GOALS: Central 6 (Lane 2, Poole, Hayes, Benford 2); Red Bank 10 (Suttles 3, McConnell 3, Thomas 3, Sewell).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
Red Bank's Malik McConnell (3) leaps high for a jump shot against Central Tuesday night. McConnell rippled the nets for a game-high 18 points, but Central fought off a late charge for a 64-61 District 6-AA win.
photo by Dennis Norwood