Red Bank Girls, Tyner Boys Prevail In 6-AA Title Games

Second-Seeded Tyner Girls, Brainerd Boys Fall In A Pair Of Thrillers

  • Tuesday, February 21, 2017
  • John Hunt

The capacity crowd at Hixson High School got their money’s worth and more Tuesday night in the championship finals of the District 6-AA basketball tournament.

The Red Bank-Tyner girls have had four extremely tight games this season and the same can be said for the Tyner-Brainerd boys, so you had to know that the two games on tap for the tournament titles would be top-notch and down to the wire.

The Lionettes beat the Lady Rams for the third time in four tries this season as Shelby Romans hit the first of two free throws for the deciding point in a 44-43 final while the Rams had a great comeback in the second half that resulted in a 62-54 victory over Brainerd.

Both Red Bank and Tyner were seeded first in the tournament for the girls while Tyner and Brainerd were the second seeds.

All four of Tuesday’s teams will be at home on Friday and Saturday to host first-round region games while all four of the consolation teams from Monday will be on the road.  The girls play on Friday with the guys set to take the court on Saturday.

There was a moment of silence between games on both Monday and Tuesday in memory of legendary Howard coach Henry Bowles, who passed away on Sunday.

RED BANK GIRLS 44, TYNER 43: Red Bank now has a 3-1 edge in games with the Lady Rams this season, but all have been five points or less, so who would have expected anything less than what took place in Tuesday’s first game.

“That was one heckuva game,” said Red Bank coach Bailey McGinnis after her Lionettes had improved to 18-10 for the season.

“It was a real battle, but I knew it would be.  It always is when we play Tyner.  We hung with them and it could have gone either way, but I’m just thankful it ended the way it did.  I felt really good when Shelby went to the free throw line as she’s one of our best shooters, but that was more than enough for me.  I don’t think I could have handled an overtime,” she added with a deep sigh.

Tyner coach Katrich Williams knew it would be a battle from start to finish and she was right.  She was just sorry that her team didn’t even get a shot off after Romans put Red Bank up by a point with 3.1 seconds left.

“We fought hard as always, but it just didn’t fall our way tonight,” Williams said after her team dropped to 13-14 for the season.

“We wanted to get the ball in Keniah Watkins’ hands there at the end, but we fumbled the ball on the inbounds pass and never even got an attempt.  Give a lot of credit to Red Bank as they fought hard too.

“I told my girls after the game that we have two choices we can make.  Either we can sit here and pout and feel sorry for ourselves or get ready for our next game.  We’ll see which choice they make,” Williams said.

Tyner got off to a fast start by scoring nine of the first 11 points and had an 11-4 lead following a baseline jumper by Keionna McCutcheon with 3:32 showing on the first-quarter clock.

Red Bank finished the stanza on a 6-0 and cut it to 11-10 when Layla Babb sank a 3 from the key.

Romans scored on a layup to start the second quarter as Red Bank took the lead for the first time at 12-11, but Tyner finished the half on an 8-4 run for a 25-20 lead at intermission.

Mya Kennebrew’s layup with 50 seconds left in the third allowed Red Bank to lead again at 32-31, but Tyner got a free throw from Wanda Taylor and a 3 from the wing at the buzzer from Leaundra Melton for a 35-32 lead when the fourth quarter began.

McCutcheon’s layup at the start extended Tyner’s lead to five before Red Bank scored six straight for a 38-37 lead with 4:48 to play.

The lead changed hands three more times before Kennebrew sank the first of two free throws with 31.4 seconds to knot the score at 43-43.

Red Bank regained possession as the clock was winding down and McGinnis called a timeout with 10.2 seconds to set up the final play.

There was a frantic scramble for a loose ball in those final seconds, but Romans alertly grabbed the ball and got off a shot while being fouled with 3.1 seconds left.

She swished the first before missing the second as Tyner called a timeout with 2.9 seconds to set up their final attempt.

The inbounds pass was deflected by a Red Bank player as Tyner never regained possession before the horn sounded.

Romans is just a 16-year-old sophomore, but she was in the right place at the right time to put her team in position to win and she came through like a champ.

“I was so scared there at the end, but I knew I had to make at least one.  I really just want to cry right now because I’m so happy,” she explained before the All-Tournament awards were distributed.

Kennebrew turned in one of her best efforts ever to finish with a double-double that included 16 points and 13 rebounds.  She was thus awarded the MVP award for her effort.

Romans and Babb were next with 12 and 11 points, respectively, and were also chosen for the All-Tournament team.  Zanobia Pratt only scored five points, but she grabbed nine rebounds as Red Bank had an unofficial 34-25 edge on the boards.

Melton and McCutcheon both had a dozen points to lead Tyner while Watkins finished with eight.  Taylor only had two points, but grabbed 10 rebounds for the Lady Rams.

TYNER BOYS 62, BRAINERD 54: This was one of those games where it was a tale of two halves.

The only difference was that Tyner’s margin of victory in the second was greater than Brainerd’s in the first 16 minutes and that was the difference in the game.

Things didn’t start out so well for the Rams as Brainerd raced to a 9-2 lead and had a 13-4 advantage when the first quarter ended.  The Panthers then scored the first four points of the second stanza for a 17-4 edge that led to a Tyner timeout.

Jerrion Christopher scored nine of his 19 points during that quarter as Brainerd’s lead was just 25-18 at intermission.

The second half was totally different on both sides.

Brainerd point-guard Kentrell Evans, who sparked that first quarter explosion with eight points and who just might be the best point guard in Chattanooga, picked up his third and fourth fouls at the start of the second half and spent a better part of the period on the bench.

The Rams were able to respond to a challenging halftime talk by head coach Keitha Booker and it didn’t take long for the Rams to get headed in the right direction.

Brainerd scored four of the first six points in the third quarter for a 29-20 lead following a drive by Kyshun Bradley a minute into the second half, but Tyner responded with 13 unanswered points in the next two minutes for a 33-29 lead following a left-handed layup by Christopher with 5:01 left in the third.

Jeremy Elston then scored six of his team’s next eight points and Tyner’s lead was 41-33 with one quarter remaining.

The Panthers never quit playing, but they also never regained the lead after that third-quarter uprising by the Rams.

The difference was 49-42 when Brainerd scored six straight points to get within 49-48 following two free throws by Malik Hampton with 2:18 left.

Kevin Cameron scored on a putback to keep Tyner ahead at 51-48 before Evans sank two charity tosses to again make it a one-point game with 1:42 left.

Kevin McCauley then scored on a nice drive at the 1:17 mark for a 53-50 Tyner lead before Cameron made a key steal on an inbounds pass, drove the floor for a layup and made the ensuing free throw for a commanding 56-50 lead with 62 seconds to play.

Jessie Walker sank two free throws and Jadarius Menifee scored on a layup following a steal with 38 seconds left as Brainerd got to within 56-54 before Tyner finished the game on a 6-0 run to secure the victory.

“We got it, but it was a dog fight,” said Tyner’s Booker after his team had improved to 24-3 with the win.

“We came out flat at the beginning, but were only down by seven at the half.  There are two halves in a basketball game and I challenged my guys big time during the break.  We were able to come out and get it in the second half and I think we just wanted it a little more.

“We knew that Brainerd would make another run after we got the lead and they did, but we just had to keep our composure.  We were looking for a little revenge after they beat us at our place the last time, but there wasn’t a bigger play than the one Kevin Cameron made on that three-point play.

“I was also glad to see us do better at the free throw line as we missed 15 the last time we played them and it cost us,” he said after his team sank 14 of 18 for the game and nine of 11 in that all-important fourth quarter with the game on the line.

Brainerd coach Levar Brown felt like the difference was his team getting complacent in the second half.

“I think my guys were satisfied with a seven-point lead at the half, but Tyner came out with more intensity in the second half and that was the difference in the game,” he said after his team dropped to 24-5 for the season.

“We did what we were coached to do in the first half, but things changed in the second half.  Kentrell picking up his third and fourth fouls at the start of the half really hurt us as he’s our floor general, but our intensity level dropped in the second half and that was the difference.  We’ll go back to work tomorrow and we’ll be fine as we made some correctable mistakes,” Brown added.

Christopher scored 19 points and was one of three Tyner players in double figures.  Cameron was next with 18 while Elston added 13.

Evans had 13 points to lead Brainerd while Walker and Hampton were next with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Brainerd had an unofficial 23-20 advantage in rebounds with Joseph Norwood had seven and Bradley six for the Panthers whihle Cameron and Elston both grabbed six for the Rams.

GIRLS SUMMARY

TYNER  11  14  10  8  --  43

RED BANK  10  10  12  12  --  44

TYNER (43) – Bedford 7, Melton 12, McCutcheon 12, McGee 2, Watkins 8, Taylor 2.

RED BANK (44) – Roberts, Babb 11, Romans 12, Brown, Claiborne, Kennebrew 16, Bowens, Pratt 5.

3-POINT GOALS: Tyner 4 (Bedford, Melton 2, Watkins); Red Bank 2 (Babb 2).

GIRLS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Layla Babb, Shelby Romans & MVP Mya Kennebrew (Red Bank); Keniah Watkins and Leaundra Melton (Tyner); Mya Adams and Jayla Stone (East Ridge); Kenisha Price and Kia Render (Brainerd).

BOYS SUMMARY

BRAINERD  13  12  8  21  --  54

TYNER  4  14  23  21  --  62

BRAINERD (54) – Sow 2, Melvin 3, Bradley 4, Evans 13, Norwood 7, Hampton 11, Walker 12, Menifee 2.

TYNER (62) – Cameron 18, Young 2, Bridgman 2, McCauley 8, Bowens, Elston 13, Christopher 19.

3-POINT GOALS: Brainerd 3 (Evans 2, Hampton); Tyner 2 (Christopher 2).

BOYS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Jerrion Christopher, Jeremy Elston and MVP Kevin Cameron (Tyner); Kentrell Evans, Jessie Walker and Malik Hampton (Brainerd); Marquis Hinton and Elijah Garmany (East Ridge); Marquez Williams, Calvin Johnson (Howard).

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

 

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