LOUDON, Tenn. – If you were hoping to see another battle between the Brainerd Panthers and the Tyner Rams on the basketball court, your dream has come true. And it will be played at Brainerd’s High-Jackson Gymnasium on Thursday night at 7 for the top honors in Region 2-2A.
Both of these teams won semifinal games here at Loudon High School Tuesday night as they both prevailed over their opponents for the fourth straight time this season.
Brainerd had the tougher road as the Panthers outlasted the Chattanooga School For Arts & Sciences by a 59-50 final while the game between the Rams and the Polk County Wildcats was a blowout from the start as the Rams won easily, 78-38.
CSAS and Polk end their seasons at 20-11 and 16-18 respectively while Brainerd improved to 24-9 and Tyner to 20-8. Thursday’s winner will host a sectional game on Monday at 7 while the loser will travel on that same evening.
BRAINERD 59, CSAS 50: The Patriots got off to a good start by scoring seven of the first 10 points in the first three minutes, holding a 7-3 lead following a pair of free throws by Justin Brown with 5:21 left in the opening quarter.
The Panthers came right back and scored seven unanswered points for a 10-7 lead after a 3 by Boo Carter with 2:12 showing gave Brainerd a lead it would never give up.
A 3 by Kendrick Jones just ahead of the buzzer gave the Panthers an 18-13 lead when the first quarter ended and eight straight points to start the second gave Brainerd its biggest lead of the game at 26-13 following another 3 by Carter from the key with 4:49 before halftime.
The Patriots finished the half on a 5-0 run to trail by 29-21 at intermission, but it could have been much closer if they would have had better success at the free throw line as they missed the front end of two one-and-ones in the final minute.
Ture Gaines scored four straight points and Jarius Cameron added a layup with 5:54 showing in the third to get CSAS within two at 29-27, but the Panthers finished the quarter on a 13-6 run for a 42-34 lead with one quarter remaining.
The Patriots got with three points on two occasions in that final quarter, the last time at 45-42 after Cameron sank the second of two free throws with 4:33 to play. Brainerd then scored 10 of the next 12 points to prevent any further comeback by the Patriots as they sank nine of 14 free throws in that final stretch to keep a safe lead.
Brainerd coach Levar Brown was pleased with how his kids responded and took care of business when one of the season’s biggest games was on the line.
“We really didn’t want to come up here and play today and my kids took it personal, but I’m just proud of how they responded as they showed another level of grit,” Brown began shortly after his game ended.
“We’re in a really tough district and I feel like we’re battle-tested at this point, but our mental toughness was a key for us in this game. I thought we shot the ball well in the first half and Kendrick Jones had the hot hand in the second, but Dennis Lewis Jr. is money in the bank in a close game and he basically took over at the end,” the coach said in his usual quiet tone.
Lewis led the way for the Panthers with 21 points while Jones and Carter followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Cameron was the leader for CSAS with 11 points while Louis Bell, Chris McDonald, Chase Pride and Gaines all finished with six points apiece.
Both teams unofficially had 28 rebounds as Donivan Thomas and Quintus Broadnax both grabbed six for Brainerd. Pride had seven for the Patriots while Bell snagged six.
TYNER 78, POLK CO. 38: Nobody really expected this to be a close game and it wasn’t as the Rams thoroughly dominated from the opening whistle.
The Rams raced to a 9-0 lead at the start and finished the quarter on a 14-0 run for a commanding 25-4 lead at the first break.
The second quarter wasn’t any closer as the Rams scored 15 of the first 16 points for a 40-5 lead following a layup by Rodney Henderson with 3:11 before intermission.
The difference was 49-13 at halftime.
The Mercy Rule was then used in the second half for a continuously running clock, but the Wildcats had their best quarter of the game as they more than doubled their score with 15 points.
The game was over fairly quickly as subs from both teams played most of the final quarter.
Tyner coach E’Jay Ward knew this game had the potential for a blowout and he was right, but he also wanted to make sure his players didn’t get complacent or lazy in their approach with the score so lopsided.
“That’s about what we expected,” he said just outside the Tyner dressing room when it finally ended.
“This was the kind of game we needed as we headed to a region final on Thursday, but we’re hoping to make another run at the state tournament. We had to keep playing tonight as every possession mattered, but we’re just trying to build some momentum as we advance.
“We were hoping to get another game with Brainerd and they deserve to host that game after winning the district tournament, but it should be fun as we look forward to Round Five,” he concluded with a smile.
Rodney Henderson scored 17 points to lead a trio of Tyner players in double figures. Nehemiah Bloodsaw and Nicolas Smith followed with 15 and 11, respectively.
Tucker Patterson was tops for Polk with 14 points.
ARTS & SCIENCES 13 8 13 16 -- 50
BRAINERD 18 11 13 17 -- 59
CSAS (50) – Gaines 6, Pride 6, Jarius Cameron 11, Fitzsimmons, Brown 5, Smith 5, McDonald 6, Hall, Lowry 5, Bell 6.
BRAINERD (59) – Thomas 6, Dennis Lewis Jr. 21, Hood, Broadnax 4, Boo Carter 12, Shaw, Baylor 3, Kendrick Jones 13.
3-POINT GOALS: CSAS 4 (Pride 2, Smith, Lowry); Brainerd 10 (Lewis Jr. 3, Carter 3, Jones 4).
POLK CO. 4 9 15 10 -- 38
TYNER 25 24 16 13 -- 78
POLK CO. (38) – Sanford 4, Casson 6, Shaw 7, Miller, Branham 2, Meachen, Lewallen, Brewer, Tucker Patterson 14, Hannah, Maxwell 5, Moore, Swafford, Burger.
TYNER (78) – Rodney Henderson 17, Nehemiah Bloodsaw 15, Nicolas Smith 11, Harper 2, Allen 3, Dixson 5, Davenport 3, Pinkerton 2, B. Smith 7, K. Jackson 8, J. Jackson 5.
3-POINT GOALS: Polk Co. 3 (Casson 2, Patterson); Tyner 7 (N. Smith, Allen, Dixson, Davenport, B. .Smith, K. Jackson 2).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)