Tyner Ends Historic Season Shy of AA State Finale

MURFREESBORO, TN -- As the final minute of Tyner's historic basketball season slipped off the Murphy Center clock, the wrong side of the scoreboard already cemented for the Rams in their BlueCross Class AA state semifinal 59-47 loss to top-ranked Loretto, coach E'Jay Ward made sure to put nothing but sneakers filled with underclassmen on the court.

"We've built a strong foundation with this program, and those are the next guys up. When we start next year all of those guys should expect to be back on this court at the end of next season, and I wanted them to feel the court that awaits them," Ward said softly in the hallway beneath the MTSU court.

They will have quite a standard to meet to take the next step after this Tyner squad fell just one win away from playing for a state title and leaves behind an impressive resume: program record for wins (31) and winning streak (18) and just the third Ram team to make the state's final four.

And through the game's first 16 minutes, Tyner (31-7) gave the state's only unbeaten team all they could handle with a Saturday championship game on the line. In a game that matched two of the state's best defenses, with Loretto leading the state at 44.1 points allowed and Tyner close behind at 48.7, it was always going to be physical.

"We knew they were physical and we had to step up and be more physical," said Loretto big man Kasen Buie, who led Mustangs with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Apparently being more physical and not fouling are two different things though. As often happens when teams switch from regular season officiated games to postseason officiated games, the whistle was not kind to Tyner. The Rams were called for 24 fouls to Loretto's seven and the Mustangs made 18 of 29 free throws while Tyner never got in the bonus and saw the charity stripe just eight times.

"It's tough. We knew what type of game it was going to be, but we didn't adjust very well to the officiating. It's part of the game, but man, I wish we would have gotten some of the calls. That's a really good team, and there's a reason they are unbeaten, and we needed a few breaks," said Ward, his third state trip in eight seasons coming up just short again.

The Rams were able to hold their own in that first half despite big man Gary Beeson drawing two early fouls which severely hampered Tyner's inside defense against the 6-foot-8 Buie. Despite Buie's 13 first-half points, though, Tyner managed to take a 26-24 lead into the half as Kohl Ward nailed a 3 with two seconds left.

"We felt good at the half even though we didn't play our best, we managed the game. Loretto's all-time leading scorer Grayson Burleson was held scoreless in the half as Tyner's Rodney Henderson suffocated him. The all-state Henderson, a Mr. Basketball finalist, and Tyner's program leader in points, only took four shots in the half, but facilitated the offense with five assists and three steals to go along with the blanketing defense.

"We had a good season, a great season, but we just fell a little short. Our mindset was to win it all, so it hurts right now, but there's a good foundation here, and this program will continue to be in the mix year after year," said Henderson, who finished with 13 points, six assists, four steals and 8 rebounds in his final game.

The second half for the Rams was a different animal as Tyner went stone cold, missing 15 of 16 shots to open the second half, including just one make in 11 third period shots. Even with a lif on the basket, though, that one make, a 3 from Adarius Brewster with 2:47 provided Tyner with its final lead of the game at 29-28.

From there, the Mustangs (33-0) hit 15 of 17 free throws as Henderson and Brewster both fouled out late in the game. Loretto made its last field goal at the 6:30 mark of the fourth period to make it 43-33, but the Rams never gave up. Henderson had two big baskets and Jordan Felder nailed a 3 to pull it within 48-43 with 2:24 left, and the Rams had a chance to cut into that before a big turnover squelled the moment.

"There were a couple of possessions if we just could have capitalized on, we might have got back in it. It's not easy making it to Murfreesboro, and Loretto is 33-0 for a reason," Ward added.

The Mustangs took advantage of Beeson's limited minutes to out rebound the Rams 38-27 and several times when Tyner got the stop, an offensive rebound proved to be a dagger.

"Good teams get beat all the time, but great ones find ways to get it done on both ends of the court," said Loretto coach Greg Tipps. "We've only been out rebounded one game this year. This is a special group."

The game's final stats were pretty even, both squads hitting 18 field goals and five 3s each, but the dozen point difference at the free throw proved the difference.

A common foul late in the game on a tie up was called on Brewster, and both the Loretto player and he reacted, but it was Brewster who was assessed the technical foul. The four made free throws with 1:43 left by Kylon Wilkerson pushed it back to 53-43 and basically ended the Rams chances.

Brewster finished his career with 15 points and was the only player besides Henderson in double figures. Buie was joined by Wilkerson in double figures with 10 (6-of-6 at the line) while Corben Reynolds added nine free throw makes.

Loretto will try to complete its unbeaten season with a championship tilt against Alcoa, which beat Jackson County, 58-39, in the other semifinal.

TYNER	15	11	3	18	-- 47
LORETTO	16	8	13	22	--59

TYNER (47) – Rodney Henderson 13, Pinkerton, Adarius Brewster 15, Beeson 4, Ward 6, Thompson, Howard, Felder 7, Moore 2, Harper, buchanan.

LORETTO (59) – Reynolds 9, Roberson 3, Tidwell 9, Kasen Buie 22, Burleson 6, Kylon Wilkerson 10, Springer, Thompson, Aaron.

3-point goals: Tyner 5 (Brewster 2, Ward 2, Felder); Loretto 5 (Tidwell 3, Buie, Burleson).

Free throws: Tyner 5 of 8; Loretto 18 of 29.

Records: Tyner Academy 31-7; Loretto 34-0.

(Contact James Beach at 1134james@gmail.com)