Tyner Outshoots Brainerd In Big 6-AA Battle

Brainerd’s Jackson-High Gymnasium was filled to capacity long before the girls game had ended Tuesday night, but the overflow crowd had come to see the second meeting between Tyner and Brainerd and a battle for first place in District 6-AA.

Both are ranked in the latest state Class AA poll with Tyner listed sixth and Brainerd ninth. 

Brainerd had won all four meetings last year and had prevailed in the first meeting in the Best of Preps tournament at Chattanooga State in mid-December.

But on an evening when it really counted, the Rams prevailed by a 49-37 final as they improved to 14-1 overall and a perfect 7-0 in District 6-AA.  Brainerd falls to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in 6-AA.

Tyner coach Keitha Booker is a happy fellow most of the time and often has a smile on his face.  He had said before Tuesday’s tip-off that he was hoping to still be smiling when the game ended.

Mission accomplished.

“I still have a smile on my face, but we really needed that one,” he said as he exited the gym floor following Tuesday’s game.

“We just wanted to come out and play hard defensively as that is what this team is built around.  Brainerd has a great team and we came in here with nothing to lose, but winning in this gym tonight speaks volumes for my team.

“We wanted to slow the pace as we knew we couldn’t afford to play up-tempo with Brainerd.  We were able to move the ball offensively and execute our game plan, but we came here tonight wanting to make a statement.

“We’ve been working hard since the first day of pre-season conditioning and we’re beginning to see some rewards, but this is just the beginning.  We have to keep working hard,” Booker nodded.

Jesse Walker scored four of Brainerd’s first six points as the Panthers raced to a 6-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game.

The Panthers later had leads of 7-6, 9-6 and 11-9 before Kevin Cameron scored on a putback to tie the score with 1:02 left in the opening stanza.  KeMarcus Young then hit a long 3 from well beyond the key at the buzzer to give the Rams a 14-11 lead at the first break.

Joseph Norwood scored on a layup and Walker hit the second of two free throws 49 seconds into the second period, but the Rams went on a 9-0 run and had a 25-19 lead at intermission.

It never got any closer.

A 15-4 run to start the second half gave Tyner a commanding 40-23 lead before Norwood closed the quarter with two charity tosses, but the Panthers were still behind 40-25 when the fourth quarter started and thoughts of a Brainerd comeback were quickly headed south on Moore Road.

Tyner’s biggest lead came with 3:23 to play when Jerrion Christopher’s second free throw made it 48-29.

Brainerd was able to finish the game on an 8-1 run, but the outcome had long been decided and the overflow crowd was headed toward the parking lot before the final horn sounded.

The Panthers are normally a sharp-shooting team, but they couldn’t convert a shot from the field for anything.  And for a team that’s been averaging nine 3s per game, they finished with one on this evening.

Brainerd coach Levar Brown felt like the Rams may have been just a little bit more hungry than his team.

“I think there was lid on our rim as we couldn’t buy a bucket,” he said after a post-game chat with his team.

“Tyner adjusted to the conditions better than we did and they just wanted it worse than we did.  I don’t think we’ve shot that bad all season, but we just didn’t play winning basketball tonight.

“Give a lot of credit to Tyner as their defense was tough all night long.  We were shooting jumpers while they were shooting layups.  We just have to move on and learn from it, but this may have been the wakeup call we needed,” Brown added.

Christopher, who sparked Tyner’s third-quarter run with nine points, finished with 17 to lead the Rams. Young and Cameron were also in double figures for the winners with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Walker was tops for Brainerd with 12 points.  Jamaul Herman Jr. was next with six.

Both teams snagged 28 rebounds unofficially.  Cameron had seven for Tyner while Walker had the same number for Brainerd.

TYNER GIRLS 50, BRAINERD 29: A 24-11 difference in the second half allowed the Lady Rams to slowly pull away as Kenisha Watkins scored 19 points to lead the winning effort. 

LeAundra Melton was next with 16 while Jordan Smith and Kenisha Price both scored seven for Brainerd.

GIRLS SUMMARY

TYNER  11  15  14  10  --  50

BRAINERD  6  12  8  3  --  29

TYNER (50) – McKenzie 3, Bedford 6, Conley, Crumsey, Melton 16, McGee 3, Watkins 19, Taylor 2, Thomas, Burks, McCutcheon 1.

BRAINERD (29) – A. Robinson 2, B. Robinson, Smith 7, Price 7, Jarrett 5, Bush, Steward 2, Coates, Torrance, Bell, Finley 6.

3-POINT GOALS: Tyner 3 (Melton, Watkins 2); Brainerd 1 (Price).

BOYS SUMMARY

TYNER  14  11  15  9  -- 49

BRAINERD  11  8  6  12  --  37

TYNER (49) – Cameron 13, McCauley 2, Christopher 17, Young 15, Bridgman, Bowens, Elston 2.

BRAINERD (37) – Menifee, Sow, Melvin 4, Bradley 3, Evans 5, Hymon, Norwood 4, Hampton 3, Chapman, Herman 6, Walker 12.

3-POINT GOALS: Tyner 2 (Christopher 2); Brainerd 1 (Hampton).

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)