Tyner senior Kevin Cameron shoots over East Hamilton's DaVae Hughley on Thursday night during their game at Tyner Academy. Cameron scored 16 points and the once-beaten Rams defeated the Hurricanes 49-39.
photo by M.A. Locke
Tyner may occasionally have an off night scoring, but that Rams defense is always spot-on.
East Hamilton saw that first hand Thursday night in a hot Tyner Academy gymnasium.
It didn’t rain points. Neither offense was sparkling, but the Rams had a distinct edge on one end of the court throughout the game – East Hamilton’s.
The Rams got to almost every loose ball, most of the rebounds, contested 90 percent of East Hamilton shots and harassed the Hurricanes at every turn. If a player in a black-and-green uniform, he was guarded.
Tyner, coming off an impressive key District 6-2A win over rival Brainerd on Tuesday, defensively stifled the Hurricanes and came away with a 49-39 victory in a game pitting state-ranked teams. It was the Rams’ seventh win in a row and 15th in 16 games this season.
“It’s a mindset,” said Tyner senior Kevin Cameron, who scored a game-high 16 points and was a defensive menace most of the time he was in action.
Tyner coach Keitha Booker has successfully carried on the defensive philosophy that his predecessor, Gerald Harris, passed along. It’s a simple defensive basketball strategy: be in someone’s back pocket.
“That’s something we focus on every day in practice,” Booker said. “On nights like tonight, offensively we may struggle, but every night defensively we have to compete and pay hard. Up to this point, we’ve been doing a great job of that.”
On Tuesday, the Rams, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A by coachT.com, held Brainerd to 37 points. In their previous game, Boyd-Buchanan scored 23 points. Ooltewah managed 28. The highest point total Tyner has allowed is 60 in a four-point loss to Brainerd in a pre-Christmas tournament.
“I looked up at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter and we’ve got 29 points,” East Hamilton coach Rodney English said. “This is our 20th game. Do you know how many times we’ve scored 29 points in a quarter? We did not show up tonight.”
It was not a big deal when Tyner scored eight points in the third quarter.
The Hurricanes (14-6), No. 10 in Class 3A, managed only six points.
“When you have a good ball team and you have a chance to come over here and play Tyner, this is the kind of atmosphere you want for your team,” English said. “I think this stage was a little too big for us. We came out and completely did nothing tonight.”
A quick start to the second period, fueled by Cameron, enabled the Rams to stretch a 15-11 lead to 24-13. Cameron hit a 12-foot jumper, drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing and then grabbed a loose ball near the mid-court line and whipped a pass to Jerrion Christopher under basket for a layup.
Tyner’s next score came on a mid-range jumper by Ke Marcus Young that gave the Rams a 24-13 cushion.
East Hamilton climbed to within 31-21 at halftime, but Tyner scored seven of the first nine points to start the third period and extended the lead to 15 points.
Nursing a 39-27 advantage, Tyner outscored the ‘Canes 9-1 to begin the fourth quarter and surged to a 19-point spread with 4:34 remaining.
Cameron, playing his second game after serving a two-game suspension due to getting two technical fouls in the Hixson game, scored 12 first-half points. He was content to provide the glue that held his team together on both ends of the court before giving way to reserve players.
Christopher finished with 12 points for the Rams, who host Ooltewah on Friday before returning to district play against Howard on Jan. 23.
DaVae Hughley led East Hamilton with nine points.
“I absolutely adore this group,” English said. “We just didn’t show up tonight and I was crazy disappointed. We’re going to meet at 6:45 (Friday) morning at school and they’re going to give me some answers.
“This right here can get us ready to go to Cleveland; to go bot Bradley Central and McMinn County. Tyner was more prepared than we were and I thought we were prepared because we had time. We weren’t though and that stops with me.”
East Hamilton girls 69, Tyner 32: The Lady Hurricanes (9-9) outscored the Lady Rams (7-10) 24-9 in the third quarter, turning a nine-point halftime lead into a 50-26 margin.
Five-foot-11 freshman Madison Hayes scored a game-high 22 points to pace East Hamilton to the easy win. She had 14 points in the second half and 10 in the third quarter.
Dezan Lacy added 11 points, including three of the Lady ‘Canes’ eight 3-pointers. Elizian Laboo finished with 10 points.
Kenian Watkins sparked the Lady Rams with 13 points.
LINESCORES
Boys Game
East Hamilton 11 10 6 11 – 39
Tyner 15 16 8 10 – 49
East Hamilton (39) – Wilson, Williams 6, Montgomery 3, Pasley, Hughley 9, Randolph 2, Fager 7, Dozier 5, Hammett, Wingard 3, Schramm 2.
Tyner (49) – Kevin Cameron 16, Young 5, Bridgeman, McCauley 8, Bowens, Elston, Halfacre 1, Elston 5, Little 3, Jerrion Christopher 12, Lattimore, Gladden, Craddock.
3-Point Goals – East Hamilton 1 (Fager 1), Tyner 6 (Cameron 2, Young 1, Elston 1, Little 1, Christopher 1).
Girls Game
East Hamilton 12 14 24 15 – 69
Tyner 5 12 9 6 – 32
East Hamilton (69) – Moon 8, Dezan Lacy 11, Wood 3, Suttles 2, Scott 2, Madison Hayes 22, Zen 3, Pettit 2, Abernathy 6, Elizian Laboo 10.
Tyner (32) – Bedford 2, Melton 5, McCutcheon 7, McGee 3, Kenian Watkins 13, Taylor 2.
3-Point Goals – East Hamilton 8 (Lacy 3, Abernathy 2, Moon 1, Wood 1, Zen 1), Tyner 2 (Melton 1, Watkins 1).
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)