Tyner's Kevin Cameron (3) looks for an outlet pass as Hixspn's Braven Horton (13) defends. Cameron led the Rams (10-1, 5-0) with 11 points as they knocked off the Wildcats (5-4, 3-3), 71-56, in a 6-AA contest at Hixson's gym Wednesday evening. Horton led all scorers with 21 points.
photo by Dennis Norwood
It had been 12 days since Tyner’s last basketball game and almost three weeks for Hixson, but they played like there was no tomorrow on Wednesday night at Hixson in a battle of District 6-AA foes.
Oh, it was sloppy at times and extremely physical, but when the final horn sounded, the Rams had improved to 10-1 overall and 5-0 in 6-AA with the 71-56 victory. Hixson is now 5-4 overall and 3-3 in district play.
“We keep telling our guys that we control our own destiny and that we have to play through adversity at times, but we didn’t do a very good job of that tonight,” said Tyner coach Keitha Booker after the game ended.
“To get a big district win on the road in a hostile environment like here at Hixson speaks volumes for our team, but we just didn’t show up offensively and got off to a slow start. We were able to capitalize on some turnovers, but we have to be ready to play every time we take the court.
“I figured we’d be a little sluggish with the layoff, but we just have to learn how to keep our composure in difficult situations. We got the win, but we definitely have a lot of stuff to work on,” Booker added.
Hixson coach Lawanza Crutcher liked the effort he saw, but not so much the final result.
“That was a battle,” he said after exiting the Hixson dressing room.
“Tyner fought a little harder than we did and they won the war, but I felt like we competed and showed what we’re capable of doing. I feel like we can compete with anybody.
“We made too many careless mistakes and we lost the control of the tempo. You could tell we’ve been off for a couple of weeks. I’m pleased with the effort, but I wish we could have gotten better results,” he nodded.
Braven Horton canned a 3 from the baseline in the opening minute to surpass 1,000 points for his prep career and another long shot from Latrell Sanderfer nearly four minutes later gave the host Wildcats an 8-6 lead.
Tyner then scored eight straight points and 11 of the final 13 to assume a 17-10 lead when the first quarter ended.
With the Rams focusing on getting the ball inside for layups and short jumpers, the difference was 29-17 with 4:16 left in the half following a layup by Jerrion Christopher.
Hixson then scored nine unanswered points to get within 29-26 following a three-point play by Horton with 3:06 showing and the talented senior added four more points in the final minute to get Hixson with 34-32 at intermission.
The Wildcats refused to be intimidated and were still within a bucket at 40-38 following a layup by Deaunta Stegall with 5:58 left in the third stanza.
Tyner then went on a 15-5 the rest of the quarter for a 55-43 lead with eight minutes remaining.
Things got really interesting in the fourth as a double technical resulted in the ejection of one Hixson player, but the Rams were able to maintain their lead with key free throws down the stretch.
Tyner sank only one of six in the first half, but were much better in the second as they connected on 21 of 25 in the final 16 minutes.
Kevin McCauley scored 15 points to lead a quartet of Tyner players in double figures.
Kevin Cameron followed with 11 while Jeremy Elston and Christopher both recorded 10.
Horton was tops for Hixson with 21 points while Sanderfer had 15 and Jamvis Ponder 13.
Tyner also had an unofficial 28-26 edge in rebounds as Christopher had seven and Cameron six for the Rams while Ponder had six and Tyrese Hatcher five for the Wildcats.
TYNER GIRLS 45, HIXSON 15: The Lady Rams had an 11-5 lead after one quarter, but completely blew things open with a 25-6 advantage in the next two stanzas to win going away.
Tyner, now 6-6 overall and 4-1 in District 6-AA, got 13 points from Keionna McCutcheon and 10 from LeAundra Melton while Keniah Watkins finished with nine.
Ashiya Ervin was tops for Hixson with seven points while four Lady Wildcat teammates had two points apiece.
GIRLS SUMMARY
TYNER 11 14 11 9 -- 45
HIXSON 5 2 4 4 -- 15
TYNER (45) – McKenzie, Bedford 2, Cooley 3, Crumsey, Melton 10, McCutcheon 13, McGee 4, Watkins 9, Taylor 4, Thomas, Jones, Burks, Cosey.
HIXSON (15) – Jett 2, Swafford 2, Taylor 2, Ervin 7, Wyatt 2, Brown, Hunter, Henley.
3-POINT GOALS: Tyner 4 (Cooley, Melton, Watkins 2); Hixson none.
BOYS SUMMARY
TYNER 17 17 21 16 -- 71
HIXSON 10 22 11 13 -- 56
TYNER (71) – Cameron 11, Young 8, Bridgeman 4, McCauley 15, Bowens 8, Little 5, Christopher 10, Elston 10.
HIXSON (56) – Alemeda, Hatcher, Ponder 13, Horton 21, Stegall 4, Warthen, Sanderfer 15, Lipe, White 2.
3-POINT GOALS: Tyner 1 (McCauley); Hixson 5 (Ponder 2, Horton, Sanderfer 2).
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)