Marquis Tipton and his Brainerd Panthers teammates gained an appreciation Friday for the power that harsh winter weather can have on basketball chemistry.
Facing an upset-minded Sequoyah team in the Region 3-AA quarterfinals, the Panthers stepped into High-Jackson Gymnasium and discovered they had to overcome two opponents -- the visiting Chiefs and the unforgiving rust that came from not playing a game for a week due to weather-related school closings.
Despite Brainerd's 83-63 victory and a berth in today's semifinals in Loudon, Tipton knew the Panthers must be more polished as they face another elimination round today against the winner between McMinn Central and Hixson.
"It felt good to get back on the court, but we hadn't played in a week and we came out rusty," said Tipton, one of three seniors on the team. "If we play this way tomorrow, it's not going to happen. We've got to play better defense, have good energy and we can't be rusty. We have to play every game like it's our last game."
Tipton dominated on the inside and outside in the early stages, scoring seven of Brainerd's first nine points and blocking three of the Chiefs' first four shot attempts. However, Sequoyah quickly climbed back into the contest by breaking Brainerd's full-court press and hitting some timely outside shots.
The Chiefs, who employed a press of their own to force six Brainerd turnovers in the first half, pulled within one point early in the second quarter. But a 14-6 Panthers run to close the half was the first of two devastating blows by Brainerd (20-6).
"I told them at halftime that we looked like we were in the recreation center just playing around," said Brainerd coach Levar Brown. "We didn't look like we had played 26 ballgames all season. I knew we were going to be a little rusty and we're a young team with eight sophomores, three freshmen and three seniors. After halftime, they came out and played better."
Kentrell Evans, hitting his second 3-pointer of the game, set the tone for the final half on his first shot. Evans, who matched Tipton with 14 points in the contest, also played a key role from the perimeter with his passing as he consistently found D'aV Moore and Dajuonta Ross on the inside.
Moore finished with 21 points, while Ross had 11. Jamaul Herman Jr. also was an inside force with 12 points for the Panthers, who had built a 28-point advantage with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
"That was a tough assignment. I thought we did a good job in the first half of containing them pretty well, but we didn't knock down our outside shots," said Sequoyah coach Daniel Curtis. "I thought we did a good job in the first half. But in the second half we tried to put a little bit of pressure on them, and they are just too fast. This is a different brand of basketball down here."
Kody Hampton led Sequoyah (14-14) with 15 points, while Seth Schaffer bagged 13 points with three 3-pointers.
Contact Greg Thompson at sports@timesfreepress.com