Central did the necessary things late to hang on and defeat Tyner 60-58 in a District 6-AA boys' high school basketball game at Central.
But the real winner may have been idle Brainerd.
The Panthers sit at 8-0 in the district and are in the best position to be the No. 1-seeded team in the district tournament. Central (11-4, 6-2) came in having already lost twice to Brainerd.
"We're just fighting for second," Purple Pounders coach Rick Rogers said, "trying to get the best seed we can get."
Tyner (8-7, 3-2) needed a victory to stay within a game of the Panthers in the loss column with the chance to play them again.
"We lost at Central by two; we lost at Brainerd by four, at their places," Tyner coach Gerald Harris said. "It's one of those kinds of things. What it boils down to in the end, it's going to be a very interesting year."
Harris called a timeout with 49 seconds to play Tuesday and his team trailing by four. Coming out of it, the Rams managed to put up two shots, the first a 3-pointer, and both were blocked.
After each team went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line three seconds apart, Tyner's John Boyd scored inside and Harris immediately called his final timeout with 4.1 seconds showing. Central missed its double-bonus free throws, leaving it a one-possession game, but Kevin Cameron's half-court heave at the buzzer hit the backboard only.
"We made a valiant effort, but wow, Tyner really did," Rogers said. "They have a bunch of 5-(foot)-9 guys playing a bunch of 6-3 guys and they're taking them to the wall. They scrapped all over the floor. They were kicking the ball loose, getting rebounds. I don't know if it's pesky or not, but it's aggressive the way they play. They try to use their quickness on defense to start their offense, and they do a good job of it."
The game was close throughout. Central took the lead for good when Tre Tiller's leaner in the lane with 6:22 to play made it 51-50.
The Pounders managed to cling to the lead the rest of the way, despite missing nine of 14 free throws in the last 4:45. Tyner's free-throw issues were in the first half, when it was 5-for-11.
"It was anybody's ballgame," Harris said. "If we had hit our free throws in the beginning of the first half, that would've been really, really big."
Rodney Benford's team-high 16 points for the Pounders were all in the first half. Tiller added 15 and Terron Hayes had 11 over the last three quarters.
The Rams were led by Daaron Maston's 20 points. Cameron totaled 16.
* Central girls 37, Tyner 27: The Lady Purple Pounders maintained their hold on first place in District 6-AA. The key was performing at crunch time, outscoring the Lady Rams 11-3 in the fourth quarter.
Senior guard Sandrea Sylman, who was presented a keepsake before the game in recognition of her 1,000th career point last game, led Central with 14 points. Her next-closest scoring help was the seven points reserve Darian Hixson provided.
"We were playing better at the beginning of the year," said Central coach Rick May, whose 9-4 team improved to 7-1 in the district. "Now we're trying to depend on San way too much. Some others have got to get involved. The bench is going to be the key in determining the winner of this district."
Tyner (5-11, 3-2) was led by Leandra Melton and Sam Moffett with eight points apiece, but neither scored in the fourth quarter. Melton's points came on two 3-pointers in the first quarter and a 2-point basket in the second.
Between games Central senior Madison Rogers, daughter of the boys' coach, was presented some gifts, including a shadow box constructed by Alan Pressley that included some Tennessee Lady Vols pictures and an autograph by former UT coach Pat Summitt. The Central alumni association honored Rogers for her dedication to the Lady Pounders' program in spite of not being able to play her senior year because of an ACL tear.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.