Brainerd boys' basketball coach Levar Brown closed his postgame speech Friday night with two items of note.
First, he wanted the players taking the ACT this morning to head straight home and get their rest. Second, he wanted all of the Panthers to know they're invited to his house Sunday to watch the Super Bowl.
They earned a feast and some fun after defeating visiting Tyner 56-52 to claim second place in District 6-AA with one game left in the regular season.
"I'm grilling wings, and Coach (Stephen) Cook is bringing everything else," Brown said. "Watching the game and playing some NBA 2K is going to be our practice for the day.
"I like to think I'm better than all the guys at that game."
The Panthers (15-4, 7-2) prevailed Friday by winning the final three minutes of the game 10-6. After Jamal Herman Jr. hit two free throws to make it 46-all with 3:09 to play, the Panthers hit six more free throws and scored two baskets in the final minutes. The Rams (14-6, 7-3) got two buckets and two free throws from star Kevin Cameron down the stretch.
"Coming into the season, we thought we'd be one of the best teams in the city," Brown said. "We're happy to be in second, although we aimed for first, and happy to be in the district tournament.
"This was probably the worst game we played all year. We just didn't execute."
But they won.
Kentrell Evans led Brainerd with 14 points and Dajuonta Ross added 12 for the Panthers, who had eight different players score at least two points. The Rams were led by Cameron, who went 6-of-13 from the foul line and finished with 16 points. No other Tyner player reached double digits in scoring.
"Kevin had a subpar game," Tyner coach Keitha Booker said. "For us to still have a chance at the end shows our character."
Seven different Tyner players scored, but the Rams were 7-for-16 on free throws.
"The difference is we missed a boatload of free throws and a boatload of layups," Booker said. "Both teams competed hard, but we had a couple mental lapses that cost us."
Brainerd went on a 7-0 run to close out the first quarter with a 17-12 lead, and the teams were tied at 28 when the Brainerd dance team took the floor at halftime.
The Panthers led 43-36 heading to the fourth quarter but surrendered their lead when Cameron made a steal and scored on a difficult layup to put the Rams ahead 46-44 with five minutes to play.
Brainerd won the rest of the game.
"We have different two-minute drills we do each day in practice," Ross said. "That prepared us for tonight."
Coach Brown plans to be prepared Sunday with plenty of wings for his victorious team.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP