Brainerd's Kentrell Evans (10) has his ankle taped before the game. The Brainerd High Panthers faced the Fulton High Falcons in the TSSAA State Division I Class AA Championship at the Murphy Center on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro March 19, 2016.Kentrell Evans, a junior point guard who guided Brainerd to the Class AA state championship game for the first time in 19 years, was forced to mature long before he set foot on the state's biggest prep basketball stage. And he did so under the stress of a real-life twist of fate, a much more cruel teacher than any basketball court.
When Kentrell was 11 years old his father was shot six times with an AK-47 just outside their home in Hixson by a man the family had considered a friend. Kima Evans died three days later in the intensive care unit of a local hospital, leaving Kentrell without the man who had been his role model and hero.
"My dad was my mom and my dad," said Evans, who had lived with his mother until second grade when, needing a man's influence in his life more, he moved in full-time with his father. "Most men don't like to show a lot of love or hug or do those type of physical things or even say it, but my dad did. We were really close.
"When my dad passed, it made me grow up a lot faster. There are kids my age who are different than me, because I know I have to earn everything I get. I don't have a silver spoon."
With his future suddenly swirling with confusion and uncertainty, Kentrell left his father's gravesite and, still wearing his funeral clothes, walked to the Eastdale recreation center and shot basketball for several hours.
The game would become not only the outlet Kentrell used to deal with his emotions but a doorway to new role models.
Shortly after his father's death, Kentrell met Zach Ferrell, a former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga player who had begun coaching at Hamilton Heights and also was heading a summer AAU program. The two made an instant connection, the angry pre-teen longing to fill the empty space with a male role model and the young man with a calling to influence kids.
"From the moment I met him you could see the heartache in him," said Ferrell, who drove to Murfreesboro on Saturday afternoon to watch Evans and his Panthers teammates play for a state title. "He had a lot of pent-up anger. He was just confused and scared, but he was such a sweet kid and so smart, you knew he just needed someone to love him through a situation that no kid is prepared for.
"Because of my faith I knew God had put me in his life for a reason. I was supposed to be one of the men to help him grow, and I hope I've helped in some way. To see him become such a leader on and off the court, with what he's gone through, is phenomenal."
Shortly after his father's funeral, Kentrell moved in with his paternal grandmother, Anita Evans, who immediately began bringing him out of his shell.
"She had already raised three boys, so she knows how to raise men," Evans said. "I used to speak with my head down and was shy, but she taught me to think before you speak and then make eye contact and be confident. I'm blessed to have her.
"She's made me a neat freak. Even when we got here for the tournament, the first thing I told the guys rooming with me was we all had to hang our clothes up and keep the room clean. I'm just an old soul. I'm the first person to buckle my seatbelt in a car or just doing stuff to be a positive influence on my friends."
Evans averaged 17 points, three assists and three steals in the state quarterfinals and semifinals, but his influence carries off the court to his teammates as well.
An honor student with a 3.6 grade point average who plans to major in engineering at Memphis University, Evans even steps in as a player-coach at times. During a crucial stretch late in Friday's semifinal, when Brainerd rallied from six points down in the final four minutes to advance, Evans changed four straight offensive sets called by Panthers coach Levar Brown.
"He was calling for inside sets, and with their big guy (Whites Creek 6-foot-10 center Ruot Monyyong) giving us fits, I wanted to bring them out and create some space to work. It wasn't meant as disrespect - I just knew I was on the court and believed I knew what we needed to do."
Late in that game Brown called time out, but before he could even begin giving instructions, Evans took over in the huddle.
"I never even got to say a word for the whole timeout," Brown said with a chuckle. "He just started pointing and directing guys on what they needed to do. I guess that shows how important I am. That's what you want from the leader of your team, though.
"Last year after we lost our starting point guard before the season, he had to take over as a sophomore and become a leader. He got us here, but we got beat bad and he took it personally. He has been determined to not just get us back here but to win it all."
The combination of coaches such as Brown and Ferrell and his grandmother have worked together to give Kentrell, in the absence of his father, something every kid needs - someone they don't want to disappoint.
"Since my dad passed away I've been introduced to a lot of godly folks who have helped me become the person I am now," Evans said. "The way I show my appreciation to them is to be the best example, the best person I can be, to everyone else.
"But my dad is always with me, too. Even now, I feel closer to him when I'm on the court than anywhere, because he loved to watch me play. That's why every time I make a free throw I step back, tap my heart and point to the sky, because I'm thinking of him. I know he's watching and he's proud."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.