Panthers win at Best of Preps tourney, hope for fewer mistakes in semis

The last boys' first-round game Thursday in the Times Free Press Best of Preps basketball tournament at Chattanooga State featured multiple small scoring spurts.

Brainerd managed to have a few more than Ooltewah, and some timely ones at that, and the Panthers ended up defeating the Owls 65-55.

Brainerd (10-2) will play Baylor at 8:30 tonight in the second semifinal and final game of the day again. Coach Levar Brown said his team will have to have a better showing than Thursday's to compete with the Red Raiders.

"The minor mistakes we made tonight are going to show up tomorrow," Brown said. "We're going to have to do a better job on the boards because of their length and height. We know they're going to execute their offense. We're going to have to be better disciplined on defense."

Ooltewah (4-7) will play in the consolation bracket against Heritage at 2:30.

Brainerd led the majority of the game, yet never seemingly by a comfortable margin until late. There were six ties, but Ooltewah's only lead was 25-23.

The Panthers had a 6-0 run immediately after falling behind. And they added an 8-0 run right before the midway point of the third quarter, a surge that broke the last tie of the game and gave them a 39-31 lead.

The Owls battled back within four at the end of the third. However, Brainerd scored the first six points of the fourth and led by at least eight points the rest of the way.

"We wanted that at the start of the third quarter," Brown said. "We just didn't get it. The start of the fourth quarter was big for us. We missed some shots we normally make, some bunnies. I hope we can (attribute) that to rust. We haven't played since Saturday."

Kevin Halfacre Jr. and Jessie Walker were Brainerd's scoring leaders with 16 and 15 points. Both had 11-point second halves. Joseph Norwood added nine points and LaDerron Freeman contributed eight.

The Owls were led by Kobe Smith's 13 points. Cam Chambers scored 12, Dominique Braden and Logan Henry had nine apeice and Greyson Wood eight.

"What we do, a lot of people might think of as rec ball," Ooltewah coach Jay Williams said. "We do want to go up and down, but with some structure. I thought for the most part we did. We didn't take care of the ball as much as I'd like, but they're a good team, they're a quick team, and that had a lot to do with that."

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.

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