Less than 24 hours after a disappointing overtime loss, Tyner's boys bounced back with an impressive 62-51 win over Notre Dame in the consolation bracket of the annual Times Free Press Best of Preps tournament Friday afternoon at Chattanooga State.
The Rams (6-3) led for much of the game and were able to pull away late, paced by Solomon Bridgeman's game-high 24 points. Michael Little added 13 and Javon Craddock 12 for Tyner, which will play Ooltewah in the fifth-place game at 2:30 today.
"I got after the guys pretty good after we lost, but today I thought we came back and showed a lot of energy and a sense of urgency," first-year Rams coach E'Jay Ward said. "That tells me we're growing as a team, because we were coming off a tough loss but didn't dwell on it; we came out and did the little things - rebounding and playing better defense - that we had to do."
Akil Sledge had 18 points and Derwin Lewis 10 for Notre Dame (10-9), which will face Heritage in the seventh-place game at 11:30 this morning.
-Ooltewah boys 74, Heritage 62: The Owls stretched a four-point halftime lead with a strong third quarter and moved into today's fifth-place game with the win.
Senior Cametre Chambers led all scorers with 22 points for Ooltewah (7-7), while Dominique Braden added 14 and Logan Henry and Kobe Smith finished with 10 each.
Luke Grant had 17 points for Heritage (6-7), including three 3-pointers.
-Notre Dame girls 59, GPS 47: Notre Dame avoided another fourth-quarter letdown and held on for the win.
A third-quarter run helped Notre Dame (13-6) pull ahead of the Bruisers by 15 heading into the fourth, but five GPS players scored in the first four minutes of the final period to pull within five.
"Our girls knew coming into this game that they were playing with a chip on their shoulder," said Notre Dame coach Jason Hill, whose team had taken a fourth-quarter lead over Meigs County in the opening round before being outscored 20-1 down the stretch. "They felt like they should be playing in the winners bracket, and I don't think there was any way they were going to let another team come back on them."
Sophomore point guard Kate Ford and junior center MacKenzie Johnson definitely weren't going to let another lead slip away. Ford finished with a game-high 29 points, including all six fourth-quarter free throws, and Johnson added 14 points.
"We go as Kate goes," Hill said. "She's the point guard and leader of the team."
Notre Dame will face Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe for fifth place at 1 p.m. today.
Hannah Sanders and Brooke McCurdy led GPS (6-5) in scoring with 12 and 13 points. JJ Dunnigan scored 10 for the Bruisers, who will face Van Buren County with seventh place at stake at 10 this morning.
-LFO girls 48, Van Buren 34: After trailing by three at halftime, the Lady Warriors opened the second half with a 15-6 run, then held Van Buren to just three points in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Macey Gregg led LFO (6-7) with 18 points and Anna Roundtree added 16.
Mallory Christian led all scorers with 20 points for the Lady Eagles (4-11).