It took 40 tension-filled minutes to decide the outcome in Friday's District 6-AA boys' high school basketball game at Tyner. And although the host Rams lost on the scoreboard, they were winners in another way.
Eighth-ranked Brainerd came up big in the second overtime, holding sixth-ranked Tyner without a field goal and the Panthers defeated the Rams 59-54.
However, with both teams finishing with 11-1 league records and losing to each other, the district's first tiebreaking criteria is head-to-head point differential. Tyner (21-3) won 49-37 at Brainerd (20-4) on Jan. 17.
Tyner coach Keitha Booker did not tell his players the situation before the game, but he gathered them together afterward and let them know. But not even that good news could immediately cheer them up.
"They're kind of disappointed right now," Booker said. "They really wanted to win tonight on senior night and send those guys out with a blast. Unfortunately, Brainerd came in tonight and wanted it more than we did."
A steal by the Panthers' Jesse Walker down low led to a Kentrell Evans layup at the other end 18 seconds into the second overtime and they led the rest of the way. The Rams were within two again at 55-53, but Brainerd outscored them 4-1 in the last 48 seconds.
"That was a great win for us, especially being double overtime," said Brainerd coach Levar Brown, who watched his team go 17-for-40 from the free-throw line. "We made a lot of bone-head mistakes. We should've won the game in regulation, or we should've won in the first overtime. But I'm proud of my guys for their gutsy performance. We knew we were going to have to fight."
Tyner led by seven at halftime, but Brainerd battled back and took a brief lead at 30-29 before the Rams got two free throws from Solomon Bridgeman for the last points of the third quarter and took the lead to the fourth.
It stayed a one-possession game until the Panthers went up 55-50 in the last overtime.
"We started back pressing in the second half," said Brown, who noted he put his team through extra sprints in preparation for the game. "That got the tempo going. They tried to slow us down. We can play that way, but we don't like it. The second half we also started going inside with it, instead of settling for jump shots like we did in the first half."
Walker was the main one working the post area and led Brainerd with 21 points. Vesta Melvin Jr. and Malik Hampton each contributed eight.
Tyner's Kevin Cameron was not one of the recently announced Mr. Basketball finalists in his classification, so he went out and turned in a 31-point, 16-rebound performance that included a near 30-foot buzzer-beater to send the game to the second overtime. He was 15-of-25 from the free-throw line.
"One thing we wanted him to do was be able to attack the basket," Booker said. "I don't think they have a lot of people who can guard him. He got a little fatigued tonight and missed some of his free throws. He's a kid that plays with chip on his shoulder anyway. We prefer it when he plays with that chip."
Jerrion Christopher added 12 points for Tyner, which made 22 of 37 free throws.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.