Tyner's boys can't go back in time and erase the loss they had to Brainerd on senior night a week and a half ago. But the Rams should be able to accept that high school basketball loss a little better after Tuesday's outcome in the District 6-AA championship game at Hixson.
Tyner turned around a seven-point halftime deficit with a big third quarter and defeated the Panthers 62-54.
"This helps tremendously," Tyner coach Keitha Booker said.
Tyner (24-3) will host Loudon in a first-round game in the Region 3 tournament. Brainerd (22-6) will host Sequoyah.
Red Bank edged Tyner 44-43 for the girls' district title Tuesday and will host Sweetwater in the first round of the region. The Lady Rams will host Loudon.
Girls' first-round region games are Friday at 7 p.m. local time of the host schools. The same goes for the boys on Saturday.
Things were all going the Panthers' way in the first half. They led 17-4 early in the second quarter and went to halftime leading 25-18.
But Tyner flipped things around with a 23-point third quarter that included a 13-0 run, and at the end of the period the Rams were up 41-33. Booker said defense was the catalyst in the turnaround.
"We came out flat," Booker said. "They wanted the game more than we did. We didn't match their intensity on the defensive end. We were kind of stagnated."
So what turned things around?
"Defense," he said. "Basically that's what we've been built on all year."
Tyner's lead got as high as nine before Brainerd got back within 51-50 when Kentrell Evans made two free throws with 1:42 to play. Not long afterward, with Tyner up by three, tournament most valuable player Kevin Cameron stole the inbound pass after a Brainerd timeout and took it in for a three-point play and a 56-50 lead with 1:02 to go.
"Not a bigger play in the game," Booker said.
Still, the Panthers managed to get back within two. But the Rams sealed it with a layup and four free throws in the last 32 seconds.
Jerrion Christopher topped the Rams with 19 points and Cameron finished with 18. Jeremy Elston contributed 13.
Evans was the Panthers' leading scorer with 13. Jessie Walker scored 12 and Malik Hampton had all 11 of his in the fourth quarter.
"I think we were a little satisfied with ourselves going to halftime with a seven-point lead. Then we lost our floor general for that length of time," Brainerd coach Levar Brown said of his point guard Evans, who watched most of the third quarter. "He got his third and fourth fouls very early in the third, and we had to take him out. We did a good job preparing for the game. I think the first half shows that."
Red Bank (18-10) won its game when Tyner was unable to get a shot off in the final 3.1 seconds after Shelby Romans had put the Lady Lions ahead by making the first of two free throws. Coach Bailey McGinnis called a timeout with 10.3 seconds remaining to set up a play for Romans. It worked because Romans got the ball back after it was originally knocked from her hands.
"We wanted her to throw it in and then immediately get it back to her and have her take it to the hole," McGinnis said. "It didn't go exactly as planned. We felt like we had to do something off the dribble to try to make the offense go in that situation."
The Lady Lions' only lead in the first half was 12-11 after Romans drove the length of the floor for a layup and the first points of the second quarter. McGinnis said she felt her team came out timid but in the second half did a better job securing rebounds and getting better looks at the basket.
"I'm proud of them for hanging around," she said.
Tournament MVP Mya Kennebrew led Red Bank with 14 points. Romans totaled 10.
Tyner (13-14) was led by LeAundra Melton's 16 points.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.