Staff photo by Dan Henry/Chattanooga Times Free Press – January 07, 2011. Brainerd’s Jalen Stallion (12) collides with Howard’s Roddarius Martin (24) during the first half of play Friday evening at Howard School of Academics and Technology.The last time Howard’s and Brainerd’s boys played a varsity high school basketball game, it turned out to be a defensive struggle.
Friday night at Howard, only Brainerd struggled.
Maybe it was the Hustlin’ Tigers’ defense; maybe it was poor shot selection on the Panthers’ part; maybe it was plain old bad luck. Regardless, the result was a 59-31 Howard victory in the District 6-AA game.
Howard (7-3, 5-0) will host Red Bank (5-0 6-AA) for first place tonight at 7:30 in a makeup game from an earlier snowout.
The Tigers and Brainerd (8-7, 3-3) on Dec. 3 played a lethargic game that Howard won 38-34 at Brainerd. The Panthers entered Friday’s game having scored at least 10 points in 46 of 56 quarters, and three of the times they didn’t occurred in the first game against the Tigers.