The new decorations in Jackson-High Hym at Brainerd add a nice touch.
Hoisted on Wednesday, five banners honor five legends of Brainerd’s basketball history: Venus Lacy, Keith Rawls, Dewayne Garner, Jay Price and Malcolm Mackey.
Perhaps a current Panther will reach the rafters sometime in the future. The current Brainerd team humbled Red Bank 81-64 on Thursday, when the celebration came in the form of high-fives and back slaps.
A formal ceremony for the banners will come Saturday when Brainerd faces Austin-East.
“We are inducting five of our All-Americans and inducting their jerseys,” current coach Lavar Brown said. “It’s going to be a big celebration and they are all going to be here.
“They are so excited.”
The current Panthers provided most of the excitement in the gym Thursday, weaving and spinning their way through Red Bank’s defense complete with jaw-dropping plays such as a few slam-dunks and a buzzer-beating shot capping a long run.
Dajuonta Ross led the Panthers with 22 points. Jessie Walker scored 19 and Kentrell Evans added 13. The Lions were led by Malik McConnell’s 22 points, Will Davis’ 15 and Kolbie Suttles’ 11.
“If you can put up 60 points, you can win a ballgame,” Red Bank coach Nick Fike said. “But you can’t win by giving up 70 or 80 points. We try to pride ourselves on the defense end, but the last few games we haven’t defended.”
The Lions trailed 36-29 at halftime. Walker, a Panthers forward, scored 15 points before the break, including the last six.
The Panthers brought fans to their feet even more often in the third quarter. They were screaming so loud at one point the new banners swayed just a touch.
Brainerd (8-0) outscored the Lions 28-9 in the third quarter. During those eight minutes, the Panthers either scored a bucket or were fouled on 14 of 18 possessions.
Evans closed the period with a dribbling display just before finding space to release a 3-pointer and see it swish through the net.
“We just penetrated and hit the big man,” Evans said. “We played a much better pace today.”
They played well enough to make at least one of the legends in attendance exit the gym a little early with a smile on his face.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP