Wednesday Trey Suttles, left, tries to keep the ball away from Nick Ross during the Red Bank basketball game against Tyner for the Chattanooga Times Free Press’ Best of Preps basketball tournament championship game.Eventually, Red Bank knew the two-headed monster of Kelvin Clay and Nick Ross would gel at the same time for Lions. They finally had their opportunity in the third quarter of the Times Free Press Best of Preps championship game against Tyner.
The two combined for all but four of the Lions’ 25 points in the pivotal period, helping Red Bank earn their first-ever tournament title by defeating the Rams 75-66 Wednesday night at Arts & Sciences.
Clay, the tournament Most Valuable Player, finished with a game-high 27 points, while Ross scored 20 and Derrick Ashley added 14 Ross and Ashley were all-tournament members. The Rams were led by Travis Jones, who finished with 16 in a losing cause.
Tyner, who had come into the tournament off a two-game losing streak, found the offensive firepower that had been missing in losses to Howard and Brainerd, taking a 12-5 lead early. Red Bank used a 12-2 run to lead 17-14 after a quarter, but Tyner’s defense carried them to some easy buckets again in the second period and they were able to hold a 31-28 lead at the half.
The third quarter came what not only was a turning point of the game, but a pivotal point of the Red Bank season, according to coach John Cherne.
“After playing five games in six days, if we can’t come together at this point, we’re not going to come together,” Cherne said. The Lions went 3-2 over the stretch, but the wins came consecutively over area powers Ooltewah, McCallie and Tyner.
All but two of Clay’s points came in the first three periods, including 12 in the third.
“It was very important for us to come in here and get three wins in this tournament,” he said. “We were here when I was a freshman and didn’t get past the first round, so we wanted to improve this time.
“Tonight, we had been building up the fight and playing hard. I was tired, but we needed somebody to step up, so I figured why not me?”
The Lions went on a 16-4 run at the end of the third and early in the fourth periods to hold a 61-48 lead, but the Rams used one last spurt to close within four points twice — the last being 68-64 with 48.9 seconds remaining, but three Red Bank free throws and layups by Ashley and Ross put the game away.
“In every season, there is a defining moment,” Cherne said. “I really think that we’ve come together over the past six days.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6311. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/gh3sports.