They’re young, undersized and still searching for consistent shooters, but Tyner’s Rams make up for any shortcomings with an abundance of quickness and intensity on the defensive end.
That was again on display during a first-half scoring barrage that helped the Rams beat Arts & Sciences 56-34 Saturday evening in the first round of the annual Best of Preps tournament at Chattanooga State.
Tyner (9-0), which starts three sophomores and a junior and has only two seniors on the roster, remained unbeaten as continual pressure created turnovers and easy fastbreak points and led to a 23-0 run that put the game away early.
“We have to use our quickness and feed off our defense to be successful,” said Rams coach Keitha Booker, who pointed out that his team doesn’t have a player taller than 6-foot-2. “We’ve lived off our pressure defense so far this year and that’s really carried us, because we really haven’t been a very good shooting team.
“A win like this, over a really good team in an atmosphere like this tournament, can do a lot of good for our confidence. We’re still a very young team learning how to play together.”
Tyner will face McCallie in the semifinals Monday at 8:30 p.m.
The Patriots led for much of the first quarter, but the Rams got back-to-back 3-pointers near the end of the quarter to take a lead they would not give up. Tyner then scored the first 14 points of the second quarter as CSAS went more than eight minutes between baskets.
Kevin Cameron led Tyner with 19 points and was the only player in double figures for his team.
“We had the best week of practice we’ve had all year leading up to this game, so I really can’t explain this one other than I think our kids were too hyped up for this one,” Patriots coach Mark Dragoo said. “We’ve played quick teams before, so I’m not sure how much that had to do with it. We just made a lot of mistakes and couldn’t finish when we had chances.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.