Brainerd is back in the boys’ state basketball tournament thanks to a backcourt that refused to back down.
After holding a precarious one-point halftime lead, the Panthers guard tandem of Boo Carter and Dennis Lewis Jr. took matters into their own hands in the third quarter, helping their team take command by as much as 15 before holding off a late rally to beat Gatlinburg-Pittman 71-66 in a Class 2A sectional at High-Jackson Gym Monday night.
“Boo and Dennis, man, that’s a different monster back there for us,” Brainerd coach Levar Brown said. “Those two kids are something else.
“All week at practice we talked about speeding the game up. We knew their guards were tough because they came in here and took us to overtime last year. Our guys accepted the challenge. Dennis didn’t shoot the ball very well in the first half, but he was getting the looks he wanted. In the second half those looks were falling and he made some timely threes.”
Winners of nine straight this season and 14 of their last 15 games, the Panthers (22-8) return to the state tournament for the second year in a row and third time in five years. Brainerd will play next Thursday at Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center against an opponent to be determined during this weekend’s TSSAA bracket drawing.