Red Bank’s boys may have come into Thursday’s District 6-AA high school basketball tournament elimination game as the road team, as well as the No. 6 seed going against the No. 3 seed. But it was clear from the start the Lions looked sharp and ready to play, while counterpart and host Central was busy trying to shake off the rust of not having played in a week.
That the Purple Pounders twice beat Red Bank by 11 points during the regular season had no effect in this game, one in which the Lions never trailed on the way to a 71-59 victory.
Red Bank (11-17) advances to a Saturday semifinal at Howard, where it will take on Signal Mountain at 4:30 p.m. The win also assures the Lions of a berth in the Region 3 tournament.
Red Bank coach Nick Fike knew his team was capable of doing good things because of the way it performed at times against tough competition during the season. He thought defeating Hixson the night before in the tournament opener may have been just the tonic his players needed.
“Potential has a shelf life,” Fike said of a saying the team has embraced this season. “This team has all the potential. They’re not ready to put it on the shelf yet.”