Tyner’s Jermel McKenzie and Reggie Gilmore were late to the party at McCallie. But there may not have been anything to celebrate had they not arrived.
Rams coach Gerald Harris did not play either player until the third quarter of their high school basketball game Tuesday. Then after what proved to be Tyner’s season-low point total in a half, McKenzie and Gilmore combined for 19 points and sparked a 47-39 comeback victory over the Blue Tornado.
McKenzie ended up leading the Rams with 11 points, which was also their total at the end of a woeful first half.
Tyner’s Travis Jones, another who normally starts but didn’t, because of a cut on his finger, drove the lane for a layup with 1:06 left in the first quarter. Including his failure to complete the three-point play, the Rams’ scoring the rest of the half came on 3-of-7 free-throw shooting. Somehow they went to halftime within eight.
“Take away those two 3s Jordan Price made and a couple of other putbacks and we’re easily in the game in the first half,” said Harris, referring to the Blue Tornado’s top scorer.
McCallie (15-5) twice pushed the lead to 13 in the third quarter — the last when Price followed his own miss at the three-minute mark. Tyner (16-5) scored the last nine points in the period and eventually took its first lead since 10-7 when Keith Rawls made both ends of a one-and-one with 4:12 to play. Harris credited the comeback to his team’s attitude despite two starters sitting out the first half.
“Once we got the 13-point lead, maybe we relaxed a little,” McCallie coach Dan Wadley said. “Maybe they turned up the gas.
“We didn’t take care of the ball. What got us the lead was running. As the lead shrank we started feeling it a little more and took some bad shots. We also gave up way too many offensive rebounds.”
Eight McCallie players ending within five points of each other is balanced, but half of those didn’t score. Price’s 25 points topped the team.
“When he has to do that,” Wadley said, “we’re not as good.”