With Monday night’s Class AA sectional game well past any potential drama, the Tyner crowd wanted one more highlight. With the Rams ahead 76-45 against outmanned York Institute, the chant began, “We want Coop!”
Moments later, Tyner coach Gerald Harris called time out, smiled and turned to senior Thomas Cooper and told him to shed his warmup, much to the delight of the overflow crowd. Thirty-six seconds later, Cooper — in his first action since breaking his leg — hit a 3-point basket, sending the crowd and the Rams bench into a frenzy.
Following the 81-47 win sending Tyner to Murfreesboro for the state final eight, most of the talk was about Cooper’s return.
“That was a special moment for me,” Harris said. “That kid has endured so much with the injury, but the guys came through for him. When he got hurt in Memphis, he kept on saying, ‘I want to go to the state.’ Tonight, we did it for him. That caps off everything he’s gone through, and at the same time what the team has done for him.”
Point guard Travis Jones, who was the key cog in the Rams’ potent fastbreak game with seven assists to go with nine points, was among those chanting Cooper’s name.
“I didn’t know they were going to get him in,” Jones said, “so I kept yelling, ‘I want Coop! I want Coop!’ It was a great moment to get him back on the court.”
The game essentially was over after a 12-0 run ending the first half gave Tyner (24-6) a 37-17 lead. The Rams exploited a decided height advantage with 6-foot-9 Michael Bradley and 6-6 Reggie Gilmore and then, as the Dragons adjusted inside, found a nice midrange game led by Jermel McKenzie, who led the first-half scoring with 11 points. Gilmore added 10 and Bradley had six rebounds and two blocks in the half.
“You work hard all year, and as a coach you like to sit back and watch it when it all comes together,” said Harris, whose team lost in the sectional round last year. “We’re a team full of seniors, so sometimes you just have to allow them to figure it out themselves, and they did.”
Harris noted the impact Jones had on the game.
“Travis Jones has been going hard for us all year at the point guard position,” he said. “You can watch him on film all you want, but you can’t understand his leadership, his quickness and speed. He does some things that makes me go, ‘Wow.’ He’s a great athlete, but he understands what he can and cannot do. Our guards understand we can run against anyone. Make or miss, we are going to push it.”
The Dragons (19-12) never got closer than 16 in the second half as Harris substituted freely, including the game’s most popular move.
Gilmore topped the Rams with 17 points, with McKenzie adding 13. Cody Stephens led York with 13.
Class AA Sectional
TYNER 81, YORK INSTITUTE 47
York Institute 9 8 19 11 — 47
Tyner 19 18 23 21 — 81
York Institute (47) — Wilson 2, Cody Stephens 13, Anthony Williams 10, Tyrel Asberry 11, Reynolds 4, Cook, Maynord 4, Ruing 1.
Tyner (81) — Jones 9, Jermel McKenzie 13, Reggie Gilmore 17, Suttles 4, Bradley 9, Rawls 5, Murphy 6, Leverette 4, Fletcher 9, Cooper 3.
3-point goals: York 5 (Stephens 3, Williams 2); Tyner 2 (McKenzie, Cooper). Other highlights: Michael Bradley 9 r; Gilmore 7 r, 4 s; Travis Jones 7 a, 4 s (T). Records: Tyner 24-6; York 19-12.