Brainerd’s boys had the tempo to their liking for four quarters Saturday in their Region 3-AA basketball quarterfinal against Loudon. And it really showed over the last three.
With defense and rebounding leading the way, the host Panthers coasted past the Redskins 91-55.
The tournament now shifts to East Ridge, where girls’ semifinals will be Monday and boys’ semifinals will be Tuesday. Brainerd’s boys (24-5) will face District 6 rival Tyner, a team they are 3-0 against this season, at 7:45 p.m.
Loudon (7-20) hung with Brainerd for a quarter and went to the second period trailing by three. But a tweak to the Panthers’ defense and the picking up fullcourt began leading to some turnovers and ensuing easy baskets.
“We played a little bit more man tonight,” said Brainerd coach Levar Brown, who decided to scrap the zone defense his team played early on. “We hadn’t done that in a while. We’ve got to get acclimated to that. It’s probably our best defense. It helps us rebound better. We did a horrible job rebounding in the zone.”
Brown’s problem was with his team’s defensive rebounding. On the other end, the Panthers made 11 field goals off of follow-up shots.
“We had a major advantage,” said Brainerd forward Jessie Walker, who had three baskets off rebounds on the way to 16 points. “Our big men know their roles, and that’s to go up and get rebounds and finish.”
A 23-6 scoring edge in the second quarter put the Panthers in control by 20 at halftime. The largest lead was 38, late in the game after the benches had been emptied.
Dajuanta Ross topped Brainerd with 18 points, 16 coming in the first half. With Michael Hampton scoring 14 points, Vesta Melvin Jr. adding 10 and Jamual Herman contributing nine, the Panthers’ bench outscored Loudon’s 42-10.
“We wanted to play at least 11,” Brown said. “We ended up playing 14. It’s always good when you can get your young kids in the game. We wanted to push the ball as much as possible. We felt like our 14 was most likely better than theirs.”
Dalton Bogus led the Redskins with 20 points, and Dawson Blankenship chipped in with 12. Jesse Smallen’s nine points were all in the second half.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at sports@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.