Less than 24 hours after a disappointing overtime loss, Tyner’s boys bounced back with an impressive 62-51 win over Notre Dame in the consolation bracket of the annual Times Free Press Best of Preps tournament Friday afternoon at Chattanooga State.
The Rams (6-3) led for much of the game and were able to pull away late, paced by Solomon Bridgeman’s game-high 24 points. Michael Little added 13 and Javon Craddock 12 for Tyner, which will play Ooltewah in the fifth-place game at 2:30 today.
“I got after the guys pretty good after we lost, but today I thought we came back and showed a lot of energy and a sense of urgency,” first-year Rams coach E’Jay Ward said. “That tells me we’re growing as a team, because we were coming off a tough loss but didn’t dwell on it; we came out and did the little things – rebounding and playing better defense – that we had to do.”
Akil Sledge had 18 points and Derwin Lewis 10 for Notre Dame (10-9), which will face Heritage in the seventh-place game at 11:30 this morning.
-Ooltewah boys 74, Heritage 62: The Owls stretched a four-point halftime lead with a strong third quarter and moved into today’s fifth-place game with the win.