If the 10th-ranked Howard Hustlin’ Tigers want to make the same push they did last year to the Class AA basketball state tournament, they need 6-foot-5 junior forward Kerrick Thorne to be a driving force.
Thorne was exactly that in Thursday’s 55-53 nail-biting District 6 victory over Red Bank, as he scored nine of his 11 points in the second half, including a game-tying thunderous one-handed slam that no one dared to challenge him on.
“When Kerrick goes out there and plays, there is nobody around him that can play with him,” said Howard coach James Talley, whose team has won 10 of its last 11 games. “My halftime speech was all centered around him. It was a Kerrick butt-chewing. But he came out like a man and responded. I was proud of him for that.”
Meechie Bowens scored a game-high 18 points and proved he is far more than just a 3-point sniper for the Hustlin’ Tigers (19-4, 12-1), who will travel to Tyner at 8 p.m. Friday with the winner taking regular-season district bragging rights.
Bowens fooled a defender on the perimeter as he drove the lane and sank a left-handed runner to put Howard up for good at 54-52 with a minute remaining. Bowens shot 3-of-8 from deep, while his last trio of scores came on drives to the hoop.
“Everybody in Chattanooga knows I am going to shoot the ball (from 3), so I had to change it up a bit,” said Bowens, who also had a nice assist to C.J. James for a basket in the third quarter.
Bowens drew an important offensive foul with 39 seconds left in the game to give his team the ball back up one.
“Coach always tells us defense wins games,” Bowens added. “We kept going even though we started off sluggishly. We have to be locked in for Tyner.”
Howard’s Xavier Fisher scored his team’s first four points and showed off his flashy passing ability with five assists. Senior guard Dicorius Edward put on a show in the second quarter, creating his own shot with his lanky athletic ability for eight of his 10 points.
Red Bank shot 8-of-18 from 3, which included a halftime buzzer beater from Reco Tremble to build a 31-28 lead. Trimble was a force down the stretch and tied Brandon Jones with a team-high 12 points.
The Lions (15-9, 6-5) opened the game with a 9-4 lead and a pair of jams, one an alley-oop from DeAngello Ross to LeKerrick Ellison, but missed their final pair of 3-point attempts for a road upset.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.