MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A promising first half in which Tyner Academy maintained a solid scoring pace to build a slim lead gave way to a second-half shooting nightmare — and ultimately the end of the road for the Rams in the TSSAA Class 2A semifinals Friday at the BlueCross Basketball Championships.
Tyner closed out the first half on a 7-0 scoring run to enter halftime with a two-point lead, but the Rams made just one of their first 16 shots after the break and committed 17 fouls in the second half of a 59-47 loss to unbeaten Loretto at Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center.
“Foul trouble. That’s what really hurt us in the second half,” Rams coach E’Jay Ward said. “They’ve got good size, their shortest player is like 6-foot-2, and their length bothered us. But we fouled a lot in the second half.
“We had chances to be right there at the end but never could capitalize on those chances to score late. We fell short to a really good ball team. They’re undefeated for a reason.”
Although Tyner (31-6) set a program record for single-season victories, the loss snapped an 18-game winning streak and prevented the Rams from what would have been their first appearance in a state title game since a runner-up finish in 1990. It was also the first loss to a Class 2A opponent this season for the Rams, who won their state tourney opener Wednesday by rallying to an overtime victory against Memphis Business Academy.
Tyner was attempting to become the first Hamilton County public school in a classification higher than 1A to play for a boys’ basketball state title since Brainerd finished as the 2A runner-up in 2016. Brainerd’s 1992 Class 3A title remains the most recent state championship for a Chattanooga public school above 1A.
Loretto (34-0) will face two-time reigning champ Alcoa (25-5) in the Class 2A final Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern at MTSU. The Tornadoes defeated Jackson County 59-38 in Friday’s second semifinal.
While Tyner struggled from the outset of the third quarter, Loretto made eight of its first 16 shots after halftime and used a 9-0 run to take control of the scoreboard and the game.
The Rams got as close as five on a Jordan Elder 3-pointer with just more than two minutes remaining, but the Mustangs ended the game by connecting on 10 of 11 free throws in the final two minutes.
For the game, Tyner was called for 24 personal fouls, compared to just seven against Loretto, which made 17 of 25 second-half free throws compared to Tyner’s 5-of-7 showing at the line over the final two quarters. The Rams also shot just 7-of-30 from the floor in the second half.
“I knew we had to be the more physical team because they’re big and tough,” said Loretto senior Kasen Buie, a 6-8 post player whose 22 points and 10 rebounds were both game highs. “I knew I had to be the most aggressive one down low.”
Kylon Wilkerson added 10 points for the Mustangs, making all six of his free throws, and Corben Reynolds and Mason Tidwell scored nine apiece, with all of Reynolds’ points on free throws (he shot 12) and all of Tidwell’s points on 3-pointers (he attempted eight). Reynolds also had eight rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal while committing just one turnover in a team-high 31 minutes on the floor.
Tyner was led in scoring by the only two seniors on its roster, with the Rams getting 15 points from Adarius Brewster and 13 from Rodney Henderson, who was a Class 2A Mr. Basketball finalist this season. No other Tyner player scored more than seven points.
“We had a good season; just fell short in the end,” said Henderson, who also had eight rebounds, six assists and four steals Friday. “The mindset coming up here was to win state, so it doesn’t feel right that this is the last time I’ll wear this uniform. I’m hurting, but we have a lot to be proud of.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com.