One night after a disappointing loss to a district rival, and with leading scorer Kevin Cameron sidelined with a bruised knee, the Tyner boys' basketball team responded just the way coach Keitha Booker had hoped.
The Rams, coming off a four-point loss to Brainerd, rode their defense to a quick start and held off stubborn Meigs County 50-38 in the third-place game of Friday's final day of the Best of Preps tournament at Chattanooga State.
"I was really proud of the way we came out and played from the beginning," Booker said. "That's a very tough team to defend because they've got shooters all over the floor, but we really played well, especially early, and it all started with our defense. That allowed us to get some easy shots and open looks at the other end and get some confidence going."
Although Cameron, who had been one of the best individual players during the tournament's first two days, finished the semifinal game against Brainerd a day earlier, he was unable to run Friday. Likewise, Meigs was without point guard Zy Moore, who sprained an ankle in the Tigers' first game of the tournament.
"He's a competitor, and that's the only way he finished the game against Brainerd," Booker said of Cameron. "But he just wasn't able to go tonight.
"But that's one of the things I'm most proud of, is the way the rest of the team rallied without him and came together. I think our guys showed a lot of character coming back out and doing what it took to get a big win."
The Rams (9-1) jumped to a 16-3 lead after the first quarter and maintained a similar margin the rest of the way. Jaylan Bowens and Kevin McCauley each finished with 12 points for Tyner, and Jesse Rayl led Meigs (9-3) with a game-high 15.
- Red Bank girls 41, Tyner 37: The Lady Rams looked to be taking control of the third-place game with a 14-3 second-quarter run. However, Red Bank answered with an 8-0 scoring run in the third and held off a late barrage by Tyner.
"I told them the game was still in our hands at halftime," said Red Bank coach Bailey Lyness-McGinnis. "We've come from behind before, so they knew they could do it. Once we got the lead back, I told them to just keep playing like they were behind. Just keep working.
"We hadn't beaten Tyner in a long time. Maybe not since I played, so to come back and win this one was really big. It's huge for our confidence heading into the rest of the season."
Mya Kennebrew led Red Bank with 18 points, and Layla Babb added 13. Kenia Watkins scored 13 to pace Tyner, and Roshawn McGee had 10.
- Baylor 82, Arts & Sciences 51: The Red Raiders raced out to a big early lead in the fifth-place game and maintained command throughout, leading by 20-plus from the first quarter.
Five Baylor players scored in doubles figures, led by Jaylon Baker with 17 points. The Red Raiders made 12 3-pointers, led by Jamaal Walker's three. Walker and Beyaun Hendricks each finished with 11 points, while Tre Jackson and Boris Ristanovic added 10. Darius Graves led CSAS with 15 points.
- Notre Dame girls 49, Arts & Sciences 25: A 31-9 run from the second through third quarters helped the Lady Irish win the fifth-place game. Averie Sheppard's 14 points and Kate Ford's 10 led the way. CSAS was led by Lennex Walker's 11 points.
- Central 57, Soddy-Daisy 45: The Purple Pounders took control of the boys' seventh-place game with a 25-10 second-quarter run. They used a balanced scoring attack, led by McClendon Curtis with 14 points, Brett Abshire's 12 and Marcus Tankersley's 11. Soddy-Daisy's Jacob Flippo scored a game-high 25 points.
- Central girls 41, Soddy-Daisy 29: In the seventh-place game, Central's Alivia Smith led all scorers with 16 points and Ja'Nya West added 10. The Lady Pounders trailed by 10 after the first quarter but used a 12-1 third-quarter run to take the lead, then continued to pull away.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.