Brainerd lost, but team ‘never stopped competing’
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — When Brainerd boys’ basketball coach Levar Brown read the story of how the Chinese bamboo tree lies dormant for four years before it begins to grow, he knew he had found a theme for his team. Farmers will water and nurture bamboo trees for four and sometimes five years before seeing any return on their work.
After relaying the story to his players, they agreed and the motto “Water the bamboo” was born. Through the course of their four years on the varsity, the Panthers’ five seniors have put down strong roots for the program’s future, reaching the state tournament three times.
Thursday afternoon Brainerd’s season was cut down short of reaching full growth as Haywood rallied after trailing throughout the first three quarters to pull away late for an 82-72 win in the Class AA quarterfinals at Middle Tennessee State’s Murphy Center.
“As a staff, we’ve built the program on the way those seniors carry themselves on and off the court,” Brown said. “Besides being good players, they all have at least a 3.5 grade-point average and are just great kids.
“The game today didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but we never stopped competing. We just ran into a guy we couldn’t stop.”
That guy was Tomcats senior Dedric Boyd, an Eastern Kentucky signee who scored 15 of his gamehigh 33 points in a decisive fourth quarter. Haywood (27-7) didn’t lead until Boyd’s short jumper with 6:41 remaining. That basket was part of a 9-0 run spanning from the final 11 seconds of the third through more than two minutes of the fourth, and the Panthers never recovered.
“They knocked down big shots and we couldn’t get any momentum back,” said senior point guard Kentrell Evans, who led Brainerd with 21 points and seven assists. “I’m honestly not frustrated. I’m a competitor, so I’m disappointed, but we just came up short. They’re a
really good team.
“The seniors gave this program everything for all four years. The program has done a lot for me personally, and I know the sun will come up tomorrow and everything will be OK. One day we’ll look back on what we did while we were here and we’ll be proud.”
Brainerd (29-6) pulled within one on Jesse Walker’s threepoint play with 4:49 remaining, but after he was forced to sit with four fouls, Haywood responded with another 9-0 run. The Panthers never got closer than eight the rest of the way.
“Having Jesse in foul trouble really hurt because he wasn’t able to be as aggressive under the basket, defending and going for rebounds,” said Brown, referring to his junior post, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. “We tried three different guys on (Boyd), but we couldn’t stop him. He was driving and making outside shots and just took over for them. He’s tough.
“The difference was that fourth quarter. They made shots and got a run, and we couldn’t get stops when we needed them. But this group of seniors will always be special because that’s who I started with when I got here. They’ve done a great job of leading us on and off the court and setting the standard for everybody else to follow. Because of what they’ve done, honestly, I don’t expect us to miss a beat next year.”
More reason for optimism for next season, aside from the foundation set by this year’s senior group — who dubbed themselves the Bamboo Boys — is the return of five underclassmen who were key contributors and have two years of state tournament experience as well.
After all, some bamboo trees don’t reach their full potential for five years.