Lady Rams and Panthers pull out close jamboree wins
McCallie 22, Soddy-Daisy 7:
GPS hosted the city high school basketball jamboree Thursday, but Tyner’s girls squeezed out a victory over the Bruisers in the next-to-last of eight 12-minute periods with a running clock.
Brainerd’s boys, who finished second in last year’s Class AA state tournament, found themselves down by five to Chattanooga Christian before rallying for a two-point win in the second period.
McCallie was the only team to play twice, and the Blue Tornado won twice.
The season begins Monday with TSSAA Hall of Champions games scheduled throughout the first week.
Tyner 16, GPS 14:
There was never a tie throughout the period, but the lead changed hands six times. The last was with 1:19 to play when freshman Janaria Cosey made a 3-point shot from right of the key for the final score.
“First of all we’re very young,” said Tyner coach Katrich Williams, who has two seniors on her roster and five freshmen. “We’ve got a lot of newcomers. Some of the upperclassmen have helped me and the other coaches in practice. We’ve still got a lot to work on. GPS is good year in and year out, from guard to post. I was kind of happy to see that we weren’t nervous or scared like I’ve seen us in the past.”
Junior LeAundra Melton led the Lady Rams’ scoring. She made two 3-point shots and a jumper in the lane.
The Bruisers, who have no seniors, got a 3-pointer and a field goal from inside the
arc each from juniors Brooke McCurdy and Lindsey Wyatt. Brainerd boys 13, Chattanooga Christian 11: A run of eight points in succession, capped by John Rhodes’ layup at the 5:33 mark, helped CCS overcome a 3-0 deficit. But the Panthers’ Jamaul Herman Jr. ended up making the winning layup with 30 seconds left.
Brainerd’s Kentrell Evans scored eight consecutive points in one stretch, including four of four free throws — twice completing three-point plays.
“There was definitely some rust,” Brainerd coach Levar Brown said. “I thought we would be excited. We’ve been going hard for a little over a week, so I wasn’t too disappointed.”
In the fifth period, the Blue Tornado scored the first seven points and led by as many as 19. Mac Hunt made two 3-pointers from the left corner for McCallie and hit both of his free throws.
McCallie 21, Tyner 10:
In the final period, again the Tornado scored the first seven points. This time they were led by Seth Clark with seven points. Jaylen Bowens scored the first six points for the Rams.
Silverdale Baptist Academy girls 12, Signal Mountain 6:
In the fourth period, the Lady Seahawks were down by two before scoring the final eight points. Rachel Sanders’ short jump shot from the right side broke the tie with 6:18 remaining.
Soddy-Daisy girls 9, Boyd-Buchanan 3:
In the sixth period, the first points came on a 3-pointer from the right wing by Meredith Balthrop. The Lady Trojans scored the rest. The go-ahead points came on Lydia Hall’s three-point play around the five-minute mark.
Red Bank girls 11, Chattanooga Christian 3:
In the opening period, Red Bank took a 7-0 lead with Mya Kennebrew making the first basket. Layla Babb scored the Lady Lions’ other nine points.
Notre Dame girls 11, Brainerd 2:
In the third period, six players scored for the Lady Irish. They closed on a 9-0 run, which started with Kendra Anderson’s rebound basket in the lane.