Working to relax
Ward encourages Rams to ‘have fun’ in state semis
The magnitude of the opportunity that’s in front of them could easily become overwhelming. With that in mind, Tyner Academy boys’ basketball coach E’Jay Ward ended Wednesday afternoon’s practice with some simple advice for his players.
“What I told the kids was to just relax and have fun,” said Ward, whose team will face Milan in a Class 2A state semifinal Thursday at Middle Tennessee State University. Tipoff at the Murphy Center is set for 6:15 p.m. Eastern.
“When you’re a teenager, you feel like everything is a huge deal. I reminded them that every single one of them has a story in their personal life of something that is much harder than going out there to play a game they love,” Ward added.
“We all know we’ve got a chance to accomplish something pretty special, but that doesn’t mean they need to get so nervous that it affects how they play. I’m hoping they see how relaxed I am and that will rub off of them. I just want them to be able to enjoy this moment.”
Tuesday’s seven-point win over Bolivar Central was the first TSSAA state tournament victory by a Chattanooga-area boys’ team in three years, and if the Rams advance to Saturday’s title game in Murfreesboro, it would mark the first time since Brainerd in 2016 that a local boys’ team has played for a championship in the public school division.
For that to happen, the Rams (24-10) must clean up the sloppiness that nearly cost them the quarterfinal win. Tyner committed 24 turnovers and made just 11 of 29 free throws, with those struggles highlighted even more in the final minute of the game, when four turnovers were committed and the Rams made only one of 10 free throws.
“We spent a lot of time working on free throws and closing out the game with more confidence,” Ward said. “A lot of that is just staying locked in and doing all the things that have helped us win so many games so far.”
Tyner will once again have a considerable height advantage against Milan (24-7), which has only two starters taller than 6-foot: Kam Tharpe and Easton Yates, who are both 6-3. Conversely, the Rams have four players in their rotation who are 6-3 or taller, which helped them claim a 32-17 rebounding advantage and double Bolivar in second-chance points.
The Rams will also need to find a way to slow down the Bulldogs’ Jodarius Robinson, a 5-11 senior guard who went off for a career-high 38 points in Tuesday’s double-overtime quarterfinal win over York Institute. Robinson, the only Milan player who has averaged double figures in scoring this season (13.4 points per game), scored 20 of that total in the fourth quarter and overtime periods.
“He’s been the man for them all season, so we’ll see how we do guarding him, because he’ll have the ball in his hands a lot,” Ward said. “Our guys realized after that first game that they belong here. They can play with anybody, and just having that confidence is big at this point.”