Malik Hampton, Jessie Walker lead Brainerd into region semifinals

Basketball hoop background
Basketball hoop background

Brainerd's Panthers didn't finish quite as strong as they started Saturday in their Region 3-AA high school basketball quarterfinal at Brainerd. But they didn't have to.

The Panthers' quick start eventually led to a 25-point halftime lead, and they coasted to an 87-60 victory over Sequoyah.

Brainerd (25-6) will play East Ridge at 6 p.m. Tuesday at McMinn County in one of the semifinals. McMinn Central will play Tyner at 7:45.

The Panthers' 9-0 start prompted a timeout from Sequoyah 1:26 into the game. The Chiefs' second timeout came at the 2:29 mark of the first quarter with the score 21-6.

"We watched some film on them," Brainerd coach Levar Brown said. "They like running a half-court trap and we prepared for that. I thought the kids did a good job with it. I thought we handled it and executed well."

Even though Sequoyah outscored Brainerd 20-16 in the third quarter, the Chiefs still trailed 64-43 going to the fourth. And the up-tempo pace remained to the Panthers' liking.

"That's the way we always want to play," Brown said. "Teams that have beaten us did a good job of slowing us down."

Malik Hampton topped the Panthers with 20 points, and Jessie Walker scored 17. Demba Sow, who combined with Hampton to make Brainerd's seven 3-point goals, added 14 points and Kentrell Evans had 12. Thirteen Panthers played and 10 scored.

"That was the plan," Brown said of using a deep rotation. "We believe in our bench. We believe in our depth."

Post player Chandler Kuberka led Sequoyah with 14 points, all on field goals inside the arc, with six of them coming in the third quarter. Austin Harmon chipped in with 11 points.

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