No boys basketball program in the area has won more games than Tyner since E'Jay Ward donned the maroon and gold seven years ago. But for the third straight year, the Brainerd Panthers proved to be the Rams' kryptonite.
Less than a week after absorbing the worst loss ever (75-44) to a Tyner team in the 4-AA District title game, Brainerd stunned the state's third-ranked team on a Kendrick Jones' 3 with 2.6 seconds left to claim the 54-51 win in Thursday night's Region 2-AA title affair at Arts & Sciences.
"We kept saying all week we didn't think they were the better team, and we knew they weren't 31 points better. We practiced hard all week with a lot of confidence, and tonight we played with a lot of confidence, and it showed," said senior Trea Shaw, who hit five of the Panthers 11 3s in the game.
It was the third consecutive year Brainerd denied Tyner a region trophy, the three title games now decided by a total of eight points and it was coach Levar Brown's sixth region crown in 10 seasons at the Panther helm and fourth against these Rams.
In fact, Tyner had beaten 12 of the last 16 times the two have met Brainerd with all four Panther wins being in postseason play.
"Last week when we played them we let them dictate the tempo and how we played, but tonight we did it on the defensive end. Coach (Robert) High set a high standard for this program and we have a lot of expectations to be met, but I absolutely think there is something about the Brainerd mystic when it comes to tournament time," said Brown.
The Panthers (15-14) will host Austin-East (22-11) on Monday night at 7 o'clock in the sectional battle with a 20th state tournament appearance on the line. It would be Brown's seventh trek to Murfreesboro with the boys in blue. Tyner (24-6) will have a bumpier road to Murfreesboro having to travel to Region 1-AA winner Alcoa (22-13) on Monday for a shot at the program's ninth state tournament appearance. Alcoa beat Austin-East, 86-85, last night.
In a game of runs for both squads, it was Brainerd who came up solid when it mattered most and they did it with a suffocating defense and ten offensive rebounds, none of them bigger than Anthony Byrd's rebound of a missed shot in the final five seconds. Byrd came up with the ball and immediately found Jones in the corner and the senior was all nets to break a 51-all tie with the game winner.
"I knew my time was coming. There were a lot of outside doubts about this team, but none of it was within our team. We stayed late every day this week, and we earned it. We knew the moment was coming and we were ready for it," said Jones, who earned the tourney's MVP honors despite scoring just 11 points in two games.
"He has been our leader on and off the court. He's our guy. KJ is a gamer," praised Brown of the senior.
Jones got most of the celebratory hugs for the big shot, but it was his hounding defense on Tyner star Rodney Henderson which ultimately had the biggest role in the game. Henderson was held without a bucket in the final decisive period, and Jones' physical play played a big role in the Rams' leader going six-of-16 from the floor.
"For us to win the game, we had to stop 2 (Henderson). It's frustrating but it had to be done. He played a great game, but we were determined to do whatever it took. We took this game personally," said Jones.
Henderson had 28 in the big win a week ago, and finished with 19 on the night despite being hounded on every drive and missing six of his twelve free throw attempts when he did draw a foul.
Brainerd came out on fire to open the game with Shaw nailing three straight 3s for an early 11-3, but in what was to become a theme for the game, Tyner answered with a 9-0 run and ended the first quarter up 15-14. The Rams then added a 10-0 run to open the second for a 25-14 lead, but the Panthers forced four turnovers down the first half stretch and got it within 27-25 before Kohl Ward nailed a big 3 at the halftime buzzer to make it 30-25.
The Rams again stretched it out to open the final half, a 9-4 streak pushing it back out 39-29, but Brainerd's Ashton Munson finally got some open looks from the shadow that was Tyner's Adarius Brewster, knocking down a trio of 3s in the period, his final one getting it back to 44-40 at quarter's end.
Tyner got a layup from Kalvontay Moore to open the final stretch but it would prove to be the Rams' final field goal, going the remaining 7:25 without a bucket in scoring just seven points. Shaw popped two more 3s to tie it 46-all and seldom used Wayne Pugh s
Fugh had eight for the game and along with Byrd came up strong on loose balls as Brainerd did all the little things in the end to give it a chance.
"Pugh hasn't played in about 15 of our games, but it's not because he doesn't have the talent. He just has to be more focused, but he is a great kid and a battler when it's in him. And Byrd brings the energy. He wants every ball out there," added Brown of his unsung heroes.
With the game on the line, Tyner turned to Henderson and twice he got to the line, but missed one of the two free throws each time. Zion Pinkerton converted two free throws with 46 seconds left to pull Tyner even at 51-all, and Munson worked the clock down to under ten before his shot was off the mark. Byrd, though, came up with it in the scramble and knew exactly where Jones was for the winner. The Rams got a good look at a tying 3, but it was off the mark and the celebration began.
"A lot of stuff on social media putting us down out there, but we believed in ourselves. KJ came through for us, and now we got one more to take care of to get us back to Murfreesboro," said Shaw.
While Brainerd was hitting 11 treys on the night on 20 attempts, Tyner once again struggled with the deep ball, hitting three of 13 after going 0-for-12 in the semis. The Panthers were just nine of 33 (27 percent) from the floor on two-point shots, but held Tyner to 18 of 57 shooting (38 percent) and the Rams missed eight of 20 free throws.
Munson and Shaw each had 15 points apiece to lead the winners while Brewster and Ward each had 10 to go along with Henderson's 19 on the Tyner side of the sheet.
ALL-REGION TEAM: Corey Raymer (Kingston), Ben Benton (McMinn Central), Rodney Henderson (Tyner), Adarius Brewster (Tyner), Kohl Ward (Tyner), Trea Shaw (Brainerd), Ashton Munson (Brainerd), Kobe Jackson (Brainerd), Anthony Byrd (Brainerd) and MVP Kendrick Jones (Brainerd).
CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY
BRAINERD 14 11 15 14 -- 54
TYNER 15 15 14 7 -- 51
BRAINERD (54) -- Munson 15, Trea Shaw 15, Ja.Smith, Jackson 3, Byrd 8, Pinkerton, Jo.Smith, Fugh 8, Jones 5.
TYNER (51) -- Rodney Henderson 19, Pinkerton 5, Adarius Brewster 10, Moore 2, Wilson, Harper 5, Dixson, Kohl Ward 10.
3-point goals: Brainerd 11 (Shaw 5, Munson 4, Jones, Jackson); Tyner 3 (Ward 2, Harper) .
Records: Brainerd 15-11, Tyner 24-6
Up Next: Brainerd hosts Tellico Plains (20-8) and Tyner hosts Sweetwater (10-16) in Saturday Region play.
(Contact James Beach at 1134james@gmail.com)