Lucas Brown is no stranger to being the man of the hour when Red Bank athletics is concerned.
He made more than his share of outstanding plays for the Red Bank football back in the fall.
Tuesday night, he was the man of the hour for the Lions on Austin Clark Court at Baylor School’s Jimmy Duke Arena.
Scoring 13 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, he led the Red Bank Lions to a thrilling 41-40 victory over the Baylor Red Raiders.
Brown, who scored all five of his team’s points in the third quarter, sank the first of two free throws with 5.6 seconds to play and that was the difference as the Lions improved to 10-6 with the non-district win.
Baylor falls to 8-3 overall.
Red Bank coach Nick Fike has said all season that he has the talent to be one of the better teams in Chattanooga. Tuesday’s results show that the veteran coach just might know what he’s talking about.
“We needed that one,” Fike smiled after exiting the Red Bank dressing room following the hard-fought contest.
“This is what I’ve been waiting to see all season, but that’s what happens when 10 guys play together. I thought we really stepped up defensively. We had wanted to play in the championship game at Best of Preps last weekend, but finished fifth. Tonight we got the chance to play the boys champion and to see how we would do. I think that may have lit a fire under us.
“We felt good coming in. We fell behind early, but that was good as we needed to see how we would handle adversity and to just see what we are made of, but all of my guys played their hearts out and I’m thrilled to leave here with a win,” Fike added.
Baylor coach Mark Price wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic.
“Red Bank came in here and played well, so give them all the credit. It seems like it meant more to them than it did to us as they played with a greater sense of urgency,” Price said later.
“They outplayed us in every phase of the game. I thought we played hard, but our focus and attention to detail wasn’t what it has been in recent weeks,” he added.
Baylor bolted to an 11-1 lead in the opening three minutes of the game, but the Lions settled down and trailed by just two at 14-12 when the first quarter ended.
Red Bank’s run – a dozen straight points from the 3:37 mark of the first quarter to the 5:11 mark of the second – saw the Lions grab the lead for the first time at 15-14 following a steal and layup from Brown.
Three straight free throws by Gehrig Ebel and a drive down the lane by Al Peciulis gave Baylor a 21-17 lead with 2:31 remaining in the half, but Brown scored the last five points in the final minute – including a long 3 from the wing in the waning seconds – to give the Lions the upper hand at 22-21 when the halftime horn sounded.
A 3 from Eli Sparkman, two free throws from Peiulis and a putback by Nick Kurtz, allowed Baylor to regain the advantage at 28-22 with 2:58 left in the third stanza, but five straight from Brown cut the difference to one at 28-27 with one quarter remaining.
Three straight points by Rico Trimble early in the fourth knotted the score at 30-30 for the Lions before a three-point play by Brown put Red Bank ahead at 33-30 with 5:48 left.
Sparkman’s 3 at the 5:21 mark knotted the score at 33.
Back-to-back buckets from Brandon Jones and Brown in the next 50 seconds allowed Red Bank to go back on top at 37-33 before another 3 from Sparkman closed the gap to 37-36 with 3:11 to play.
Three free throws by Red Bank put the Lions ahead 40-36 with just over a minute left, but the Red Raiders knotted the score for the last time after Kurtz scored four straight points, the last coming with 29 seconds showing.
Red Bank worked the ball downcourt and got it to Brown, who drew the foul as he drove down the lane with 5.6 seconds left.
He hit the first charity toss and missed the second, but that was enough as a last-second heave by Kurtz bounced off the rim as the final horn sounded.
Brown had 21 points to lead Red Bank while Lekerrick Ellison was next with nine.
Kurtz had 11 points to lead Baylor while Sparkman finished with nine and Peciulis eight.
Baylor had an unofficial 30-18 edge in rebounds as Peciulis had 11. Kurtz and Ivan Reap both snagged eight. Brown and Ellison both had three for the Lions.
BAYLOR GIRLS 56, RED BANK 45: This game was close for a while as Baylor enjoyed a 28-25 lead at intermission, but the second half was a different story as the Lady Red Raiders slowly pulled away and won by 11.
Raegyn Conley had 27 points to lead Baylor, now 12-5 with the win.
Emma Martin followed with 13.
Bailey Lee had 19 points to lead a trio of Lady Lions in double figures. Savannah Washington finished with 14 points while Raijena Bell had 10.
GIRLS SUMMARY
RED BANK 10 15 9 11 -- 45
BAYLOR 16 12 12 16 -- 56
RED BANK (45) – Washington 14, Scott, Bell 10, Lee 19, Ware 2.
BAYLOR (56) – White 6, Restelli, Barton 2, Conley 27, Collins 6, Martin 13, Johnson, McKnight 2.
3-POINT GOALS: Red Bank 5 (Washington 3, Bell, Lee); Baylor 10 (White 2, Conley 5, Collins 2, Martin).
BOYS SUMMARY
RED BANK 12 10 5 14 -- 41
BAYLOR 14 7 7 12 -- 40
RED BANK (41) – Ross 1, Long 2, Brown 21, Eddins 1, Trimble 3, Swafford, Jones 4, Bell, Ellison 9.
BAYLOR (40) – Sparkman 9, Johnson, Jean 3, Reap 6, Peciulis 8, Kurtz 11, Morton, Ebel 3.
3-POINT GOALS: Red Bank 1 (Ellison); Baylor 6 (Sparkman 3, Jean, Reap 2).
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)