East Hamilton's boys' basketball team will not take home a championship trophy from this week's Best of Preps tournament. Yet the Hurricanes plan to still come out winners.
Andy Webb's team took a major step toward that goal Thursday at Chattanooga State, putting together a convincing 77-50 victory over Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe in the consolation bracket's first round. After falling to Brainerd in the tournament's opening round Wednesday, the Canes made their coach proud.
"I saw great effort and great attitude, and I saw some solid execution," Webb said. "I thought we played selfless, more East Hamilton basketball.
"Holiday tournaments are tough because you don't have a week to correct things, so you have to run the next day sometimes like a practice and focus on our fundamentals, which are effort and attitude."
Most of the heavy lifting was done early when East Hamilton (9-6) produced a 37-22 halftime lead. Juan Bullard had 13 of his 17 points in the opening half and was as disruptive on the defensive end with three steals and five rebounds.
"Juan is a stat filler, and he's been that way for three years," Webb said of the senior two-sport standout, who was a Tennessee Titans Mr. Football semifinalist in Class 4A this year. "You look up every day and he's got a double-double or even a triple-double, and the kid is just a winner."
Ashton Munson led East Hamilton with 18 points, with Kamden Herman adding 13. Brent Bowman topped LFO's scoring list with 16, followed by Jayden Dover with 11.
Bullard scored the game's first four points and ended the first quarter with a three-point play as the Canes took a 19-7 lead. He had five points in a two-minute span to open the second quarter and twice had steals that led to layups later in the period.
Howard 52, Signal Mountain 44: The Hustlin' Tigers, led by Jaylen Taylor's game-high 19 points, withstood the Eagles' furious rally in the first boys' consolation game and bounced back from Wednesday's first-round loss to Baylor.
Christian Holland added 13 and MyQuise Thomas 12 for Howard, while Christopher Kennedy had 13 of his team-high 17 points in the final eight minutes for Signal Mountain.
LFO and Signal Mountain will meet in the seventh-place game at 11:30 a.m. Friday, while East Hamilton and Howard will play for fifth place at 2:30 p.m.
Meigs County 69, GPS 23: Lady Tigers point guard Talley Lawson scored nine of her game-high 16 points in the first quarter, including nine on three 3-pointers, as Meigs roared to a 25-4 lead after one quarter and cruised from there.
Ainsley King added 15 points, Alex Kranz 10 and Mattie Moore nine for the winners — who lost to 2021 Best of Preps champion LFO on Wednesday — while McKammy Bratcher paced GPS with seven.
Tyner 43, Brainerd 34: The Lady Rams used a 27-5 advantage in the second half to rally past the Lady Panthers. Leya Mitchell scored 14 of her game-high 18 points after halftime to pace Tyner, which also received nine points from Kamari McCullough and eight from Shy Harrison.
Antasia Jones led Brainerd with 15 points, followed by Shakaya Belcher with nine.
Brainerd and GPS will meet in the seventh-place game at 10 a.m. Friday, while Meigs and Tyner will play for fifth place at 1 p.m.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.