Red Bank Lions outlast Rams

Red Bank boys' basketball coach John Cherne chalked it up to "nine games, 1,800 miles, two practices."

Happy to be playing at home, the Lions gave plenty of effort Tuesday, summoned just enough performance and defeated Tyner 53-49 in a District 6-AA game at Red Bank.

The Lions were on a whirlwind tour during the Christmas holidays and took a 10-4 record into the game against the Rams, whom they beat in the championship game of the Times Free Press Best of Preps tournament two weeks ago. The players on both teams proved they're in shape in Tuesday's fast-paced game, but defense — or lack of offensive output — held the score down.

"Usually when we play up and down the court we score a few more points," Cherne said. "We were off with our shots. That was probably from a lack of practice time."

Another reason could've been that Red Bank (4-0 in 6-AA) was without Nick Ross and his 24-point scoring average. He was forced to sit out because of a recent ejection from a game.

Kelvin Clay picked up the bulk of the scoring slack with 25 points, and Derrick Ashley got within two points of his average by scoring 15.

"Kelvin Clay played well," Cherne said. "The kids' effort was outstanding. Turnovers hurt us. That's things you fix in practice."

Cherne said his team's execution on the defensive end was much better. Some pregame planning with reference to switching defensively proved to pay off.

"Defensively I thought they took away some things we normally do and I thought we gave into their pressure," Tyner coach Gerald Harris said.

The Lions got out to a 20-10 lead before Tyner fought back and tied it at 22. The Rams took their first lead since 7-4 when Travis Murphy scored off a rebound to make it 28-27 early in the second half.

Tyner's lead was four points when Cherne called a timeout with 4:58 left in the third quarter. Red Bank outscored the Rams 12-2 coming out of the timeout.

Protecting the lead, the Lions got 10 of their 12 points in the fourth quarter on perfect shooting from the free-throw line, where they finished 15-for-23. Clay was 8-for-8 in the fourth, including converting all three one-and-ones.

Dee Suttles overcame a scoreless first quarter and led Tyner (8-4, 2-3) with 12 points. Travis Jones added 11 for the Rams, who made 11 of 20 free throws.

"It was a lot of little things," Harris said. "We didn't get a rebound, didn't get second shots. I thought free throws killed us. Free throws keep you in games. We didn't get loose balls.

"Decision-making toward the end hurt us a lot. We turned the ball over, they capitalized, and they hit their free throws when they were supposed to."