Tyner's boys' basketball team might lack experience - it lost six players from last season's squad - but the Rams showed incredible depth Friday night in a dominant 65-38 District 6-AA win over host Signal Mountain.
While only two players scored in double figures, 11 Rams got in the scorebook as Tyner (3-0, 2-0) never trailed in the game. Melique Hambrick led the team with 12 points, all coming on 3-point baskets. Amon Grace scored 10 points, while Solomon Bridgeman and Kameron Dozier each had nine.
"Some guys are surprising me, something I'm excited to see early on in the season," Tyner coach E'jay Ward said. "Being able to play 11 or 12 guys really works to our advantage."
Tyner used that depth and its overall athletic ability to challenge Signal (2-5, 0-1) defensively, stretching the floor with full-court pressure that led to 15 Eagles turnovers. Those miscues led to a barrage of fast-break opportunities for the Rams.
"I've got a lot of guys that are pretty quick, and I want to maximize their strengths on defense," Ward said. "Playing multiple guys means I can tell them to go hard for three minutes, and then the next guy can come in and do the same."
Tyner came out on fire in the first quarter, hitting its first three 3-point attempts and jumping out to a 14-5 lead at the end of the period. Signal struggled to get good looks on offense, not scoring its first basket until nearly four minutes into the game.
The Eagles played better offensively in the second quarter, but so did Tyner. The Rams' up-tempo style wore down a thin Signal team that had only seven players with significant playing time. That led to plenty of wide-open shots for the Rams, who went 5-of-10 from behind the arc in the first half.
"I told the guys we had to do three things tonight," said Signal coach Steve Redman, who has seven seniors. "We had to limit turnovers, control the glass and control tempo. We obviously did none of those things. But we have a lot of experienced guys that are only going to get better, and I feel like we'll be fine when it matters later in the season."
After trailing 34-18 at halftime, Signal scored the first five points of the second half to get within 11. That was as close as it would get, however, as the Rams outscored the Eagles 17-4 the rest of the third quarter and cruised to victory.
Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com.