Basketball Recap: Brainerd Comes Up Short

It was a proper cat-fight when Brainerd challenged Red Bank on Monday. The Brainerd Panthers were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 72-71 to the Red Bank Lions. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 266th, while the Lions are ranked 90th).

Red Bank got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Kobey Jones out in front who went 5 for 12 en route to 19 points and five boards. The game was Jones' third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of DJ Wilbur, who went 6 of 13 on his way to 13 points and five steals.

Brainerd now has a losing record at 7-8. As for Red Bank, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 17-5 record this season.

Brainerd will face off against Tyner Academy at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. As for Red Bank, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 68-35 victory against Hixson on the 28th.