Tucker Boyd + Tyler Lee Remain Unbeaten With 50-36 Victory Over Winless John Tyler

TYLER -- With leading scorer Taylor Tankersley in second-half foul trouble, the Tyler Lee Red Raiders needed a spark.

And they got one in the form of Tucker Boyd.

Boyd scored a team-high 11 points and added four rebounds and two assists to lead Lee to a 50-36 win over crosstown rival John Tyler on Tuesday night at Wagstaff Gymnasium.

"I thought Tucker Boyd played outstanding in the second half, finishing around the basket," Lee coach Alan Johnston said.

The win kept the Red Raiders (5-0) unbeaten on the young season, while John Tyler fell to 0-5 without the servies of several key players who are still playing football.

Despite missing several minutes, Tankersley managed nine points, a game-high 11 rebonds and two steals for Lee. Caleb Johnston added eight points, nine rebounds, two steals and two assists.

"The key thing is we defeated the press pretty good," Johnston said. "We handled the press and we had some guys step up in the second half. Foul trouble kinda hurt us early. I thought we had some pretty solid rebounds we came up with at key times. And the execution at the offensive end ... I thought Caleb's 3's came at the right time."

John Tyler struggled all night from the free-throw line, making just 12 of 29 from the charity stripe.

“It’s been our Achilles heel all year long," JT coach Cedeno Clark said. "We tell the kids to get to the basket and try to draw the fouls and get to the free throw line. You tell them to concentrate, use all 10 seconds to shoot, but they just haven’t gone in our favor. We’re going to keep doing what we do and hopefully they’ll start falling for us.”

Keaunte Humber led John Tyler with 15 points, seven rebounds and six steals.

“I think we did alright," Clark said. "We made some mistakes with kids that haven’t played a whole lot of varsity basketball. We were close at the end of the second quarter down by five and close at the end of the third quarter down six. The kids are getting there, but it’s real frustrating when you play so hard and don’t come away with the victory.”

The night began inauspiciously for the Lions, who were hit with a pre-game technical foul for dunking. Instead of the traditional opening tipoff, Tankersley drained both foul shots and added a bucket on the Red Raiders' first possession for a 4-0 lead.

An Humber basket cut the lead to 9-8, but Lee's Jared Williams closed the quarter with a pair of free throws and a field goal to give his team a five-point after one.

After William Vaughn's basket to begin the second period, Lee built a 10-point lead with a 7-0 run fueled by fastbreak baskets from Darriun Smallwood and Luke Derfus.

Derfus' 3-pointer gave Lee a 23-12 lead, but the Lions were able to close the half on a 9-3 run to bring the deficit back down to five points.

The Red Raiders began the third quarter strong, going on a 9-2 run thanks in part to a pair of 3's from Johnston, which put Lee on top 35-23.

Lee was able to keep JT at bay in the final quarter with solid play from Boyd and several more missed free throws for the Lions.

Both JT and Lee are in tournaments this weekend. The Lions are participating in the Rosa's Tournament in Fort Worth, while Lee is competing in Lindale's Hoop Heaven Tournament.

"We go into the fun time of high school basketball," Johnston said. "We go into tournament time. It's fun for them because they don't have to practice, they just have to play. So our goal is to go out to Lindale and see if we can't add some hardware to the trophy case."

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Tyler Lee 50, John Tyler 36
At TJC's Wagstaff Gymnasium, Tyler
John Tyler           8   13   10    5    --   36
Tyler Lee           13   13   11   13   --   50
JOHN TYLER -- Keaunte Humber, 15; Jacob Owens-Bush, 4; Jordan Caldwell, 4; Hennessey Lampkin, 4; William Vaughn, 4; Javonte Tramble, 3; J'Michael Jasper, 2.
TYLER LEE -- Tucker Boyd, 11; Taylor Tankersley, 9; Caleb Johnston, 8; Justin DeSalvo, 6; Will Daugherty, 5; Luke Derfus, 5; Jared Williams, 4; Darriun Smallwood, 2.
THREE-POINT GOALS -- LEE: Johnston (2), Derfus, Tankersley.
RECORDS -- John Tyler 0-5; Tyler Lee 5-0.
NEXT UP -- John Tyler, Fort Worth Rosa's Tournament, Thu-Sat; Tyler Lee, Lindale Hoop Heaven Tournament, Thu-Sat.