Eagles fall to Victory Christian in Winter Classic finale.

JOHNSON CITY — Some nights the shots simply won't fall. Tri-Cities Christian experienced that feeling in the final game of the Tri-Cities Winter Classic on Saturday at Freedom Hall, dropping a 63-50 decision to Victory Christian. Despite the final result, Tri-Cities head coach Tyrone "Muggs" Jones was able to oversee his fourth Winter Classic with the Eagles. "We had some great competition here this week. It was good for the community and very successful," Jones said. "I want to thank everybody, all the referees, all my Tri-Cities people that came in, all our workers, our sponsors, Blue EMU, Kingsport Honda, eveyrbody, it was great. It was another successful year." Shooting started as cold as the weather outside Freedom Hall for Tri-Cities Christian, with the Eagles connecting on just 3-of-27 in the opening half to fall behind Victory Christian, located in Sylva, N.C., which plays top-level competition in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League. "This is probably the worst shooting night we have had all year," said Jones, whose Eagles defeated New Faith Christian on Friday at Freedom Hall. "Overall, we played well, we didn't quit, the kids played really good so I was happy for them. That team, Victory, is good. They play EYBL scholastic teams so they are a really good team. At the end of the day we didn't quit." Deshawn Coulter paced Victory Christian with four 3s and 19 points, while Carlos Marshall tossed in 17 and Landon Johnson added eight for the Kings, which led 45-27 going into the fourth period and survived a furious comeback that saw the Eagles trim to margin to eight. "It happens. We want to play the best. They were a really good team and we just have to battle back after it," Jones said. "We have got a really good game coming in next week so we will get through it, get in the gym this week, get some shots up, get back to us and get eady to play next Saturday at home." Tri-Cities Christian, which was led by Lofton Looney with 12 points, Lonny Holland with 11 and seven from Jordan Peters, will host Oak Hill Academy Global on Saturday, the International team that plays for the prep powerhouse located in Mount of Wilson, Va. WESLEY CHRISTIAN 65, NEW FAITH CHRISTIAN 53 The Circuit Riders have become a regular in the Tri-Cities region, having played in the Arby's Classic, in addition to games in the Winter Classic, Tri-Cities Christian and Oak Hill Academy this season. "We have had a really good year down here. This area has been really good to us," Wesley Christian head coach Peyton Adams said. "We have lost two games in this area, it has been really good to us, I love the hospitality and the competition. We have not faced one team in this area that ain't tough. That is good." Located in Allen, Ky,, Wesley Christian is a typical high school for grades 9-12, but it has a national basketball team that includes players from 11 countries, including two from Japan, along with 6-foot-11 senior Talla Mbaye from Senegal, who showed his potential with 20 points and 13 rebounds, helping the Circuit Riders jump out to a 19-7 lead after one quarter and they never allowed the Titans to get within single digits the rest of the way. "This is actually his first full year of basketball. We got him this year. His recruitment is starting to skyrocket," said Adams, who added that Mbaye, who is at his third different school, but seeing his first action as a starter, having received recruiting interest from several schools, including Marshall and Glenville State. "We tell him all the time, if your conditioning doesn't get there you are going to struggle. That has been his Achilles Heel all year. If he is in shape, he is a beast." Two Americans are part of the roster, led by Jacob Slone, another senior with several offers, who lives just five minutes from campus and averages 28 points a game. He had 14 points and five assists in this one, while Max Maryanou contributed 15 points, six boards and three assists for the Circuit Riders, which defeated Red Bank on Friday at Freedom Hall. "I really like our roster. We have a lot of guys that can impact winning," Adams said. "I really like our crew, it just depends on which team shows up for us. We have had stretches this year where if we are really locked in and we do the little things that matter, we have been very hard to beat. Now we get in these stretches where we will kind of get lazy and get complacent. Talent doesn't win ball games. You have got to be disciplined, you have got to play hard. When we do those things I really llike our. team." Joey Hanna led New Faith Christian, which is located in Riverdale, Ga., with 15 points and six boards, while Whitfield Hyde tossed in 11 points, six boards and three steals for the Titans, which lost to Tri-Cities Christian on Friday night. RED BANK 58, SEYMOUR 54 Red Bank from Chattanooga split a pair of decisions in Johnson City, rebounding from Friday's loss to Wesley Christian by holding off a late run by Seymour to finish on top. Four Lions reached double figures for Red Bank (14-4), led by Austin Jones with 16 points, 14 from D.J. Wilbur, 13 by Marcus Jones and 10 from Keewan Hambrick for the Lions, which led 42-30 going into the final period before Seymour scored 24 of its 54 points in the fourth, pulling within three points on two occasions. Seymour (13-5) was paced by Hayes Golden with 18 points and 17 from Abraham Hess. Noah Bohanan added eight points and Reid Russell tossed in seven for the Eagles. PREMIUM PREP 75, EXPERIENCE PREP 68 The Johnson City-based Experience Prep was outscored 20-4 over the final four minutes to drop a hard-fought decision to Premium Prep. Dorian Jackman led three Nashville-based Premium Prep scorers in doubles figures with 18 points. Damarien Polk added 13 and James Raymond tossed in 12. Experience Prep was tied at 68 with 1:32 to before getting outscored 7-0 to end the game. Jonah Brandon and A.J. Dixon paced Experience Prep with 14 points apiece. Carter Kerby added 10 point in the loss for head coach Patrick Grayson, a former assistant coach at King University.