Red Bank was the favorite and Soddy-Daisy the Cinderella story, but Ooltewah claimed the District 6-AAA boys’ basketball tournament title.

Behind Jerome Montgomery’s 24 points and Sammy Seamster’s 14 rebounds, the second-seeded Owls defeated fourth-seeded Soddy-Daisy 71-61 Friday night at Red Bank. Ooltewah clinched a 20-win season in wearing down the Trojans, who were hoping to build on Tuesday night’s upset of top-seeded Red Bank.

“We just wanted to come out here and prove everybody wrong,” Montgomery said. “We’ve got a good team that has great chemistry.”

That chemistry includes falling behind early, which Owls coach Jesse Nayadley could live without.

Soddy-Daisy took a 24-15 lead with 5:16 left in the half on a Craig Smith layup. Nayadley called time out, and the Owls responded with a 9-0 run capped by a Montgomery 3-pointer.

“We knew they would come out with a lot of emotion,” Nayadley said. “It’s not the best thing in the world, but we are a second-half team and have been all year. We came to play in the second half and went into a zone, and I think that hurt them.”

The Owls broke free from a 49-49 deadlock early in the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run behind inside baskets by Brian Williams and were never threatened again.

n Red Bank 100, Central 58: Nick Ross made eight 3-pointers and scored 40 points to lead the Lions to an easy win in the consolation game. Patrick Moore led the Purple Pounders with nine 3-pointers and 31 points.