Calhoun’s Tyler Arnold might have found his new workout: Go to the beach, don’t touch a basketball, then go play.
Arnold was named most valuable player with 12 points and 10 rebounds as Georgia pulled out an 88-86 victory Tuesday night at Notre Dame High School, cutting Tennessee’s lead in the annual boys’ basketball all-star series to 4-3.
“It feels good,” said Arnold, who also won the halftime 3-point shootout. “I had been at the beach and hadn’t played in about a week, so I wasn’t sure how I was going to do.”
The Piedmont College signee, who lost his senior season because of a torn ACL, missed two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining and gave Tennessee a chance, but Baylor’s Jordan Clark missed a runner in the final seconds that would have tied the game.
“I thought I had blown the game,” Arnold said. “Tennessee had some guys that were hitting some shots, but we outhustled them and out-rebounded them at the end.”
Georgia, which trailed 69-60 going into the fourth quarter, trimmed the lead to four before a Clark 3 with 4:30 remaining gave Tennessee a 77-69 lead. Georgia kept pressing, though, hitting the boards hard against their smaller opponents.
Arnold cut the lead to 82-80 on a putback and was fouled with 1:24 remaining. He missed the free throw, but Dalton’s 6-foot-7 Caz Cole scored off another putback to tie the game.
A Clark free throw with 56 seconds remaining gave Tennessee a one-point edge, but after two Tyler Hughes free throws, Cole had a steal and a layup to make it 86-83. Dalton’s David White added a pair at the line, but Ooltewah’s Jerome Montgomery — who led Tennessee with 13 points — nailed a 3 from the corner to cut the lead to two.
“Coach (Greg) Hicks (from Dade County) preached for us to play hard, and we did that at the end,” Arnold said.
Tennessee led 26-15 at the end of the first quarter by hitting four 3s, but Georgia started the second quarter with a 15-3 run and went up 30-29 with 2:36 remaining. Tennessee fought back with a 10-2 run of its own and led 41-38 at halftime.
Model’s Fernando Lemus had four 3s and 14 points to lead all scorers. He was named Georgia player of the game. White added 12 and Ridgeland’s David Alexander 10 for Georgia.
Red Bank’s Bradley Britt, Tennessee’s player of the game and tallest at 6-foot-4, had nine points and a game-record 11 rebounds. Clark and Central’s Volonte Bell each had 12 points, while Central’s Frank Rice — the dunk contest winner — added 10.
GEORGIA BOYS 88, TENNESSEE 86
Georgia 15 23 22 28 — 88
Tennessee 26 15 28 17 — 86
Georgia (88) — Moore 1, Tyler Arnold 12, Martin 3, Hughes 8, David White 12, Holland 2, Saunders, Reno 3, McSears 2, Perry 9, David Alexander 10, Fernando Lemus 14, Cole 7, Finley 5.
Tennessee (86) — Cook 6, Frank Rice 10, Jordan Clark 12, Volonte Bell 12, Seamster 8, Gibson 1, Smith 7, Ware 8, Jerome Montgomery 13, Britt 9.
3-point goals: Georgia 8 (Lemus 4, Arnold 2, Reno, Finley); Tennessee 9 (Clark 3, Smith 2, Montgomery 2, Rice, Britt).
