No quit: That is how T.R. Miller varsity boys head coach Juan Johnson described his team Monday night after they stunned Monroe County in overtime to claim a 78-70. It was the second straight overtime game for TRM, who improved to 2-1 overall with the win.
Leading by as many as 13 points at the half, 36-23, TRM was outscored by Monroe County 20-11 in the third quarter to take a 47-43 leading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, MCHS used an 8-0 in the quarter to help build a 60-51 lead with 3:21 left in the game.
TRM would storm back and cut the lead to 62-60 with 1:30. From there, neither team would make any points and Monroe County had the ball with 1.2 seconds left in the game after an illegal screen called on the Tigers from TRM.
From there, on the inbound pass, TRM’s Trae Walker stole the pass and hit a layup to tie the game at 62-all to force overtime.
In the overtime period, TRM would double up Monroe County 16-8 to get the win by eight points.
“A lot of it had to do with our ability to not quit,” Johnson said. “We saw an opportunity there. They had been lazy about bringing the ball out. He just made a play. We played very good defensively for basically the first half. We found ourselves again in overtime, but basically it goes back to not quitting. I think this team is finding their ways and their roles and we will see what happens.”
Walker said it surprised him that MCHS tried to inbound the ball right under the TRM goal, with just seconds away from a win.
“It was 1.2 seconds left and I just didn’t think that they would be stupid enough to pass it in right underneath our goal,” Walker said. “I thought they would throw it up or tip it or something and let the time run out. I just threw it in and it went off the backboard and went right in. It felt great when it went in. I was calm, but it felt great.”
While Walker sent the game into overtime, Chardian Johnson led TRM with 32 points in the win.
“It was just a great team win,” Chardian Johnson said. “We did it all together.”
TRM opened the game on an 8-0 run and led 15-12 after one quarter. In the second quarter, TRM outscored Monroe County 21-11 lead 36-23 at the half.
In the third quarter, Monroe County held a 20-11 advantage to cut TRM’s lead to 47-43. In the fourth, MCHS outscored TRM 19-15 to see the game get tied at 62-all and head to overtime. In the extra period, TRM outscored Monroe County 16-8 to get the win.
Johnson led with 32 points while Walker added 23. Kellyn Winn chipped in 10 points and Brooks Brown added six.
TRM was 24-of-40 from the free throw line while MCHS shot 11-for-19.
Head coach Juan Johnson said this year’s team has had a different mindset about themselves and he is seeing it pay off.
“A lot of started back in May when we first tried out,” he said. “They had a different mentality about practicing. As the wins come, and I told them, there is nothing guaranteed in putting in hard work. The hard work gives you the opportunity. We are accepting all opportunities and are just seeing what happens.”

Monroe County 33, TRM B-team 26
A 4-0 run in the first quarter and a 9-0 run in the second quarter helped Monroe County keep TRM’s B-team winless this season as TRM dropped a 33-26 loss to fall to 0-3 this season.
TRM led 3-0 in the first quarter, but saw Monroe County score the final four points in the quarter to lead by one heading into the second quarter.
After TRM took a 5-4 lead in the second quarter, MCHS ended it on a 9-0 run to lead 13-5 at the half.
Monroe County would use an 11-7 run in the third quarter to build a 24-12 lead heading into the fourth.
In the fourth, TRM rallied with a 14-9 run, but took the loss by seven points.
Joshua Jolly led with eight points in the loss while Demonte Jenkins had six and Henry Davison had five. Darius Williams chipped in four points and Michael Campbell had two.
TRM was 8-for-17 from the free throw line while MCHS shot 10-for-14.

TRM Lady Tigers 34, Monroe County 20
The TRM Lady Tigers evened their record up at 3-3 overall Monday at home as they took down Monroe County 34-20.
Mekiah Williams led with 13 points in the win and Steely Ruzic added 11. Tiana Stallworth finished with nine points and Emonae Curry added 12 points.
TRM led Monroe 6-2 after one quarter of play and 17-6 at the half. In the second quarter, Monroe cut TRM’s lead to 9-6 before the Lady Tigers ended the quarter on an 8-0 run.
TRM pushed their run to 11-0 in the third quarter and outscored Monroe 14-8 to lead 31-14 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, MCHS outscored TRM 6-3, but the Lady Tigers held on for the win by 14 points.
The Lady Tigers were 6-for-18 from the free throw line while MCHS shot 2-for-10.