CHATTANOOGA - Sequoyah faced a tall task in the quest for its first win in the Region 3-AA boys basketball tournament since 2005.

Chattanooga-based Brainerd had not lost a first-round region tourney game in legendary coach Robert High’s 37-year tenure, and the Chiefs could not change that Saturday night, falling 74-56 to finish the season at 16-13.

“We won 16 games this year, and if you told me before the season we’d have won 16 games, I’d have laughed in your face and said, ‘You’re crazy,’” said Sequoyah coach Daniel Curtis.

The Chiefs were able to make the game interesting against the perennial powerhouse from District 6-AA for a while. After the Panthers’ Marques Tipton opened with two triples to put his team up 6-0, Taylor Hawkins’ bucket and Shon Stevens’ 3-pointer energized Sequoyah.

Andrew Millsaps continued the Chiefs’ early rally, going coast-to-coast, sprinting on a fast break and, finally, driving to the hoop and sinking both foul shots to tie the contest at 13-13 midway through the first.

But Brainerd (15-12) took over from there, with six more points from Tipton - a sophomore who has been scouted by Division I colleges - two authoritative blocks from Devonte Cooper and Orlando Moore and point guard Jay Besley’s dribble-driving fueling the Panthers’ 12-0 run to end the first quarter.

“We got in the teeth of the defense,” Curtis said. “We didn’t do as much as I would like. Still a lot of standing around on the perimeter, but those were young and inexperienced guys we have.”

That Sequoyah found some success attacking the goal was a sticking point for Brainerd’s High.

“I was happy with the way they played except for the breakdown on defense,” said High, who has four state championships on his resume, the last in 1999. “We backed up like we were in foul trouble, let them drive straight to the basket. This is not the defense that we play, people, you know.”

Despite three early turnovers in the second quarter, Sequoyah managed to cut their deficit to 27-17 with two straight putbacks from Millsaps and Braden Strickland, but Moore energized the home crowd on the other end with a one-handed dunk, and the Panthers used their athleticism and length advantage to take a 37-21 lead at the half, highlighted within the last minute by Tyree Stubbs’ block of a Stevens 3-point attempt.

Brainerd gradually built its lead to as much as 26 points in the fourth quarter, but Sequoyah didn’t let the Panthers get too comfortable, with Millsaps capping off his 26-point career finale with a couple of steals and blocks and more drives to the bucket. Stevens sank three 3-pointers in the final stanza, helping the Chiefs at least close the game to a respectable margin.

“My guys fought hard. I’m very proud of my guys,” Curtis said. “We had a lull in the second quarter. We went down 16 at halftime and wound up losing by 18. We adjusted our style a little bit, which I will never do again. I won’t adjust my style. If we run, we’ll run. I don’t care who they are, we’ll run. I felt like we started running in the second half and did much better.”

Millsaps, Stevens, Trevor King and Casey Denham will graduate, but the Chiefs will still return Hawkins in the post and a host of rising seniors for next season.

For Brainerd, it was a display of youthful talent gaining experience and poise at the right time after starting the season 9-10. The Panthers moved on to face McMinn Central in the second round of the region tournament Tuesday night.

“First half of the season we were young, no question about it,” High said. “I’ve got two seniors, I’ve got two kids that played varsity last year. And it makes a difference. They’ve matured a heck of a lot.”

BRAINERD 74, SEQUOYAH 56

S    13    8    16    19    -    56
B    25    12    19    18    -    74

SEQUOYAH: Andrew Millsaps 26, Braden Strickland 2, Brett King 3, Casey Denham 2, Shon Stevens 14, Seth Schaffer 2, Taylor Hawkins 7
BRAINERD: Jay Besley 11, Marques Tipton 25, Dimitri Glenn 2, Da’v Moore 2, Orlando Moore 18, Devonte Cooper 6, Tyree Stubbs 8, LaDarrius Lee 2