The Red Level Tigers caught fire in the second half as they pulled away for a 52-34 victory over McKenzie on Thursday night in McKenzie.

McKenzie went up 4-0 to start the game before a bucket from Matt Coleman put Red Level on the board.

McKenzie then hit a free throw, but Jacob Catrett answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game 5-5.

Catrett buried another 3-pointer at the end of the first period to put Red Level up 10-8.

McKenzie cut the Red Level lead down to 12-11 with a free throw.

Kade Green was bringing  the ball down the floor for Red Level when he spotted Coleman making a backdoor cut to the basket.

Green lobbed the ball towards the goal where Coleman threw it down for a thunderous dunk that brought the visiting crowd to its feet.

Coleman then picked up another bucket off of an offensive rebound, and Green knocked down a 3-pointer to put Red Level up 19-11.

Catrett picked up another 3-pointer as Red Level took a 25-16 lead into halftime.

Green got things rolling in the third period with a big 3-pointer.

Chance Russell then came up with a steal on the inbound pass and took it right back up for another Red Level basket.

Catrett knocked down another 3-pointer as Red Level continued to assert the will on McKenzie.

At the end of the third period, Red Level was on top 41-29.

McKenzie got the first two buckets of the fourth period, but Red Level wasn’t going to let them get much more in the final period.

Green then put Red Level on little scoring streak as he dropped in a layup to put Red Level up 43-28.

Coleman added a free throw before another layup from Green put Red Level on top 48-30.

Joel Phillips picked up the next bucket and Green tacked on yet another layup.

Both teams continued to battle, but Red Level was able to hold on for a 52-34 victory.

“I thought we did a good job on defense tonight,” Red Level head coach Allen Catrett said. “We tried to limit some of their players from touching the basketball and we did a good job of making shots tonight. When we shoot the ball well, take care of the basketball and play good defense, we are a pretty good team.”

The Tigers got big 3-pointers from Green and Catrett that helped extend the Red Level lead.

“We got them in the right situation that we wanted, got good looks and they made the shot,” Catrett said. “This is a good area win tonight against a good McKenzie team.”

Green led the Tigers with 16 points in the game.

Catrett tacked on 12 points and Coleman finished with 11 points.