BY JESSE SMITHEY
For a half Thursday night, the Alcoa boys’ basketball team had defending 3A champion Fulton on the ropes a little.
But the host Falcons proved to be the ones delivering the knockout blows in this anticipated bout with defending 2A champion Alcoa.
Taj Kimber scored 18 and Denaj Kimber and Tyler Lee pitched in 15 apiece, as Fulton rallied after the break for a convincing 78-67 win in Knoxville.
Penn State signee and Alcoa senior point guard Jahvin Carter scored 31 in defeat, helping the Tornadoes build a 32-30 lead after 16 minutes.
The Falcons (18-1) took full control in the third quarter, though, posting 28 points to Alcoa’ 12. Denaj Kimber had eight points in the third while Lee cemented the win in the fourth with seven points.
Carter poured in 15 fourth-quarter points to try and mount a comeback for Alcoa, but Lee and Taj Kimber (six points in the fourth) kept that momentum in check.
Fulton returns to action at 3 p.m. Saturday, playing host to arch-rival Austin-East.
Alcoa (11-10) plays again on Tuesday in a District 2-2A game at Oneida (11-4), which beat Gatlinburg-Pittman (17-3) last week.