Tyler Legacy against Tyler High on Monday night at Tyler Legacy Varsity Gymnasium. (Michel Alfaro/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

There was a packed house, technical fouls and blood.

The 2024 edition of the Rose City Rivalry on the hardwood had it all.

In the end, the Tyler Legacy Red Raiders grabbed a 59-48 victory over the Tyler Lions on Monday night inside Tyler Legacy Varsity Gymnasium.

“It was a physical game,” Tyler Legacy head basketball Kyle Smith said. “Hats off to Tyler. They played very hard. The officiating was consistent. They let us go. There was a lot of banging in the paint. We missed some shots we’ve just got to make. If we get to shooting the ball better, I still think we have a chance to be pretty good.”

The visiting Lions jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead, holding Legacy scoreless for nearly three minutes. Geordon Mitchell made a layup in the first 10 seconds and then Keiland Garvey and Mitchell hit triples for Tyler.

Legacy’s first basket came with 5:02 left in the first quarter on a putback by Zyere Ceasar. Tyler answered with a Jasyn Grayson make inside. Down 10-2, the Red Raiders went on a 7-0 run, capped with a three by Ja’Corian Oes, cutting the score to 10-9. A Mitchell jumper gave the Lions a 12-9 lead after the first quarter.

The Red Raiders opened the second quarter with a trey by Tyler Henry to tie the score. With Legacy down 16-14, the Red Raiders got two putbacks from Oes and a layup from Josh Hall to lead 20-16 at halftime.

With Legacy leading 29-26 late in the third quarter, the Red Raiders used a 7-2 stretch with Hall hitting a 3-pointer in the final seconds to take a 36-28 lead into the final frame.

Legacy was eventually able to stretch its lead to double digits with a corner three from Jayden Jones with 5:23 to play. Henry followed with another triple to stretch the score to 46-32.

Later in the quarter, Jones got a steal and turned it into a thunderous dunk on the other end, putting the score at 51-37 with 2:44 remaining. The final minute featured a stoppage for blood on the court and multiple technical fouls with the clock eventually winding down for the Red Raider victory.

“It was a big one,” Smith said. “We have not been playing very well the last couple of weeks. I was a little bit worried just how we would come out. We came out and competed. We seemed to be willing to do the things just to get the job done.”

Ceasar led the Red Raiders with 19 points and seven rebounds. Oes, Jones and Henry all had 10 points. Other scorers were Hall 5; Gage Nuckolls 3; and JP Rainer 2. Oes had five rebounds, and Nuckolls had five assists.

Mitchell made four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Garvey had 7 points and seven rebounds. Jaishua Brown had 7 points, seven rebounds, four blocks, four steals and three assists. Other scorers were Tayvean McMiller 5; Damien Yarbrough 3; and Grayson 2.