MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- In 2000, Bradley Central's Bears lost to Memphis White Station in the Class AAA state championship game. Last season, White Station sent the Bradley home with a first-round loss.

The Bears can now avenge one of those losses to the nationally ranked Spartans (No. 7 USA Today) on Saturday night at Murphy Center.

With junior guards Kellen Pickel and Dustin Hare combining for 62 points, Bradley defeated Memphis Hamilton, 88-71, Friday night in a hotly contested semifinal in Monte Hale Arena. Late in the game, Bradley took charge by scoring seven points on one possession when Hamilton coach Ted Anderson was whistled for two technical fouls.

Second-ranked Bradley (36-2) will play top-ranked White Station (35-2) for the AAA state championship Saturday night at 8 eastern time. White Station advanced with a 72-58 semifinal victory over fifth-ranked Columbia Central.

"Our team hasn't been intimidated all year and we won't be tomorrow night,'' said Bradley coach Kent Smith, who earned his 200th victory. "No. 1 and No. 2 will finally meet. They deserve to be No. 1. We are looking forward to the opportunity of playing them. We must seize the opportunity.''

Hare, who was celebrating his 18th birthday, led Bradley with 35 points, four rebounds and three assists. Pickel made five three-pointers and finished with 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.

"Now we've got a chance to play for the championship,'' Hare said. "It gets no better than this. We're very excited. White Station is a very good team and so are we. We'll be ready to play.''

Said Pickel, "We remember White Station's fans jingling their keys at us last year. I think we can do it. We've been wanting to play them all year.''

Bradley took a 49-36 with a 12-0 run midway of the third quarter, but Hamilton fought back and pulled within 65-59 with 5:16 left in the game. Hamilton coach Ted Anderson was then called for two technicals and ejected from the gym.

Cori Pugh, who scored 11 points for the Bears, got fouled on the play and made one free throw. Hare then made 3-of-4 technical free throws. Hare was fouled again on Bradley's possession after the technical and made another free throw. He missed one, however, and Pugh got a putback and the Bears took a 72-59 lead.

Hare made four more free throws before Hamilton (26-10) could regroup from Anderson's absence and Bradley led, 76-59, with 3:07 left in the game.

"The technicals gave us momentum, but we took the lead on out after that,'' Smith said. "We did what we had to do down the stretch. It was a momentum switch, but give credit to our guys for taking advantage of it.''

Anderson said the difference in the game was Bradley's shooting, and he got in one final word about the officiating.

"Bradley shoots so well,'' Anderson said. "Their range is beyond where you guard people. They are just a very good shooting team.

"But we had bad calls, terrible calls all night. We got screwed. They didn't want two Memphis teams playing for the state championship.''

Bradley featured a lineup with Chris Brown at 6-4 the tallest starter. Hamilton's lineup featured 5-11, 6-9, 6-7, 6-8, 6-7 players. Still, the Bears out-rebounded Hamilton, 41-38. Bradley committed only 14 turnovers.

"We were able to take care of the basketball and make our free throws down the stretch,'' Smith said. "And we out-rebounded them. But the key was making less than 15 turnovers. I guaranteed them we would win if that happened.''

Said Hare, "I don't know what their coach got so mad about. Those were all true fouls. He just lost his composure.

"This is a good win for my birthday, but one more will make it complete.''

SUMMARY

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----

Bradley Central.....17 20 24 29 - 88
Hamilton ..... 16 16 16 23 - 71

BRADLEY (88) -- Wes Suiter 2, Kellen Pickel 27, Chris Brown 6, Cori Pugh 11, Justin Hare 35, Yarrish Hammonds 5, Josh Goode, Andrew Nipper 2, Tim Hobbs, Jason Swide.

HAMILTON (71) -- Shawne Williams 20, Dustin Richmond 19, Joseph Watkins 6, Courtney Bohannon 4, Jeremy Williams 6, Kris Stafford, Bryon Jeffries 12, Antonio Jones 4, Paul Hagler.

Three-point goals -- Pickel 5, Richmond 3, Hare 2, Jefffries 2, Brown, Hammonds, S. Williams.

STATISTICS

BRADLEY -- Field goals (25-51); Free throws (29-39); 3-point field goals (9-17); Rebounds (41-Pickel 7, Brown 7); Assists (14-Pickel 6); Blocks (4-Nipper 2); Turnovers (14-Pickel 5); Steals (6-Suiter 3).

HAMILTON -- Field goals (27-70); Free throws (11-20); 3-point field goals (6-29); Rebounds (38-J. Williams 10); Assists (11-Richmond 4); Turnovers (9-Richmond 3); Steals (11-S. Williams 4).

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)