The Bradley Central Bears used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the East Hamilton Hurricanes 66-47 at home on Tuesday night in a fast paced game in which both teams pressed.
“They were really playing a team game,” Head Coach Chuck Clark said of his Bears following the team’s victory. “That’s what we have to do. We don’t have anyone who can just dominate any team we play. We have to share the ball, and we have to disperse it among all of us. “
While the team might not have one player who dominates, they do have players who can score the ball, Clark added.
Seniors Daniel Clark and Ty Morgan led that scoring attack for the Bears with 12 points each.
The Bears took a big lead early and held onto it throughout the game. The team won each of the first three quarters to take a 58-30 lead heading into the final eight minutes. Clark pulled his starters, and the team cruised to the 66-47 victory.
The key to the victory for the Bears was the team’s ability to beat the East Hamilton press.
“The old saying is ‘teams that press don’t like to be pressed,’ but our guys liked to be pressed,” Clark said.
Each week in practice, Clark calls on the junior varsity team to press the varsity players. He’ll even throw a couple of extra players on defense to get his team used to the pressure.
These drills seemed to work as the Bears were able to maneuver through the lengthy and speedy Hurricanes to score a slew of fast break points and come away with a convincing District 5-AAA victory.
Next up, the Bears will travel to Walker Valley to take on the Mustangs in a crosstown rivalry this Friday.
The Mustangs also defeated East Hamilton as they went on the road and got a 49-38 victory over the Hurricanes this past weekend.
Bradley won the previous matchup against Walker Valley 64-56 on Dec. 5. The teams met four times last season, each team winning two games, as the Mustangs knocked the Bears out of the playoffs to end its season.
Clark is approaching this game just like any other. He hadn’t looked to it until after the win over East Hamilton.
“I haven’t thought much of [the matchup against Walker Valley]. I will go home, and I will pull some Walker Valley video up to start watching some of it tonight,” Clark said after the game. “We’ll start getting a game plan prepared tomorrow.”
BRADLEY CENTRAL BEARETTES 91, EAST HAMILTON 23: The Bradley Central Bearettes scored early and often in a 91-23 victory over the East Hamilton Lady Hurricanes.
The Bearettes took a 60-11 lead into the break before pulling back on the reigns and trotting to a 91-23 victory. Hollie Hughes led the Bearettes with 24 points as E.K. Brown and Rhyne Howard contributed 19 and 18 points respectively.
Scoring Summaries
GIRLS SUMMARY
BRADLEY 34 26 18 13 --
91
EAST HAMILTON 7 4 11 1 --
23
BRADLEY (91) – Hughes 24, K. Brown 9, E. Brown 19, Petterson 3, Howard18, Gaither 8, McRee 10.
EAST HAMILTON (23) – Moon 6, Caudle 1, Woods 5, Wood 2, Gray 1, Zeh 2, Black 6.
3-point goals – Bradley Central 6 (Hughes 3, E. Brown 1, Howard 2). East Hamilton 1 (Woods).
BOYS SUMMARY
BRADLEY 18 22 18 8 – 66
EAST HAMILTON 10 9 11 17 – 47
BRADLEY (66) - Clark 12, Copeland 8, Maroon 9, Pitner 6, McCurdy 7, Beavers 4, Morgan 12, Parker 4, Rymer 2, Tucker 2.
EAST HAMILTON (47) – Rawls 3, Thompson 8, Chacko 2, Wilson 2, Dozier 8, Griffith 8, Wingard 2, Beach 7, Hughley 2, Clark 5.
3-point goals – Bradley Central 3 (Maroon, McCurdy, Morgan). East Hamilton 5 (Rawls 1, Dozier 2, Griffith 2,).
(E-mail Mark Pace at MarkEPace@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @THEMarkPace)