CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Bradley Central’s Bearettes help open the 17th Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving tournament at Jim Smiddy Arena on Friday morning with a monumental mismatch against David Crockett High School.
So one-sided was the blowout that none of the starting Bearettes even checked in for second-half action.
Bradley started the game with a 19-0 run and eventually won easily 82-15.
The Lady Pioneers, who three years ago qualified for the regional tournament for the first time in 18 years, failed to score in the second period and the Bearettes went to the locker room with an insurmountable 43-4 halftime cushion.
The margin was 64-11 after three periods and that 53-point spread forced a TSSAA-mandate running clock in the fourth.
“We’re young,” David Crockett coach Marty Story said, “but we can’t keep using that as an excuse. At some point we have to grow up. No doubt Bradley is a good team, the best we’ve played this year.”
Bradley advanced to the winner’s bracket semifinals and will play Lakeview Academy, out of Gainesville, Ga., on Saturday at 10 a.m. Lakeview whipped Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.) 73-52.
Also, McMinn Central, 31-3 and a Class 2A semifinalist last season, routed Jemison (Huntsville, Ala.) 60-38 and Flowery Branch (Ga.) defeated Spring Garden (Ala.) 58-40 in the final first-round games.
In a pair of loser’s bracket games, David Crockett rebounded with a 43-39 win over Miller Grove and Jemison beat Spring Garden 68-46.
Miller Grove was the face David Crockett and Jemison went against Spring Garden later Saturday in loser’s bracket games.
McMinn Central and Flowery Branch, 29-3 and an Elite Eight state tournament team in 2015-16, will play at 11:30 a.m. Saturday in the other semifinal.
Anna Roberts was Bradley’s leading scorer with 15 points and matched David Crockett’s entire eight-player roster offensively.
“I just want to play and it meant a lot just getting in and actually scoring some points,” Roberts said. “Today boosted my confidence a lot; I didn’t know I scored that many points.”
Roberts, a 5-foot-8 sophomore, also had six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
“Anna played with more passion and aggressiveness and we’ve been looking for that from her,” Bradley Central coach Jason Reuter said.
Halle Hughes scored 14 points, including seven in the first eight minutes. Hughes, who hit 6 of 7 shots and 2 of 3 from behind the 3-point line, scored seven second-quarter points in a 62-second span and went to the sideline having played just 8 minutes, 47 seconds.
Hughes, a senior, had two rebounds, five assists and two steals in her limited time on court.
“I think everyone on the team is important, so by strengthening our bench we strengthen our team because that’s who our greatest opponent is,” said Hughes, a Lee University basketball signee. “That’s who we’re going against every day in practice.”
Junior Rhyne Howard tossed in 11 points, getting in 12:28, more than any other starter. She added six rebounds, three steals and two assists before taking a seat.
“I think our (junior varsity) girls played pretty good,” Howard said. “They cleaned it up, played good defense and kept putting points on the scoreboard.”
Kassie Lowe topped the Lady Pioneers scoring with five points, hitting just 2 of 13 shots.
In fact, David Crockett went 6 for 43, a paltry 14, a paltry 14 percent from the field. Story’s team was 3 for 22 behind the arc.
“There are times when I wish the (victory) margin wasn’t so big,” Bearettes coach Jason Reuter said. “We simply had them out-talented at every position, but I can’t ask my girls to come in and not play hard. That would be more of a mockery of the game than winning big like this.
“Anybody just seeing the score will say coach Reuter ran the score up, but anyone who was here knows that didn’t happen. Look at the minutes played; we didn’t check in a single starter in the second half.”
Bearettes starters made 13 of 18 shots for 76.5 percent.
The reserves – all nine of them – hit 21 of 46 from the field for 45.7 percent. Players off the bench grabbed 36 of 48 rebounds, with Roberts and Cambree Mayo, a freshman, each pulling down six.
The off-the-bench players scored 50 of the 82 points.
Kimia Carter, a transfer player from Clarksville, scored nine points. Anna Walker and Kaitlin Hullender each had five.
“I heard when I walked into the gym,” said Story, who said the team made the 2-hour, 51-minute trip from Jonesborough to Cleveland on Friday morning, “this might be Bradley’s best team ever (most long-time Bradley girls basketball observers would shoot down that theory).”
Story, a former East Tennessee State player, then added, “Well, I saw them play last year and this team is definitely better than that team.”
Story said he was never hesitant about playing in this year’s tournament after losing to William Blount and Heritage (Ga.) and beating Lakeview Academy in 2015. The Lady Pioneers went 6-25 last season and lost five senior starters.
“By the end of this year we’ll be battle-tested and better,” Story said. “We lack height and we’re not the greatest scoring bunch. We have fight and we’ll put them in the right situations where they have an opportunity to be in a game.”
The gap between Bradley Central (3-0) and the Lady Pioneers (1-2) were never more apparent than the second quarter when the Bearettes outscored their late-morning foes 22-0.
“Our reserves played with no turnovers in the second half,” Halle Hughes said, so they did very good. This will keep our legs fresh and we’ll be ready Saturday. We definitely have to come out with a different mentality for our next game.”
The Bearettes, who had appeared in back-to-back state tournaments with a final four effort in 2015, have outscored three opponents 209-81 through three games this season.
Reuter said he knows his top eight players, but wants to add two more to the mix. Friday morning’s game may have helped in that regard.
“All these girls are on audition every time they sept on the floor,” he said. “When you have the depth we have this year, it keeps people sharp. All it takes is one bad quarter or a bad half and someone can move from number nine to number 11.
“People saw some pretty good young talent out there. The reserves, quite frankly, could have won the game without help from the starters.”
Lakeview Academy 73, Miller Grove 52: Hanna Grogan scored 24 points and Sadie Thraikill added 14 for the Lady Lions, who led 40-24 at the half. Shania Montoya had 13 points, Keshuna Patterson 12 and Dejah Turner 11 for the Lady Wolverines.
McMinn Central 60, Jemison 38: Jacobi Lynn tossed in 27 points on 10 of 19 shooting to pace the Lady Chargers. Ashlyan Baker had 17 points for the Lady Jaguars.
Flowery Branch 58, Spring Garden 40: Lexi Sengkhammee scored14 points for the Lady Falcons while Queen Scott and Taniyah Worth added 12 each and Ashley Woodroffe added 11. Tiyonna Rogers pumped in 17 points and Payton McGinnis finished with 14 for the Lady Panthers.
Jemison 68, Spring Garden 46: Ashlyan Baker led Jemison with 19 points, Tory Garner had13 and Tamarra Fletcher 10. Jodi Dempsey scored 13 points and Tiyonna Rogers closed with 11.
David Crockett 43, Miller Grove 39: Macy Morton and Cassidy Ruppert each scored 11 points for the Lady Pioneers, who trailed 23-20 at halftime. Dejah Turner led the Lady Wolverines with 11 points.
David Crockett 4 0 3 8 – 15
Bradley Central 21 22 21 12 – 82
David Crockett (15) – Palomino, Kassie Lowe 5, Steinmetz 2, Ruppert, Day, Arrowood 2, Hulse 3, Morton 3.
Bradley Central (82) – Halle Hughes 14, Brown 3, Morgan 4, Rhyne Howard 11, Anna Roberts 15, McRee, Carter 9, K. Hughes 1, Mayo 4, Reuter 4, Davis 2, Hullender 4, Lombard 2, Walker 6.
3-Point Goals – David Crockett 3 (Lowe 1, Hulse1, Morton 1), Bradley Central 5 (H. Hughes 2, Morgan 1, Howard 1, Roberts 1).
Saturday Schedule
10 a.m. – Bradley Central vs. Lakeview Academy
11:30 a.m. – McMinn Central vs. Flowery Branch
2 p.m. – Spring Garden vs. Miller Grove
3:30 p.m. – David Crockett vs. Jemison
5 p.m. – McMinn-Flowery Branch loser vs. Bradley-Lakeview loser
6:30 p.m. – McMinn-Flowery Branch winner vs. Bradley-Lakeview winner (Championship)
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)