Bradley Edges Cleveland, 88-86, On Copeland Game-Winner In Fourth OT

Junior Scores 38 Points, Including 7 Of Bears' 9 In Final Extra Period

  • Monday, February 8, 2016
  • Larry Fleming
Bradley Central basketball sensation Cole Copeland goes up for a jump shot Monday night against rival Cleveland at Jim Smiddy Arena. Copeland scored 38 points, including the game-winner, in the Bears' dramatic 88-86 victory in four overtimes.
Bradley Central basketball sensation Cole Copeland goes up for a jump shot Monday night against rival Cleveland at Jim Smiddy Arena. Copeland scored 38 points, including the game-winner, in the Bears' dramatic 88-86 victory in four overtimes.
photo by Dennis Norwood

CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Monday turned into a more bang for your bucks night at Jim Smiddy Arena.

But, the capacity crowd probably should have expected the bargain.

Back on Dec. 8, Bradley Central knocked off bitter rival Cleveland in an overtime thriller.

On Monday, the two teams took a walk on the wild side in a colossal four-overtime, 88-86, District 5-3A barn-burner eventually decided on Cole Copeland’s clutch baseline jumper with two seconds remaining.

“That’s the greatest game I’ve ever been involved with,” said Copeland, who dazzled the Blue Raiders with 38 points and 20 rebounds – 14 coming on the defensive end.

“There were so many emotions out there. We’ve been in this situation before and found a way to win. This exemplifies what Bradley basketball is all about.”

It was the first four-overtime game for Bradley Central in 95 years.

Bradley (19-5, 10-0) notched its 11th consecutive victory and completed the regular-season sweep against the Blue Raiders (14-5, 6-4), who used a 15-4 second-quarter run to build a 23-9 advantage.

“I gave them a good chewing out at halftime,” Bears coach Chuck Clark said. “I had to get it out of my system and then we talked about x’s and o’s. We played better in the second half and got back into the game. It turned into a regular Bradley-Cleveland game, back and forth.”

It took a lot of scratching and clawing for the Bears to get within striking distance.

Bradley led 3-1 early on and didn’t retake the lead until Copeland hit one of his four 3-pointers from the left wing with 3:40 left in regulation.

It was nip-and-tick for the remaining 20 minutes and 20 seconds.

A 9-0 Bradley run wiped out Cleveland’s 50-46 spread. Tyrell Pitner capped the scoring spurt with two free throws and Bradley had its biggest lead of the game at 55-50.

Cleveland, however, scored the final five points – free throws – that included two by K.K. Curry with 39 seconds left to tie the game.

When Copeland’s shot with two seconds bounced off the backboard and caromed off the rim the hard-nosed teams sailed into the first overtime.

Bradley led 59-56, but Cleveland scored seven straight points to grab a four-point lead. Dionte Ware  made two free throws to give the Blue Raiders a 65-62 lead, but “Cool Hand Cole” drilled a 22-foot 3 from the wing to tie the game and send it to a second overtime.

Curry’s bucket tied the game at 74-all. Bradley McCurdy calmly ripped a 3 from the left wing with 2.7 seconds left for a 77-74 cushion and Cleveland quickly called a timeout.

“Honestly,” I thought we’d get a defensive stop right there and win the game,” said McCurdy, who scored 20 points, dished out six assists and had four steals.

Not so quick, Bears.

Cantrel Ware, who paced Cleveland with 26 points, took the inbounds pass, took two steps inside the front court and launched a desperation 3-pointer that soared approximately 30 feet high and dropped cleanly through the hoop as the buzzer sounded.

“That shot Cantrel hit was just crazy,” Copeland said. “He’s a big-time player and big-time players hit big-time shots.”

The teams then geared up for overtime No. 3, in which both teams struggled.

Reserve forward Peyton Parker, who scored all four of his points in the second and third overtime periods, made a bucket with 2:14 left. Constant hit a free throw with 1:53 showing and added a game-tying charity toss with 1:20 left to tie the game at 79-all.

Ware missed a potential game winner at the buzzer.

It was nitty-gritty time after that.

The lead changed hands four times before Copeland came up clutch twice.

Curry’s free throw gave Cleveland, which has lost four in a row to the Bears, an 84-83 lead with 1:16 remaining.

McCurdy missed, but a Blue Raiders player lost the ball out of bounds.

Copeland snagged a pass near the right sideline, just in front of the raucous Bradley student section, and darted to his left and put up a fade-away, off-balance jumper while flying across the lane and it swished the net.

Copeland was fouled on the play and with composure made the toss to give Bradley an 86-84 lead.

Cleveland wasn’t going down quietly.

Constant, who finished with 15 points, showed just as much ice his veins as Copeland, hitting a field goal with 40.6 on the clock.

Game tied again.

Bradley ran the clock down and Clark called timeout with 11 seconds left. The Bears got another stoppage with 5.1 seconds showing.

Copeland got the ball and came up clutch again, taking an inbound pass from Hunter Duggan, taking a few steps and then going up between two defenders for the winning jump shot with two ticks on the clock.

“I had to come to the ball and somehow I got that shot off and prayed that it would go in,” Copeland said. “Unbelievable.”

Cleveland’s Dionte Ware, who had made 3s in the fourth period and first overtime, got off a shot but it missed the mark and Bradley’s victory celebration exploded onto the court.

“We came out sloppy and certainly weren’t shooting very well in the first half,” McCurdy said. “I knew we’d get it going eventually. Coach Clark, who’s a great coach, got the best out of us in the second half.

“We knew this would be tough. I’m proud that we were able to win in the longest game I’ve ever played.”

When it ended the Bears had two starters on the floor – Copeland and McCurdy. Point guard John Brown, who scored 12 points, Tyrell Pitner and Parker all fouled out.

“We had to find something in us to go four overtimes,” Copeland said. “Our bench guys came in a did a good job. We’ve got a bunch of fighters on this team.”

Bradley Central girls 73, Cleveland 20: The Bearettes (22-3, 11-0) clinched the No. 1 seed for the district tournament with the second one-sided victory over the Lady Blue Raiders (1-20, 0-12). Bradley beat Cleveland, 63-19, on Dec. 8.

Monday’s loss sent the Lady Blue Raiders to their 18th consecutive loss.

The win was Bradley’s 10th in a row, dating to a 56-55 loss at Cumberland County on Jan. 5, and is 21-1 since Nov. 23.

This one was over quickly.

Sophomore Rhyne Howard scored 13 points and junior Halle Hughes added nine as Bradley raced to a 25-5 first-quarter lead. Cleveland committed 13 turnovers in the opening eight minutes and was guilty of 23 at half when the Bearettes were in full-fledged blow-out mode at 46-9.

Howard now has 897 career points, moving ever closer to the 1,000-point mark.

Cleveland ended up with 28 turnovers and were outrebounded 49-23.

“Everyone knew we were heavily favored tonight,” Bearettes coach Jason Reuter said, “and the girls, who played very unselfish basketball, went out and did what they were supposed to do. I’m proud of them.

“Rhyne and Halle got us off to a good start.”

Howard scored a game-high 27 points, including five of the team’s nine 3-pointers, and Hughes finished with 19. Emma Kate Brown added 10 points.

Howard added six rebounds, six assists – she didn’t have a turnover – and three steals and was 5-of-9 from 3-point distance. Hughes had eight rebounds.

Kailey McRee only scored two points, but was strong on the boards with a team-high 13 rebounds.

“It was fun,” Howard said. “We kept our focus and played like the game was zero-zero. Our defense was good and we always try to give our best on defense because that leads to offense.”

BOXSCORES

Boys

Cleveland                                            8 19 13 15 10 12 2 7 – 86

Bradley Central                                5 11 21 18 10 12 2 9 – 88

Cleveland (86) – Cantrel Ware 26, Bradford 5, K.K. Curry 23, T.J. Constant 15, K. Ware 3, Davis 6, D. Ware 8.

Bradley Central (88) – John Brown 12, Cole Copeland 38, Tucker 3, Bradley McCurdy 20, T. Ware, Tyrell Pitner 11, Parker 4, Beavers.

3-Point Goals – Cleveland x (), Bradley Central 10 (Copeland 4, Brown 2, McCurdy 2, Pitner 1, Tucker 1,).

Girls

Cleveland                                            5 4 5 6 – 20

Bradley Central                                25 21 24 3 – 73

Cleveland (20) – Flowers, Renshaw 1, Stutzman 6, Franklin 4, Lee, Stamatiadis, Langford 2, Longley, Mastin, Callahan, Morman 7, Thompson.

Bradley Central (73) – Roberts 3, Halle Hughes 19, K. Brown 4, Emma Kate Brown 10, K. Hughes, Morgan 8, Peterson, Rhyne Howard 27, Davis, McRee 2, Lumbard.

3-Point Goals – Cleveland 3 (Stutzman 2, Franklin 1), Bradley Central 9 (Howard 5, E.K. Brown 2, Morgan 2).

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

 

K.K. Curry of Cleveland goes high over two Bradley Central defenders for a short bank shot in their District 5-3A prep basketball came at Jim Smiddy Arena. Cleveland fell to the Bears for the second time this season, both games decided in overtime. Monday's game went to four extra periods.
K.K. Curry of Cleveland goes high over two Bradley Central defenders for a short bank shot in their District 5-3A prep basketball came at Jim Smiddy Arena. Cleveland fell to the Bears for the second time this season, both games decided in overtime. Monday's game went to four extra periods.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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