The bench continues to be a lethal weapon for Bradley Central’s unbeaten Bearettes.
Stone Memorial starters outscored Bradley 42-33 Friday night in Crossville, but the Bearettes’ reserve players had a 19-4 offensive edge and that enabled coach Jason Reuter’s squad to post a 52-46 victory.
Bradley now has won 41 of its last 42 games, the only loss being against Stewarts Creek in last season’s sectional showdown in Cleveland.
Senior Rhyne Howard once again paced the Bearettes (10-0) with 16 points and 13 rebounds with nine on the defensive boards.
Freshman Jamaryn Blair came off the bench to score 13 points while Amelia Reuter and Alexis Barnes each scored three.
The Lady Panthers’ bench managed only four points, two each from Mattie Buck and Keaton Freitag.
Tesa Johnson scored 14 points and Alex Eldridge had 12 to lead the Stone Memorial starters.
The statistics were relative even, except for the Bradley role players’ offensive output.
Bradley went 15 for 52 from the field and Stone was 14 for42. At the free-throw stripe, the Bearettes were 18 for 27 and Stone 17 for 23 with Eldridge, Johnson and Capps a combined 14 for 14. Bradley had a 38-33 rebounding edge, with Stone’s Tessa Miller pacing the Lady Panthers (7-3) with 11.
Neither team sparkled from the 3-point line. Bradley was 4 for 19 (21.1 percent) and Stone was 1 for 14 for 7.1 percent.
Of Bradley’s 10 steals, Howard had five and Blair 3.
Bradley had a shaky 27-25 halftime lead, but extended the margin to 43-36 in the third period, the biggest lead for either team.
Stone’s Emma Capps hit two free throws to cut Bradley’s lead to 49-46 with 20 seconds remaining. Bradley sophomore Cambree Mayo countered with two free throws.
Howard rebounded a missed 3 by Capps at the 10-second mark. Howard was fouled but missed one and hit the second at the stripe, giving the Bearettes a six-point spread.
Anna Walker, a 6-foot sophomore, blocked Capps’ desperation 3-point attempt with three seconds on the clock and Mayo gained possession as the game ended. Walker scored two points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Boxscore
Bradley Central 12 15 16 9 – 52
Stone Memorial 12 13 11 10 – 46
Bradley Central (52) – Hughes 3, Mayo 4, Rhyne Howard 16, Walker 8, Lombard 2, Reuter 3, Jamaryn Blair 13, Barnes 3.
Stone Memorial (46) – Alex Eldridge 12, Tesa Johnson 14, Miller 5, Capps 6, Boyd 5, Selby, Buck 2, Freitag 2.
3-Point Goals – Bradley Central 4 (Hughes 1, Howard 1, Reuter 1, Blair 1), Stone Memorial 1 (Boyd 1).
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)