KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Bradley Central’s top-ranked Bearettes continued their winning ways Tuesday by slapping Knoxville Webb 65-27 behind the combined 36 points of Halle Hughes and Rhyne Howard.
The Bearettes’ dynamic duo put up three dozen points on 15-of-32 shooting. Hughes finished with a game-high 20 points and Howard added 16 while keeping up their season scoring race. Hughes now has 434 points and Howard 433 – their per-game averages are 18.9 and 18.8, respectively.
Howard, a strong Miss Basketball hopeful in her junior season, added eight rebounds, four assists and five steals and the Bearettes beat Webb for the second time this season. The score of the earlier game on Dec. 20 was 64-26.
Hughes, a senior, had five rebounds and three steals.
Bradley Central, ranked No. 1 by coacht.com and No. 22 by the USA Today computer rankings, now has a 23-game winning streak to open the season. That’s the best start since a 25-0 mark in 1978-79.
The Bearettes’ trademark zone press defense forced 18 turnovers, seven by Casey Collier. In its last six games, Bradley has garnered 160 turnovers, or 26.6 per game.
With miscues leading to easy transition buckets, the Bearettes outscored Webb 26-4 off turnovers, 18-0 on fastbreaks, 40-14 in the paint and 17-2 on second-chance opportunities.
Knox Webb (10-9) struggled to get shots off. Bradley went 26-of-65 (40 percent) from the floor and the Lady Spartans were 8-of-37 (21.6 percent). Haylee Luttrell and Collier each scored eight points and both were 2-of-13 shooting.
The outcome was decided in the first quarter as Bradley scored the game’s first 23 points.
Coach Jason Reuter’s squad returns to District 5-3A competition on Friday, traveling to Soddy-Daisy to play the Lady Trojans. The Bearettes won the first meeting 93-15.
Bradley Central’s boys posted a 53-58 victory in overtime against Webb. Cole Copeland, who will sign a football scholarship with UT-Chattanooga on Wednesday, scored 21 points.
LINESCORE
Bradley Central 23 14 15 13 – 65
Knoxville Webb 5 7 7 8 – 27
Bradley Central (65) – Halle Hughes 20, Brown 2, Morgan 3, Rhyne Howard 16, McRee 5, Roberts 2, Koger, Carter 8, K. Hughes, Mayo, Reuter 3, Davis 2, Lombard 2, Hullender, Walker 2.
Knoxville Webb (27) – Haylee Luttrell 8, S. Collier, C. Collier 8, Musrock 2, Brown, Marion, Amer, Satterfield 6, Dewhirst 2, Zitzman 1.
3-Point Goals – Bradley Central 4 (H. Hughes 1, Morgan 1, Howard 1, Reuter 1), Knoxville Webb none.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)