On a day when Bradley Central junior Rhyne Howard became a finalist for the TSSAA Class 3A Miss Basketball award, the 6-foot-2 point guard celebrated by coming within one steal of a triple-double in the Bearettes’ 83-27 romp of Ooltewah at Jim Smiddy Arena.
Friday’s victory completed a 12-0 sweep of Bradley’s District 5-3A opponents for the fourth time in coach Jason Reuter’s seven-year tenure.
The Bearettes (26-0), the state’s No. 1-ranked girls’ team in the coacht.com website ratings, close out the regular season on Monday, hosting Maryville’s Lady Rebels. Maryville lost to Bradley 56-52 on Nov. 29, 2016, and that was the second-closest margin of victory this season. Stone Memorial lost 48-46 on Dec. 9.
Howard, the league’s two-time most valuable player who has been all-district for four years, including her eighth-grade season at East Hamilton, poured in a game-high 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting (she was 4-of-6 from 3-point distance), pulled down 12 rebounds and had nine steals, four above her average.
The highly recruited Howard barely missed a quadruple-double on Jan. 27 in a 66-32 win at Walker Valley.
Howard also dished out six assists while leading Bradley to its 36th straight win, including postseason tournaments, versus league opponents and 41st straight victory at home.
Three other Bearettes scored 10 points each. Halle Hughes, who turned 18 years old Friday, scored 10 points despite being slowed by flu-like symptoms and had five steals. Sydney Morgan and Kimia Carter also tossed in 10 points.
The Bearettes scored the game’s first 26 points before Ooltewah broke through on a Madalyn Mills bucket from the paint with 13 seconds left in the opening quarter. Bradley enjoyed a 50-11 halftime lead over the Lady Owls (6-18, 1-11).
Ooltewah, which has lost 36 straight versus Bradley Central, trailed 74-17 after three quarters.
Bradley Central forced 31 turnovers and scored 37 points off the Lady Owls’ miscues – Makya Poland committed eight. The Bearettes turned the ball over 13 times, four by Cambree Mayo.
The Bearettes outscored Ooltewah 20-6 on fastbreaks, 40-16 in the paint and 22-4 on second-chance opportunities.
Bradley shot 46 percent (30 of 65) from the field; Ooltewah was 11-for-41 (27 percent) and outrebounded the Lady Owls 45-28. Sydney Turman had five boards for Ooltewah, which lost to Bradley 79-23 on Jan. 13.
Mills led the Lady Owls with 10 points.
Anna Walker had nine points and seven rebounds for the Bearettes.
Bradley Central goes into next week’s district tournament at Soddy-Daisy as the overwhelming favorite to win their seventh straight title. The Bearettes have a bye into the semifinals and already has secured a spot in the Region 3-3A tourney. The Bearettes have been to 34 straight region tourneys and 59 of the last 60.
The tournament begins Wednesday and the Bearettes and No. 2 seed East Hamilton won’t play until Saturday.
LINESCORE
Ooltewah 2 9 6 10 – 27
Bradley Central 26 24 24 9 – 83
Ooltewah (27) – Cline 1, Swafford 5, Kilgore, Collake, Lemon 4, Poland 5, Wardlaw, Madalyn Mills 10, Turman, Patterson.
Bradley Central (83) – Halle Hughes 10, Brown 4, Sydney Morgan 10, Rhyne Howard 33, McRee, Roberts, Koger, Kimia Carter 10, K. Hughes 2, Mayo 4, Reuter, Davis, Hullender, Lombard 1, Walker 9.
3-Point Goals – Ooltewah 1 (Mills), Bradley Central 8 (Howard 4, Morgan 1, H. Hughes 1, Mayo 1).
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)