Senior Chelsea Summars was honored after the game
photo by Mark Pace
The Baylor Red Raiders spoiled Bradley Central’s Senior Night at Jim Smiddy Arena on Saturday night as the Red Raiders defeated the District 5-AAA leading Bears 54-50.
“We got humbled tonight,” Bradley Central Head Coach Chuck Clark said after the loss.
The Bears led after the first and second quarters before the Red Raiders used a big third quarter to take a 35-33 lead.
It wasn’t until the third quarter that Baylor hit a 2-point field goal after hitting five first half 3-pointers.
The final eight minutes of play brought dramatic and hard fought basketball from both teams. Baylor extended the lead thanks to a 7-4 run to start the quarter led by Tyler Seaburg who finished the game with 26 points. However, Bradley used a run of its own to cut the lead back to two.
Seaburg and Bradley Central senior Daniel Clark exchanged words throughout the contest before an intentional foul by Seaburg sent Clark to the line with a chance to give the Bears the lead. Clark missed both free throws and followed with a technical of his own on the next possession. Seaburg knocked in a free throw to extend the Baylor lead, which the Red Raiders would not concede.
Senior guard Tucker Maroon led the Bears with 16 points, followed by Cole Copeland with 15. Seniors Ty Morgan, Luke Rymer and Clark scored three, one and nine points, respectively. Morgan returned for the first time after spraining his ankle in the game against Cleveland and played heavy minutes for the Bears.
“[Morgan] didn’t really have any swelling, the discoloration was gone and it’s senior night,” Chuck Clark said of Morgan’s heavy use. “He plays hard, and we’ll have him iced down. He’ll be ready to go.”
The game does not come as much of a loss for the Bears as the team is focused on winning the district, which they currently lead, and getting the top seed for the tournament.
Bradley Central and Cleveland are in a tight race at the top of the conference. Both teams currently have one conference loss and split the head to head meetings during the season. If both teams win the remaining conference games, the top seed will come down to a coin flip.
The Bears will take on district foe East Hamilton on Friday in the final game of the season.
BRADLEY CENTRAL BEARETTES 69, BAYLOR LADY RED RAIDERS 62 – The Bearetters honored its lone senior, Chelsie Summars, with the start and a 69-62 victory to hand Baylor its sixth straight loss.
Summars, who tore both ACLs, received the opening tip before the team called a timeout to pull her out of the game amidst a standing ovation from the crowd and tears from her Bradley teammates.
However, it was the young duo of Halle Hughes and Rhyne Howard who led the District 5-AAA leading Bearettes to another victory as they scored 20 and 23 points, respectively. Kaleigh Clemons led Baylor with 22 points as the team fell to 14-7 after starting the season 14-1.
Scoring Summaries
GIRLS SUMMARY
BRADLEY 14 22 15 18 – 69
BAYLOR 10 24 10 18 – 62
BRADLEY (69) – Hughes 23, K. Brown 3, E.K. Brown 8, Howard 20, Gaither 7, McRee 8.
BAYLOR (62) – Clemons 22, Lindsey 2, Hubert 9, Wanderberg 6, Long 14, Popp 3, Rich 6.
3-point goals- Bradley 4 (K. Brown, E.K. Brown, Howard 2). Baylor 7 (Clemons, Wanderberg 2, Long 2, Rich 2).
BOYS SUMMARY
BAYLOR 11 9 15 19 – 54
BRADLEY 19 5 9 17 – 50
BAYLOR (54) – Snead 1, Brogdon 2, Maize 6, Whaley 10, Seaberg 26, King 5, Schock 4.
BRADLEY (50) – Clark 9, Copeland 15, Maroon 16, Pitner 1, McCurdy 3, Mogran 3, Parker 1, Rymer 2.
3-point goals- Baylor 8 (Maize 2, Whaley 2, Seaberg 4). Bradley 9 (Copeland 3, Maroon 4, Morgan, Rymer).
(E-mail Mark Pace at MarkEPace@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @THEMarkPace)
Senior starters being announced before the game
photo by Mark Pace