CLEVELAND – The East Hamilton Lady Hurricanes were facing a tougher-than-normal challenge long before the first point was scored.
Facing the unbeaten Bearettes here at Bradley’s Jim Smiddy Arena on Friday afternoon in the opening game of the LaQuinta Inn Thanksgiving Classic, the Lady Canes were short-handed from the start with a couple of key players on the sideline with injuries, including their leading scorer McKenna Hayes.
It was a one-sided game from the opening tip as the Bearettes raced to a 17-0 lead to open the game. It never got any closer as Bradley posted its biggest win of the season with an 80-30 final score.
Bradley coach Jason Reuter was certainly hoping for a closer game, but he liked what he saw from his team after they shot 61.8 percent from the field after sinking 34 of 55 field goal attempts, including 11 of 24 from long range.
“Tradition never graduates. This is a really unselfish team that still has a lot of room to grow, but I thought we shot it well and didn’t have many turnovers,” Reuter said following the one-sided affair.
“We knew we had them outmatched from the start as they were missing a couple of starters, but we worked hard and had fun. I’m not sure a good two-hour practice might have been better than this, but all the girls on our roster got to play and that’s always a good thing.
“Hannah Jones wants to be the leader of this team and has really worked hard to get better, but she’s our bellcow inside and other teams have to stop her. She’s one of the quickest big girls I’ve ever coached and I thought she played well today,” the coach added.
East Hamilton didn’t get on the board until Morgan Bone sank a 3 from the wing with 1:31 left in the opening stanza and the difference was 22-4 at the first break.
Bradley stretched the lead to 39-10 by intermission as East Hamilton’s shooting woes continued as they made only three of 19 shots for 15.8 percent in the first half.
The Lady Canes had their best run to start the second half as Niya McGhee and Tristan Sutton combined for five points, but the Bearettes finished the quarter on a 16-3 run for a 63-21 lead with eight minutes remaining and it was a running clock from that point on.
East Hamilton coach Kayla Burse didn’t have a whole lot to smile about after her team lost for the fourth time in five games.
“As a player and a coach, I hate losing more than anyone, but we just didn’t come ready to play today,” she said before addressing her girls in the East Hamilton dressing room.
“We have to get better, but there wasn’t much positive about this game. We just have to keep our heads up and learn from a game like this, but it’s going to take time,” she added.
Perhaps the only bright spot of the day for the Lady Canes was their outside shooting as they sank seven of 10 from long range. They only made three of 31 from everywhere else.
Jones scored 19 points to lead the Bradley attack, hitting nine of 11 from the field and scoring at will almost every time she touched the ball.
Katelin Ledford sank three of four from long range and also finished in double figures with 11 points. Karsee Weber, Erika Swick and Harmonie Ware all scored eight points as 12 of Bradley’s 15 players scored at least two points.
Bone was the only East Hamilton player in double figures as she finished with a dozen after hitting fouor of five from beyond the arc. Christal Collins was next with seven points.
Bradley had major advantages in every category, including 25-3 in points off turnovers, 42-4 in points in the paint, 13-0 in fast breaks and 34-2 on players off the bench.
Bradley will face University School on Saturday at 2 with Cleveland facing East Hamilton in the second game.
FRIDAY'S SECOND GAME was even more of a blowout than the first as Cleveland whipped University School of Johnson City, 59-3. Katie Moore scored 15 points for the Lady Blue Raiders while Paige Moody followed with 10.
EAST HAMILTON 4 6 11 9 -- 30
BRADLEY 22 17 24 17 -- 80
EAST HAMILTON (30) – T. Sutton 3, Collins 7, Strickland 3, Morgan Bone 12, A. Sutton 3, McGhee 2, Rickerd, Calhoun.
BRADLEY (80) – Crittenden 6, Carpenter 5, Weber 8, Hannah Jones 19, Swick 8, Katelin Ledford 11, Ware 8, Lindsey, Francis 4, C. Brewer 2, A. Brewer 3, Phillips, Lowe 3, Wilcox, White 3.
3-POINT GOALS: East Hamilton 7 of 10 for 70 percent (T. Sutton 1-1, Collins 2-4, Bone 4-5); Bradley 11 of 24 for 45.8 percent (Crittenden 0-1, Carpenter 1-4, Weber 2-3, Swick 2-4, Ledford 3-4, Ware 0-2, A. Brewer 1-3, Phillips 0-1, Lowe 1-1, White 1-1).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)