“The Stable” at Walker Valley was the scene of a pair of basketball battles Friday night at the Bears and Bearettes of Bradley Central swept a pair of District 5-3A contests over the Mustangs.
The Bearettes remained perfect on the season with a 76-38 win over the Lady Mustangs while the Bears and Mustangs battled to the final buzzer with Bradley holding off Walker Valley for a 59-56 victory
Bearettes 76, Lady Mustangs 38: At the end of the first half, the Bradley Central girls (18-0, 6-0 District 5-3A) found themselves in a bit of uncharted territory than what they normally face against the opposition although in the end, the result was has become expected from the undefeated Bearettes in a 76-38 win over Walker Valley (7-11, 2-4).
“They attacked off the dribble a little bit. We are used to having our way with some of these teams and the fact we were up under 20 points at halftime was maybe a little different feeling than what we've had lately,” said Bearetteshead coach Jason Reuter after the District 5-3A road victory.
“We were up 19 at halftime. They hit some shots and you've got to give them credit. If you've got a 19 point lead at halftime most teams are pretty proud. I told them to win by 19 again the second half, that's a 38 point win. Guess what. We won by 38.”
The Lady Mustangs, coming off a Tuesday drubbing by Cleveland played with energy and intensity, but in the end could not contain the 18-0 Bearettes.
“I wasn't sure where our minds would be coming off of Tuesday. I was extremely pleased with how the first half went. We challenged them before the game to not lay down. Our energy was great from the opening tip to the final buzzer,” said Lady Mustangs head coach Drew Lyness. “Obviously, the score may not represent the closeness of the game, but we battled with a team that is really good. We showed them we are a much different team at times. This was basically not the same team that played on Tuesday.
“I loved seeing our fight. I loved seeing their battle. They (Bradley) have some girls who can shoot. They have some girls who can play down low. But, we didn't back down. That is what I was proud of.”
Bradley's Avary Brewer led all scoring with 29 points followed by Kimora Fields and Harmonie Ware who scored 21 apiece. Reuter said it is the first time in his coaching history he has had three players with more than 20 points each in a single game.
“This is the first time, maybe in the history of my coaching career, I had three girls with over 20 points. Avary Brewer finished with 29. We got 21 out of Kimora Fields and got 21 out of Harmonie Ware. We did that without some other kids who normally score more,” he said.
“It was a different game. They zoned the whole game,” Reuter continued. “I thought Kimora and Harmonie did a really good job of passing to each other in the zone. Harmonie is one of those girls who can play inside or out. Then Kimora, she is what she is. Sloan (Carpenter) did a good job directing traffic. She didn't score any points, but she had six assists and six steals. If Sloan gets the open shot she knows she has the freedom to take it. But, she also knows what her role is and that's to facilitate the ball. Hannah Jones got into a little foul trouble early. She didn't have a bad game, she just didn't have her normal points.”
Jalaya Lindsey was the only Lady Mustang to reach double figures with 15 points.
The Bearettes were 17 of 30 from the field in the first half making good on 57% of their shots. From behind the arc, the Bradley girls were an even 50% with 7 of 14 shots finding the mark. The Bearettes ended the night with 29 of 53 shots (55%) from inside the arc finding the target and 12 of 27 (44%) falling in from 3-point distance.
The Lady Mustangs hit on 47% (10 of 21) from close range in the first half and 15 of 39 (39%) good from behind the distance line.
The Bearettes closed the first quarter with a 20-11 lead and ended the first half holding a 42-23 advantage. Bradley out scored Walker Valley 11-8 in the third quarter and closed out the night with a pair of 3s from Brewer and Ware to cap a 22 point output.
Ware had a huge night from behind the 3-point line with seven 3s. Ware was also hot from distance with four treys.
The Bearettes will face another district foe Tuesday in another rivalry battle when the Cleveland Lady Raiders visit “The Jim.”
“I think we got their best shot. You've got to tip your hat to them. They played really well, they played with a lot of energy, they had a good game plan. But, we had a game plan ourselves,” said Reuter.
“We'll take it and move on. It's a road win. Tuesday is a big game against Cleveland. I'm sure they'll be ready. We've got a few days to get ready for them and I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'm proud of my girls.”
The Lady Mustangs will also face a familiar foe Tuesday in another district matchup against th Lady Cherokees of McMinn County.
“We've still got to get better, but I was really proud to see that. We had a couple days to prepare. We had a couple days to look at some different things,” Lyness said. “These rivalry games are supposed to be fun and intense and back-and-forth. We showed we're not just going to come out and lay down. It was a nice response from Tuesday. I was really proud of our girls.”
Bears 59, Mustangs 56: Trevor Carpenter piled in 23 points while Jackson Ary added 16 and Ramireon Taylor fired in 12 to help push the Bears (11-3, 4-2 District 5-3A) to a hard-fought win over the Mustangs in the night's closer.
“I couldn't be more proud of these guys. They stepped up,” said Bears head coach ZachCarpenter. “Trevor Carpenter had a big game. He ended up wit 23. Ramireon had 12. Jackson bounced back. I was on him really hard tonight, but he bounced back. He played big time tonight. They all did.”
Walker Valley's Cash Coates battled for 21 points to lead the Mustangs (12-6, 3-3) while Tayvon Barber added 14 and Hobert Brabson finished the night with 11 points in the district loss.
“Bradley has got a good team. They've got some really good players. Zach does a good job with them. They play hard,” said Mustangs head coach Will Campbell. “It's a rivalry game so you know it's going to be emotional and be close and be a battle. They want to win just as bad as we do
“Could we have won it? Sure. I think we put ourselves behind the eight ball pretty bad. We dug ourselves a 13-point hole at the start of the fourth quarter. I think we did everything we could do to make it hard for us to win this game.”
Carpenter came out on fire for the Bears opening with a quick 2-pointer and following up with eight more points including two 3s that gave the Bradley boys a 12-6 lead after the first quarter.
Carpenter continued with the hot hand in the second quarter and ended the first 16 minutes with 17 points.
The Bears closed out the first half with a 25-19 lead hitting 9 of 19 (47%) from the floor. From behind the 3-point line, Bradley was good for an even 50% (3 of 6).
Coates did the job for the Mustangs in the second quarter with nine points including a 3 from the top of the key at the buzzer.
Walker Valley didn't have the best night shooting in the first half hitting on 8 of 23 tries (35%). The Mustangs were just 1 of 7 (14%) from behind the line.
“I felt like we were passive. I believe Bradley did a good job of switching stuff and making it hard on us in places, but I don't think we really pushed the issue a lot. We needed to attack on the ball,” said Campbell. “I feel like they couldn't guard us if we spread them out. For a quarter we did that and they had a hard time guarding us.”
The Bears kept up the pressure on the Mustangs in the third quarter with an 18 point effort while holding the Mustangs to 11 on their way to a 13 point lead. The Bears were hot from the free-throw line making good on 7 of 9 tries. Taylor's 3 at the buzzer to made it a 43-30 game.
“We had a great shoot around today. We had a great game plan. They knew their personnel, they knew their plays. They stepped up and executed it,” said Carpenter.
The outcome was far from being decided at the fourth quarter opened as Graham Campbell's trey and Barber's 2-point basket cut the Bradley lead by five.
The Mustangs cut the lead to 44-41 with a 6-point run and stayed within three points until Carpenter's basket with a free throw tacked on made it 48-42 with 3:47 left in the game.
Brabson found the bank open with a 3 from the left corner to cut the Bears' lead back to three points, 52-49, with 2:30 to go.
Carpenter's three free throws put the Bears up by six with 36 ticks on the clock and Jackson put an exclamation point on the win with a slam with 21 seconds to go to make it 59-53. Caleb Sausville closed out the night for the Mustangs with 10 seconds left on the clock on a 3-shot foul to make it a 59-56 final.
“This was a great atmosphere. They've got some great fans here, it was a lot of fun. Our student section was big time tonight. I'm so proud of them I told the I appreciate them after the game. They were awesome,” said an exuberant Caarpenter. “Caiden Botts did an unbelievable job on Hobie. Hobie is a really good player. Caiden did and unbelievable job of making him work for everything he got. It was a total team effort. Ramireon Taylor had a tough matchup on Cash. Those guys had to work for whatever they got.”
“It was a total team effort. The bench was big time. They were great. They were energetic cheering the guys on, helping out, calling out shooters, calling out plays. I couldn't be more proud of these guys.”
The Bears will face another tough opponent Tuesday at home with a district win on the line against Cleveland.
The Mustangs will take the weekend to regroup and will also stay inside the district with a home game against McMinn County Tuesday.
“We missed a couple of 1-and-1s or at least one 1-and-1. We missed a 1-and-1 one and missed the front end of a two-shot one. Right there it was a four point game. If they hit those it's tied. But, 15 of 20 is 75%. You shoot 75% from the free-throw line, that's pretty good. That's not where we lost the game, I don't think. We lost the game in the first three quarters, the way we decided to come out and play,” said a disappointed Campbell.
“We'll keep working on it. I'd like to win them all, but we'll learn from this, hopefully, and we'll make some adjustments. We will see them again at least once, maybe two or three more times. Hopefully, we can generate a different outcome.”
Girls summary
BRADLEY CENTRAL 20 22 11 23 — 76
WALKER VALLEY 11 12 8 7 — 38
BRADLEY CENTRALl (76) — Avary Brewer 29, Kimora Fields 21, Ware 21, Carpenter, Jones 2, Phillips 3, Wilcox, Francis, Howard.
WALKER VALLEY (38) — Jalaya Lindsey 15, Poe 5, Bischof 8, Earls 5, Cox 5, Woods, Pierce, Worden, Lonas.
3-point goals: Bradley Central 12 (Brewer 7, Ware 4, Phillips) Walker Valley 3 (Bishof 2, Cox).
Records: Bradley Central 18-0, 6-0 District 5-3A; Walker Valley 7-11. 2-4.
Boys summary
BRADLEY CENTRAL 12 13 18 16 — 59
WALKER VALLEY 6 13 11 26 — 56
BRADLEY CENTRAL (59) — Trevor Carpenter 23, Jackson Ary 16, Ramireon Taylor 12, Botts 4, Reid 1, Daniel 3, Brownlow.
WALKER VALLEY (56) — Cash Coates 21, Tayvon Barber 14, Bobert Brabson 11, Broadnax, B. Campbell, G. Campbell 3, Taylor 2, C. Sausville 3, I. Sausville, Wallace.
3-point goals: Bradley Central 4 (Carpenter 3, Taylor); Walker Valley 5 (Barber 2, Brabson, Coates, G. Campbell.
Records: Bradley Central 11-3, 4-2 District 5-3A; Walker Valley 12-6, 3-3.