CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- You know the old saying about throwing the records out the window when two rivals meet in an athletic contest.
That certainly applies to the Cleveland-Bradley basketball game that was played at Bradley’s Jim Smiddy Arena in front of a standing-room-only crowd Friday night, including former UTC and current N.C. State women's coach Wes Moore, who was in town doing a little recruiting.
The Bradley girls began the evening with a 65-42 victory over the Lady Blue Raiders as the Bearettes remained unbeaten after eight games while defeating their biggest rival for the 20th straight time.
The Bradley boys were also victorious by a 50-43 final as the Bears improved to 6-2 with the non-district win. Cleveland is now 1-6.
Bradley coach Zach Carpenter knows that it will always be a battle when these two teams meet, regardless of the sport. He was exactly right, but his Bears pulled away in the fourth quarter for the win as they hit some big shots in the process.
“What a great atmosphere for a high school basketball game,” he began with a smile.
“I thought we had way too many turnovers and we gave up too many offensive rebounds, but we made some big shots down the stretch, including some key free throws, that were big. We knew that Cleveland was not going to roll over. We built a nice lead and then let them get back in it, but were able to regain the advantage in the fourth quarter,” he added.
Cleveland coach Reggie Tucker was extremely pleased with the way his kids battled, despite still missing a couple of starters who are sidelined by injury. The Blue Raiders may be 1-6 at this point, but they certainly didn’t play like it.
“We’re right there, but we battled the whole time and that’s what I’m most proud of,” he said shortly after the final horn sounded.
“We’re still missing a couple of key players, but some of our younger guys are getting to play and are making positive contributions. I have no doubt that we’ll bounce back. We have some guys who are willing to battle and it’s been nice to see how some of our sophomores have reacted, but we gave them a battle and that’s all I could ask,” Tucker nodded.
Tyrese Stovall scored on a putback to give Bradley the early 2-0 lead before the Blue Raiders scored the next five points. The difference was 7-4 before the Bears scored seven in a row to make it 11-7 while a 3 from the key by Cleveland’s Mycah Jordan in the final minute cut Bradley’s lead to 11-10 at the first break.
The Bears used a 10-2 run midway through the second stanza to build their biggest lead at 21-14 following two free throws by Stovall before a 3 from the corner by Maguire Evans right before halftime made it 21-17 at the break.
Bradley’s lead was 29-24 following a slam by Stovall with 5:32 left in the third before Cleveland used a 7-0 run to take the lead at 31-29 following two free throws by Cutter Womack with 2:51 showing.
The score was even at 34 when the fourth quarter began. L.J. Adams made the first of two free throws to give the Blue Raiders their last lead at 35-34 with 7:14 to play. Bradley then scored 10 unanswered points to build their biggest lead of the game at 44-35 with 3:46 to play on a free throw by Stovall.
Cleveland got to within five at 44-39 following a jumper from the key by Jordan, but it didn’t get any closer as Bradley sank six of eight from the charity stripe in the final 2:30 to preserve the win.
De’Anthony Reid and Stovall both scored 11 points as Bradley had four players in double figures. Alex Walker and Jackson Ary both chipped in with 10 each.
Evans was tops for Cleveland with 13 points while Adams and Womack both followed with nine.
Stovall snagged 15 rebounds as the Bears had an unofficial 34-28 advantage on the boards. Ary had seven while Adams grabbed 10 for Cleveland.
BRADLEY GIRLS 65, CLEVELAND 42: The Bearettes didn’t waste any time taking control of this one as they scored the first 12 points and never trailed. A 20-7 lead after one quarter stretched to 35-21 at intermission and never got any closer.
Kimora Fields scored 24 points to lead the 8-0 Bearettes while Avary Brewer added 13 and TaTianna Stovall 12. Lauren Hurst had 13 points to lead Cleveland, now 4-4 overall, while Ma’Kyah Westfield finished with 12.
Cleveland returns to action on Monday when they host Chattanooga Christian while Bradley will be at home again on Tuesday to host district rival Ooltewah.
GIRLS SUMMARY
CLEVELAND 7 14 11 10 -- 42
BRADLEY 20 15 17 13 -- 65
CLEVELAND (42) – Copeland, Tanner 8, Rodrique 2, Lauren Hurst 13, Patterson, Brewer, Ma’Kyah Westfield 12, Droke, Smith 7.
BRADLEY (65) – Kimora Fields 24, Avary Brewer 13, Howard 6, Phillips, Ware 4, Wilcox, TaTianna Stovall 12, White 6, Osborn, Geren.
3-POINT GOALS: Cleveland 5 (Tanner, Hurst, Westfield 2, Smith); Bradley 7 (Brewer 3, Howard 2, White 2).
BOYS SUMMARY
CLEVELAND 10 7 17 9 -- 43
BRADLEY 11 10 13 16 -- 50
CLEVELAND (43) – Carroll, Maguire Evans 13, Womack 9, Miolen 5, Jordan 5, Adams 9, Reinbold 2, Collins, Iosia, Ndegwa, Westfield.
BRADLEY (50) – Rogers 1, De’Anthony Reid 11, Alex Walker 10, Brownlow, Taylor 7, Fields, Tyrese Stovall 11, Ary 10.
3-POINT GOALS: Cleveland 4 (Evans 2, Miolen, Jordan); Bradley 3 (Reid, Walker 2).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)