CLEVELAND, Tenn. — As Queen sang, "Another one bites the dust" as back-to-back TSSAA state champion Bradley Central completely dominated private-school powerhouse Ensworth in the opening game of the annual Bearette Thanksgiving Classic.
Moving up in a national high school ranking (On3) to No. 7 with a 3-0 start to the campaign, "Papa Bear" Jason Reuter's "slueth" handed the Lady Tigers, which have played in a dozen state title games since the school's inception in 2002, the worst defeat in progam history with an 84-33 mauling.
Before the 51-point defeat, Ensworth, which has played in 16 TSSAA DII state tournaments, winning seven and finishing runner-up five times, in 22 seasons, previous worst defeat was to archrival Brentwood Academy, by a 62-25 margin (37) in January of 2015.
Bradley's other two wins this season have come over Georgia powerhouse River Ridge, ranked No. 2 in the latest Peach State poll, by a 75-46 margin, plus a 59-28 victory over 13-time TSSAA State qualifier Lebanon, in Hall of Champions games.
In Friday's other event opener Stewarts Creek knocked off 2024 state qualifier Lincoln County 44-34.
Saturday's schedule finds Coffee County, which lost to Bradley in the state semifinals last March, will take on Ensworth at 1 p.m., with the Bearettes to follow against Lincoln County at 2:30. Coffee County and Stewarts Creek will wrap up the Classic at 4.
Continuing to start the season with an extremely tough schedule, Bradley will travel to defending state DII-AA state champion Knox Catholic Tuesday before going across town to battle archrival Cleveland, which is coming off a Class 4A Final Four run, Friday.
BRADLEY CENTRAL 84, ENSWORTH 33: Bradley set the tone right off the bat with a fastbreak bucket by Class of 2026 top state recruit Kimora Fields off an opening tip assist by Kennesaw State signee Tatianna Stovall.
The Bearettes quickly added two more fast breaks off steals by Samford signee Avary Brewer and Arkansas signee Harmonie Ware, forcing the visitors to call a timeout.
The brief break didn't slow down Bradley as it roared out to an 18-0 edge before the girls from Nashville finally found the bottom of the bucket on a NBA-range 3-pointer by Jillian Sanderson five minutes into the game.
The Bearettes responded with the next 10 points for a 28-3 edge at the first horn, the majority of which came off their eight steals in the period.
The onslaught continued with a 17-2 Bearette run to open the second frame to push the advantage to 40 points before the teams traded the final 18 points, with the hosts going into the halftime locker room with a 53-15 edge.
Ensworth came out of the intermission to net two of the first three baskets, but by the end of the third frame they difference had grown to 75-25 on a banked in buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the top of the key by Fields.
With the "running clock" in affect for the final eight minutes, Bradley added just a point to the lead with a 9-8 period.
Fields, a 2024 Miss Tennessee finalist, led the attack, connecting on 10-of-15 shots from the field, including both her long-range attempts, plus went 10-for-14 at the foul line on her way to 32 points.
The 6-foot junior also pulled down 11 rebounds for a double-double, plus swiped seven steals, handed out a trio of assists and blocked a pair of shots.
Ware went 9-for-10 on two-point attempts and 3-of-5 at the stripe for 21 points to go with four caroms, four thefts and a couple of helps.
Stovall tallied 14 markers, seven ricochets, five "dimes" and a pair of steals.
Brewer overcame some struggles from the field (4-of-11) to post eight points while grabbing five boards.
Senior Love Howard came off the bench for seven points, an assist, a steal and a block.
Walters State signee Malia Wilcox, a 5-foot-4 point guard, copped a half dozen thefts, handed out four assists and snatched a trio of caroms.
Although Bradley hit just 4-of-19 (21.1%) from long range, the hosts shot 56% (28-for-50)
from inside the arc, plus 16-of-23 (69.6%) free throws.
Forcing 33 Ensworth turnovers, the Bearettes turned them into 45 points, while holding the Lady Tigers to just 36 shots, of which they made just 12 (33.3%). The visitors also went to the foul line just seven times, sinking three.
The hosts won the backboard battle 37-30 and as well as holding a 48-6 edge in scoring in the paint. The Bearettes also handed out 20 assists on 32 made shots.
Nori Jaminson was the lone Ensworth player to reach double digits with 10 points, while Sanderson finished with seven.
Five of the Lady Tigers dozen made field goals came from "downtown."
GAME SUMMARY
|
ENSWORTH
|
3
|
12
|
10
|
8
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--33
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|
BRADLEY CENTRAL
|
28
|
25
|
22
|
9
|
--84
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ENSWORTH (33) – Hale 3, Nori Jamison 10, Haile 2, Kenney 2, Wells 4, Haun 5, Sanderson 7, Crawley.
BRADLEY CENTRAL (84) – Kimora Fields 32, Brewer 8, Harmonie Ware 21, Wilcox, TaTianna Stovall 14, Osborn 2, Howard 7, Francis, Broome, Stewart, Schultz.
3-point goals: Ensworth 5 (Hale, Jamison, Wells, Sanderson 2); Bradley Central 4 (Fields 2, Stovall, Howard).
Records: Ensworth 1-1; Bradley Central 4-0.