Tyrese Stovall led Bradley Central to a 63-48 Class 4A quarterfinal win over Memphis East on Thursday at the BlueCross Basketball championships at MTSU in Murfreesboro. Stovall scored 18 points in the win.
photo by Bryan Cannon
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – There was nothing fancy about Bradley’s win in the quarterfinal round of the Bluecross Basketball Championships being played here at MTSU’s Murphy Center Thursday afternoon, but just a matter of winning and advancing and staying in contention for a state championship.
Leading from start to finish, the Bears improved to 24-8 with a methodical 63-48 victory over the Memphis East Mustangs.
Bradley will now face Hillsboro in Friday's semifinals after the Burros eliminated Maryville by a 53-47 final.
Bradley coach Zach Carpenter is just happy that he has a team filled with players who are capable of stepping up at different times and that was the case in this latest victory.
“It seems like it’s a different guy every time, but we have a tight-knit group and it was a total team effort today,” he began in the post-game interview room.
“We made a few defensive adjustments at the half and I thought our zone was effective. I know we need to be better from the free throw line, but I’m always happy with a win. The important thing is that we won and advanced and have a chance to play again tomorrow,” he added.
It’s been a tough season for first-year East coach Maurice Miller as they entered this tournament with a 17-12 record. The Mustangs had a rough go during the regular season and only finished fourth in their district tournament, but got hot at the right time and won some big games to have this latest opportunity.
The Mustangs have plenty of experience at this level with eight state titles, so Miller is totally confident that his kids will be back next year with hopefully better results.
“Things just didn’t go our way today, but I feel like we peaked at the right time and we can only get better moving forward,” he began.
“We had plenty of opportunities today, but I’m not here to make excuses. Nobody believed in us except us. We knew that Bradley was as good as advertised, but we’ll go back to work with hopes of being back here next year,” he added.
Tyrese Stovall, a dominating 6-8 senior, scored on a putback to get the Bears off and running. The game was tied twice in the early going, but Stovall scored seven straight points as the Bears finished the quarter on a 7-2 run for a 14-9 lead at the first break.
Jacquez Suggs sank a baseline jumper with 5:04 left in the half to get the Mustangs within a point at 16-15 and Monterrio Cox scored with 2:10 to play to make it 20-19, but a putback by Andrew Walker put Bradley ahead 24-21 at the break.
A putback by Suggs got East to within three one last time at 26-23 two minutes into the second half, but the Bears finished the quarter with an 18-9 advantage and never looked back.
Keyandre Butts hit the second of two free throws with 13.5 seconds to play to give Bradley its biggest lead of the game at the end.
Stovall had an outstanding game and finished with a double-double, leading the Bears with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Walker was next with 17 points that included a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
Caiden Bauldwin, Ramerian Taylor and Hunter Fields all finished with nine points for the Bears.
Bradley was 17 of 36 from the field for 47.2 percent that included three of 12 from long range for 25 percent. They were only 26 of 42 from the charity stripe for 61.9 percent.
East was 18 of 47 from the field for 38.3 percent, including three of 16 from long range for 18.8 percent and nine of 16 from the free throw line for 56.3 percent.
Suggs was tops for East with 13 points. Cassius Vaughn II and Cox were also in double figures with 11 points apiece.
Both teams were credited with 28 rebounds. While Stovall had half of Bradley’s total, Suggs had seven to lead the Mustangs.
Bradley’s next game is Friday night at 7:15 local time against the Hillsboro-Maryville winner.
|
MEMPHIS EAST
|
9
|
12
|
9
|
18
|
-- 48
|
|
BRADLEY CENTRAL
|
14
|
10
|
18
|
21
|
--63
|
MEMPHIS EAST (48) – Townsel 2, Cassius Vaughn II 11, Monterrio Cox 11, Fitzpatrick 1, Jacquez Suggs 13, Gray 2, Arbuckle 3, Boyd 1, Wright, Coleman 2, Kindred, Ratliff 2.
BRADLEY CENTRAL (63) – Bauldwin 9, Taylor 9, Fields 9, Tyrese Stovall 18, Andrew Walker 17, Goldston, Cannon, Butts 1.
3-POINT GOALS: Memphis East 3-16 (Vaughn 2, Cox); Bradley Central 3-12 (Fields 2, Walker).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)