Bradley Central's (#23) Tyrese Stovall with a slam dunk in the Region 3-AAAA Championship Game against Walker Valley on Thursday night at Walker Valley.
photo by Gerald Parham
Bradley Central claimed its first Region 3 championship in a dozen years by holding eighth-ranked Walker Valley almost 28 points under its season scoring average in the 4A title tilt, Thursday evening at "The Stable."
The Mustang marksmen came in averaging 75.8 points per game and had topped the 80-point mark in each of their previous seven wins, but the Bears gained revenge for last year's overtime loss in the championship game with a 57-48 victory for the crown.
Getting to host s TSSAA Sectional game for the first time since 2013, Bradley (23-8) will ironically host Siegel (17-14), which Coach Kent Smith's Bears lost to in that substate contest.
The Stars fell to 2024 TSSAA Elite Eight participant LaVergne by a 59-30 margin in the Region 4 title tilt Thursday.
Meanwhile, Walker Valley (28-4) will travel to Region 4 champ LaVergne (21-8) in a rematch of last year's sectional battle, which the Wolverines won 66-61 to advance to the TSSAA State Tournament.
Monday's victors will make the Elite Eight field for the Boys State Championship March 20-22, at The Murphy Center on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University, in Murfreesboro.
BEARS 57, MUSTANGS 48: After Walker Valley won the two regular season meetings (71-56 and 66-58), the teams evenly split the opening 18 points before Bradley held the hosts scoreless for almost four minutes, using a 12-3 run to take a 19-12 advantage at the first horn.The Mustangs drained the first two baskets of the second frame when junior Isaac Sausville drilled a 3 from the top of the key and sophomore Zach Davis copped a steal and took it coast-to-coast for a fastbreak bucket.
After Bradley head coach Zach Carpenter called a timeout, his Bears responded with six straight paint points from Walters State commits Tyrese Stovall and Caiden Bauldwin, while once again hobbling the Herd for over five minutes without finding the bottom of the nylon.
Davis was able to drop in a jumper from the lane just seven ticks before the half to trim the difference to 25-19.
After the intermission, Walker Valley boys bolted back onto the hardwood for a 10-2 streak to regain the lead (29-27) for the first time since the five-minute mark of the opening period.
The lead bounced back and forth the rest of the third period, with a trio of ties before Sausville drained a baseline jumper to give the hosts a 37-35 edge heading into the final eight minutes.
The momentum swung back to Bradley at the start of the fourth quarter when a Bauldwin steal led to a five-point play.
Getting fouled on his layup attempt, plus a Mustang getting "T'd" up, Bauldwin made 1-of-2 free throws before Region3 MVP Ramerion Taylor drained both technical foul shots.
Also gaining possession of the ball, the Bears quickly got it to 2024 All-Stater Stovall for an easy basket.
With the Mustangs missing their next three shots, Bradley junior Andrew Walker put in a fastbreak bucket, before Stovall dropped in a short jumper to complete a 9-0 run.
Walker Valley junior Ashton Davis snapped the cold streak with a jumper from the key with 5:35 on the clock to cut the deficit to five points.
Bauldwin followed with an offensive rebound putback and after a Stovall steal, and a dish back to Bauldwin, he slammed home a monster dunk.
The Mustangs answered with the Campbell twins connecting as Graham drew the defenders to the foul line before shuttling the ball between them to Tucker for an easy lay in.
A few moments later, Herd junior Turner Clayton got free on a fast break and cut the difference back to five with 137 seconds remaining.
From that point on it was a free throw shooting contest, with the Bears securing the win by hitting 9-of-11 "freebies," while Walker Valley missed its final four shots from the field, but was able to sink its only five free throws on the night.
Only Clayton and Zach Davis netted double figures for the Herd, with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Clayton also cleared five rebounds, handed out three assists and copped a couple of steals, while the younger Davis brother snatched a half dozen caroms and swiped four thefts.
Sausville had a pair from long distance in his eight points, while Tucker Campbell drained a 3-ball and a two-pointer and senior Landon Shirk netted five points as well with a long-range bomb and a pair of free throws.
Only four Bears scored in the contest, but each found the nylon for double digits.
Stovall had a trio of "thunder dunks" in his 20 points, plus he grabbed eight ricochets and blocked a pair of shots.
Taylor collected 14 points and seven boards, while Bauldwin posted a double-double with 13 makers and 11 rebounds, plus he swiped a pair of thefts and blocked a shot.
Walker helped out with 10 points, including the lone Bradley 3-pointer of the evening, and pulled down four caroms.
As a team, the Bears made 18-of-29 (62%) from in front of the 19-foot line, but were just 1-for-11 from distance and 14-of-24 (58.3%) from the charity stripe.
Bradley won the battle of the boards by a 34-28 margin, but turned the ball over 17 times to just a half dozen Mustang miscues.
The Bear "D" has given up just 48.9 points per outing this season, while the offense has averaged just under 66 markers a night.
The victory gave Bradley a little revenge for the 73-66 overtime outcome in last year's region final.
GAME SUMMARY
Region 3-4A
Boys Tournament
Championship Game
Saturday, March 4
at "The Stable"
Bradley Central 19 6 10 22 — 57
Walker Valley 12 7 10 11 — 48
BEARS (57) — Tyrese Stovall 20, Ramerion Taylor 14, Caiden Bauldwin 13, Andrew Walker 10, Fields, Cannon, Goldston.
MUSTANGS (48) — Turner Clayton 12, Zach Davis 10, Isaac Sausville 8, Landon Shirk 5, Tucker Campbell 5, Graham Campbell 4, Ashton Davis 4, Keeton, Coates.
3-POINTERS: BC 1 (Walker); WV 5 (Sausville 2, T. Campbell, Z. Davis, Shirk).
FREE THROWS: BC 14-of-24 (58.3%); WV 5-of-5 (100%).
RECORDS: Bradley Central 22-8; No. 8 Walker Valley 29-4.
All-Region 3-4A
Tournament Team
Bradley central — Ramerion Taylor (MVP), Tyrese Stovall, Caiden Bauldwin , Andrew Walker; Walker Valley — Zach Davis, Landon Shirk, Isaac Sausville; McMinn County — Reece Frazier, Jaxon Gonzalez; East Hamilton — Miles Willingham, Josiah Wiley.