The Bradley Bears mauled the Ooltewah Owls on the way to a 78-55 victory over the District 5-AAA opponent in Jim Smiddy Arena on Tuesday night behind a career night for senior Tucker Maroon who poured in 29 points.
The victory came after the Bears’ emotional win over archrival Cleveland Saturday night to claim first place in the district.
However, senior guard Ty Morgan hurt his ankle in the victory and wasn’t dressed for the game against the Owls.
Peyton Parker stepped into the starting lineup with for Morgan and contributed in the paint with six paints while helping the Bears on the glass as the team completed a rare season sweep over Ooltewah. Fellow big man Luke Rymer came off the bench and contributed 12 points for the Bears.
“[The big men] played well. They had glimmers that I hadn’t seen before, which is a positive,” Head Coach Chuck Clark said after the win.
Clark challenged his team before the game to step up. Before each game, the coach lists keys that the team needs follow in order to win. Before this game, Clark asked his team “who’s going to step up for Ty?”
The easy answer was Maroon who nailed six 3-pointers on his way to 29 points, but Clark credited the performance to an entire team effort as his team dished out 20 assists while only committing 11 turnovers.
“The whole team picked him up,” Clark said. “That’s just being a team. There’s not any one person who is more important than the team. These guys have bought in.”
The Bears started the game hot to take a seven-point lead after the first quarter. By halftime, the team had pushed the lead to 14 points despite a 36-foot 3-point bomb from Ooltewah’s Kevin McCauley to close the first half.
Most of the third quarter was much of the same as the Bears ballooned the lead even larger before Jarek Boyd went on a personal 7-0 run at the end of the third quarter, but Tyrell Pitner hit a jumper to end the third quarter and keep the Bears comfortably ahead.
Bradley protected the lead, and Clark pulled his starters with three minutes left in the game to cruise to the victory.
The Bears take on Soddy Daisy in a road district game on Friday in one of the team’s final two district games of the season before returning home Saturday night for a showdown with Baylor on Senior Night.
BRADLEY CENTRAL BEARETTES 63, OOLTEWAH OWLS 32: The Bearettes moved to 16-4 (9-1) on the season with a blowout win over Ooltewah.
Hollie Hughes led Bradley with 21 points while Kailey McRee contributed with 11. The win was the fifth straight for the young Bearettes and pushed the team farther ahead of Walker Valley for the district lead.
Scoring Summaries
GIRLS SUMMARY
BRADLEY 17 12 15 19 -- 63
OOLTEWAH 8 5 5 16 – 32
BRADLEY (63) – Hughes 21, K. Brown 3, E. Brown 9, Howard 8, Gaither 6, Abbott 3, McRee 11, Davis 2.
OOLTEWAH (32) – Cline 2, Cain 2, Hall 5, Swafford 3, Reed 1, Baker 5, Corley 12, Jones 2.
3-point goals – Bradley Central 9 (Hughes 4, E. Brown 1, Howard 2, Gaither 2, Abbott 1). Ooltewah 2 (Baker, Corley).
BOYS SUMMARY
BRADLEY 15 21 15 27 – 78
OOLTEWAH 8 14 13 20 – 55
BRADLEY (78) – Clark 6, Copeland 8, Maroon 29, Pitner 8, McCurdy 4, Beavers 2, Parker 6, Rymer 12, Tucker 1, Brown 2.
OOLTEWAH (55) – Hayes 14, Boyd 21, Anchanatto 5, Etchison 1, Norwood 2, McCauley 8, Manning 3, McReynolds 1.
3-point goals – Bradley Central 6 (Maroon 6). Ooltewah 6 (Hayes, Boyd, Anchanatto, McCauley 2, Manning).