Bears, Bearettes Take Care Of Cumberland County

Girls Win 60-56, Boys Grab 72-62 Victory Over Jets

  • Saturday, February 13, 2016
  • Larry Fleming

CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Bradley Central’s Bears and Bearettes followed similar scripts Saturday afternoon.

Both built double-digit leads.

Each saw those cushions almost vaporize.

Yet, the two Bradley squads posted non-district prep basketball victories over visiting Cumberland County.

The Bearettes held on for a 60-56 win over perhaps their most heated rivalry outside District 5-3A behind the combined 46-points by sophomore Rhyne Howard and junior Halle Hughes.

Howard pumped in a game-high 29 points and Hughes contributed 17 as the Bearettes improved to 24-3 overall and stretched their winning streak to 12 games; they have won 23 of their last 24.

Howard scored five straight points to stretch Bradley’s lead to 57-43 in the fourth quarter before the Lady Jets (19-4) went on a 10-0 run to slice the deficit to four points with 71 seconds remaining.

“That’s one of the worst finishes I’ve ever had,” said Bearettes coach Jason Reuter, who rushed out of Smiddy Arena and headed to Murfreesboro to watch his daughter’s Middle Tennessee State team take on Southern Miss. “We tried to give it away.”

Junior Cole Copeland scored a game-high 26 points, including 16 in the fourth period when the Bears (20-5) held off the hard-charging Jets (11-14), who closed to within 48-45 in the third quarter.

With Cumberland County within 59-55, Copeland scored eight of Bradley’s final 12 points, including making 8-of-10 free throws, to preserve the win.

“It shows our toughness that we were able to pull it out,” said Bradley McCurdy, who 17 points and was one of four Bear seniors honored between games. “Coach told us before the game he wanted to build some more momentum going into the (district) tournament. A loss would have ended our winning streak and we’d be down.”

Bradley’s boys have also won 12 in a row.

The Bears and Bearettes have one more game – at Sequoyah on Tuesday – before turning their attention to the district tournament that starts Wednesday at McMinn County High School in Athens.

As the No. 1 seeds, both Bradley teams have spots in the semifinals, an automatic berth in the regional at Cookeville High School and they won’t play in Athens until Saturday.

In a game pitting state-ranked teams, Bradley got off to a marvelous start by outscoring the Lady Jets 19-4 and was up 21-9 after one quarter.

“That’s when we actually won the game,” Reuter said. “That allowed us some insurance through the stretch when Cumberland came back on us in the fourth quarter.”

Bradley built a 12-point in the second period, but the gutty Lady Jets sliced it to 29-27 early in the third when MaKenzie Iles, a Tennessee Tech signee hit a bucket. MaKenzie led Cumberland with 17 points.

Howard, who also had seven rebounds, seven steals and two blocks, hit a bucket and Hughes made a field goal and four free throws in a 1- minute, 29-second span and the Bearettes pushed the margin to 37-27.

Howard hit a bucket and Hughes made a field goal and four free throws in a 1- minute, 29-seconds and the Bearettes pushed the margin to 37-27.

The Lady Jets closed to within 39-38 late in the third, but Hughes capped an 11-0 spurt with two free throws and the Bearettes’ cushion widened to 50-40 with 6:54 left in the game.

“We never thought the game would be a blowout,” Howard said. “We stopped playing like we should play at times, but we proved that our hard work will keep us improving on our game.”

Cruising with a 14-point lead, the Bearettes saw the Lady Jets reel off 10 straight points. The spree ended with Iles and Klaire Varney hitting back-to-back 3s, the last coming with 1:11 on the clock.

“It was bittersweet how we finished,” Reuter said. “We took some time off the clock, but Rhyne got her pocket picked from behind and that started the snowball downhill.

“We went to a zone, which isn’t our style, because they have a great dribble-drive team. I rolled the dice using the zone hoping they wouldn’t hit a bunch of 3s and it also helped keeping us out of more foul trouble.”

Howard fouled out with 10.9 seconds remaining. Hughes finished the game with four fouls while Katie Brown and Kailey McRee each had three.

Emma Kate Brown dropped two free throws that offset one by Iles and Julia Gaither added a charity toss in the final 27 seconds that produced a 60-54 advantage. Varney scored on a field goal with 1.7 seconds left for the final margin.

Katie Brown and Gaither are the Bearettes’ lone seniors and were among the players and cheerleaders honored between games.

In the boys’ game, the Jets exhibited torrid shooting at the start, wiping out Bradley’s early 5-4 lead with successive 3s – two by Smith and one by Drew Vaden.

Smith was deadly behind the arc, draining five 3s among his team-high 19 points. Vaden finished with 11 points, and the team’s other three 3-pointers.

Trailing 18-14, Copeland and McCurdy each scored four points and the Bears led 22-18 after one quarter.

Bradley outscored the Jets, 10-1, to close on the second period and head to the locker room with a 34-23 lead.

The Bears’ spread was 40-26 early in the third, but the Jets were not completely grounded.

A David Elliott bucket and Ryan Graham’s 3 enabled the Jets to climb within 45-41. McCurdy’s three-point play pushed the lead to 48-41. Cumberland’s Alex Dixon and Smith hit layups 20 seconds apart, slicing Bradley’s lead to 48-45.

John Brown hit a jumper at the third-period buzzer, Copeland scored twice opening the fourth and the Bears had a nine-point edge.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” said Copeland, the district’s regular-season MVP. “Cumberland can really shoot the ball, but we have a never-quit nature. We just kept on playing.”

When the Jets trimmed Bradley’s lead to 61-58 on Nolan McClain’s three-point play, Copeland took center stage, hitting 6-of-9 free throws, one of which completed a three-point play, in the final 1:42.

McCurdy hit a free throw and John Brown ended the game with a two-handed dunk that seriously excited his teammates as the Bears’ victory celebration began.

“Our guys are confident now, but not cocky,” Clark said, “and that’s good. Any time we’re in a close game we’re confident we’re going to win it. When this one got close, Bradley stepped up; Cole stepped up and Peyton Parker had a big bucket left.”

Brown and Tyrell Pitner each scored 10 for the Bears.

McCurdy, Parker, Pitner and Trevon Ware are seniors.

Those four and the rest of the Bears are hoping for big-time success in next week’s district tournament.

“We can’t be thinking about winning streaks or things like that,” Copeland said. “I’m playing decent, everybody is playing good and we’re clicking on all cylinders. We just have to stay hungry.”

Boxscores

Boys

Cumberland County                      18 6 21 17 – 62

Bradley Central                             22 12 16 22 – 72

Cumberland County (62) – Graham 6, Elliott 6, Hale 3, Dixon 3, Drew Vaden 11, Oyhes, McCracken 5, Clack 9, Cade Smith 19.

Bradley Central (72) – Cartwright, John Brown 10, Cole Copeland 26, Tucker, Bradley McCurdy 17, Ware 1, Tyrell Pitner 10, Parker 8, Beavers

3-Point Goals – Cumberland County 8 (Smith 5, Vaden 3), Bradley Central 1 (McCurdy 1).

Girls

Cumberland County                      9 16 15 11 – 56

Bradley Central                             21 8 17 14 – 60

Cumberland County (56) – A. Smith, McKenzie Iles 17, Norrod 6, Hyder 3, Wilson, Brown 3, Varney 9, Gracee Dishman 16, Hinch, C. Smith.

Bradley Central (60) – Halle Hughes 17, K. Brown 2, E. K. Brown 7, Morgan, Rhyne Howard 29, Gaither 5, McRee.

3-Point Goals – Cumberland County 6 (A. Smith 2, Dishman 2, Brown 1, Varney 1), Bradley Central 5 (Howard 3, E.K. Brown 1, H. Hughes 1).

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

Sports
Mocs Houk Named SoCon Golfer Of The Week
  • 3/27/2024

Chattanooga Mocs senior John Houk claimed this week’s Southern Conference Golfer of the Week honor with an impressive runner-up performance at the General Hackler Championships. The Athens, Tenn., ... more

UTC Homecoming Set For October 26
  • 3/27/2024

The Chattanooga Mocs completed spring drills prior to Spring Break and are now deep into strength and conditioning work ahead of the summer in preparation for the fall season. One highlight to ... more

Chapman's 5 RBIs Lead Vols To Run-Rule Win Over Tennessee Tech
  • 3/27/2024

A five-RBI game from Reese Chapman and impressive group effort from the pitching staff highlighted No. 5/5 Tennessee's 11-1 run-rule victory over in-state foe Tennessee Tech on Tuesday night ... more