Undefeated Bradley Central dropped the hammer down on visiting Ooltewah on Tuesday night, racing to a 26-8 -- after one quarter and stretching the margin to 50-12 at halftime in Jim Smiddy Arena.
The Bearettes (9-0 overall, 2-0 District 5-3A) dominated from the opening tip and outscored the Lady Owls 19-0 off turnovers, 4-0 on second-chance scoring, 6-0 on fastbreaks and 6-0 on the bench.
As one could guess, Bradley blasted Ooltewah, 89-22, and the Bearettes now lead the overall series 125-3, including winning the last 52 in a row. The Lady Owls last beat the Bearettes in the 1980-81 season.
Senior Rhyne Howard sparked the Bearettes with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting. She also had five rebounds, five steals and four assists. Howard is now averaging 17.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.4 steals per game.
Kaleigh Hughes and Cambree Mayo each scored 16 points. That twosome combined to make 9-of-11 shots from the field and went 10-for-10 at the free-throw line.
Bradley shot an amazing 52.7 percent (29 of 55) from the floor, 12 of 24 behind the arc and 19 of 24 at the charity stripe. The Bearettes out-rebounded the Lady Owls 26-20 and forced a stunning 37 turnovers, nine each by Makya Poland and Madalyn Mills.
At game’s end, Bradley outscored Ooltewah 63-2 off turnovers, 18-0 on fastbreaks and 42-2 off the bench.
Mills lead Ooltewah with eight points. Sydney Turman had six points and seven rebounds.
Boxscore
Ooltewah 8 4 8 2 – 22
Bradley Central 26 24 20 19 – 89
Ooltewah (20) – Cline 3, Poland 1, Wardlaw 2, Madalyn Mills 8, Turman 6, Hilliard, Thompson, Daniels, Patterson 2.
Bradley Central (89) – Kaleigh Hughes 16, Roberts 4, Rhyne Howard 22, Walker 4, Lombard 1, Williams 3, Reuter 3, Cambree Mayo 16, Blair 5, Barnes 7, Carman, Hullender 6, Muhonen 2.
3-Point Goals – Ooltewah 1 (Cline 1), Bradley Central 12 (Howard 4, Mayo 3, Hughes 1, Roberts 1, Williams 1, Reuter 1, Blair 1).
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)