Kaliyah Burden and the Sevier County Bearettes defeated the Bradley Central Bears in a TSSAA Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal at the Murphy Athletic Center on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Sevier County girls advanced, 52-34. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Kaliyah Burden toed the free-throw line Thursday afternoon with 1 minute, 3 seconds left in a Class 4A state quarterfinal against three-time defending state champion Bradley Central, as a throng of Sevier County students chanted “M-V-P! M-V-P!” in her direction.
All Burden could think?
“Definitely don’t miss,” she said.
No worries.
Burden sank both shots, putting Sevier County ahead of nationally ranked Bradley Central by 20 points, and the Bearettes ultimately coasted past the three-time defending state champions, 52-34, at MTSU’s Murphy Center.
Sevier County (27-5) spent so much time in front of Bradley Central by double digits that the novelty of defeating the tournament favorite — which entered 32-0 — sort of waned over the course of the second half. So the post-game celebration by the Sevier County players was a rather reserved one.
Nevertheless, the Bearettes advance to Friday’s Class 4A state semifinal round for the first time since 2003. They’ll face Blackman (29-3) at 5:30 p.m. Central time on Friday.
“We’ve played some really tough competition this year in preparation for this. The girls, we went to Florida and played teams that were of that caliber,” Sevier County coach Jonathan Shultz said. “So, it wasn’t new for us to see that athleticism (against Bradley Central). We competed there and we won there — so we felt like we could do the same thing here.”
Sevier County deployed a zone defense against Bradley Central, which boasts two-time Miss Basketball winner Kimora Fields who has signed with Clemson. A senior 6-foot forward, Fields finished with just 12 points on 5-for-14 shooting. She gathered eight rebounds and three blocks.
Bradley Central finished the day with a 21.7-percent shooting percentage. It went 3 of 21 from 3 and lost the rebounding battle to Sevier County, 36-25.
Sevier County limited Bradley Central to two points in the second quarter.
“We had a lot of confidence in it (the zone). We practiced multiple zones to get ready for them,” head coach Jonathan Shultz said. “We knew they were going to be a big challenge for us with Kimora on the inside and shooters on the outside.
“But we felt like that’s the best way we matched up. Historically, we’ve played a lot of zone. It was true to our nature to go out there and play the way we did tonight.”
Sevier County led 22-10 at half, as Burden scored right before the break.
Burden led Sevier County with 16 points on 5-for-12 shooting, adding eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals.
Aubree Thompson (11 points) and Hannah Madison (10) also starred offensively.
Maggie Townsend added eight, and her 3 right out of the half bumped Sevier County’s lead to 15. Bradley Central got as close as nine midway through the third, but Sevier County took a 34-20 lead into the fourth as Thompson popped in a 3 near the end of the quarter.
The Bearettes made 12 of 14 foul shots in the final eight minutes.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge. Our coaches prepared us very well,” Burden said. “We didn’t want to come down here and lose in the first round like we did two years ago.
“We were definitely seen as underdogs, since (Bradley Central) had won the last three (titles). We used it as motivation.”
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