The Bearden Bulldogs faced Bartlett in the Class 4A state semifinals on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Photos by Danny Parker/5Star Preps)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — The Bearden High School boys basketball team may not have been the first in-state opponent this season to knock off nationally ranked Bartlett, but the Bulldogs pushed Bartlett to the brink.
Despite trailing by double digits at various times throughout the second half, Bearden whittled it down to a two-possession game with roughly a minute to go Friday night in the Class 4A state semifinal.
But the Panthers made the free throws it needed in the final seconds to fend off Bearden, advancing with a 71-61 victory.
“There were a couple times there where we not only put pressure on them (late) and cut into the lead, but we had an opportunity — had things gone our way a little bit better — to really have made it interesting,” Bearden coach Jeremy Parrott said.
Bartlett will face Walker Valley (31-3) in the Class 4A state championship at 4 p.m. Central time on Saturday at the Murphy Center. Walker Valley prevented the All-Memphis final by defeating 30-win Whitehaven 52-50.
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Walker Valley is in the state championship game for the first time ever.
Bartlett has been picked to get to the season finale for most of the 2025-26 campaign, as its roster is loaded with college-caliber prospects. Still, Bartlett has but one state title (2001) to its credit and hasn’t been to a championship game since that season.
Bearden won it all in 2019 and was runner-up in 2022 and 2011.
It had hopes of adding another TSSAA trophy this week. But the Bulldogs missed their final three shots of the contest against Bartlett.
Justin Nordin, a senior guard and Navy signee, led Bearden with 17 points. Carson Asbaty, also a senior guard, scored 16. And Sean Capshaw, another Bearden senior guard, finished with 14.
That trio went a combined 10-for-18 from the 3-point line.
THE SECOND HALF
Bearden led for a majority of the first half, as its 3-point prowess showed up from the get-go.
But Bartlett snagged the lead away on a first-half buzzer beater, and that snowballed into an 14-1 run to put the Panthers ahead 41-31 with 5 minutes, 15 seconds left in the third quarter. The Panthers went 5-for-5 from the field in that span.
Bearden didn’t let Bartlett run away in the third, though. Nordin popped in a 3 to cut a 10-point deficit down to 45-38.
The Panthers led by nine points (47-38) heading into the fourth.
Capshaw tried to spark a run, swishing in a deep 3 from the right wing that trimmed Bartlett’s cushion to 49-41 with 6:37 to play.
“We knew we had to fight. We were the underdogs,” Capshaw said. “We had to make it a game. We tried to make it a game and get a win. We’ve had adversity all season.
“I feel like we could have won that game, but they (Bartlett) were great, though.”
Bearden’s deficit remained eight with 4:04 remaining after a layup by Nordin got the Bulldogs to within 56-48.
But Bartlett got two easy buckets on consecutive possession to expand their lead to 12 with 3 minutes remaining.
The Panthers shot 72.4 percent against Bearden, making 24 of 33 shots.
It also won the rebounding advantage, doubling the amount that Bearden grabbed.
THE FIRST HALF
Bearden made three of its first four 3-point attempts and reached the midpoint of the first quarter tied with Bartlett at 11-all. Nordin, Asbaty and Capshaw each accounted for the treys.
The Bulldogs rode that spurt of confidence early and wound up making seven of their first 11 shots from the floor. And Asbaty hit a 3, Bearden led 18-11 with 1:38 left in the opening frame.
Brendan Murphy added his name to Bearden’s list of 3-point makers, draining a 3 for a 22-16 lead with 6:42 left in the half.
“We started strong. Did things we wanted to early. Got the looks we wanted to have,” Parrott said. “Made shots. Couldn’t have started better.”
Bearden held on to its advantage for as long as it could. Even after Bartlett knotted the score at 23-all midway through the second quarter, Nordin cooked a defender and darted into the lane for a tough score. And then Murphy added two foul shots with 2:52 left to give Bearden a 27-23 advantage.
Bartlett’s Sydney Thompson manufactured a 3-point play to diminish Bartlett’s deficit.
Capshaw, though, answered with a 3 on Bearden’s end to regain the four-point margin (30-26).
Bearden went 6 of 9 from 3 in the first half.
Bartlett wasn’t shabby, either, firing in 62.9 percent of its field-goal attempts in the opening 16 minutes. The Panthers made 3 of 5 from 3, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to take the lead, 32-30.
“Our other loss was St. Thomas Aquinus. They won the 6A state title in Florida. That was our only loss. I mean, this was not a game we were afraid to play in,” Parrott said. “You saw early what we were capable of doing.
“We just didn’t sustain it like we should have. I don’t think at any moment we were looking at a David versus Goliath situation. We really felt like this was a winnable game for us.”
GAME HIGHLIGHTS — HERE
POST GAME INTERVIEWS — HERE