Elijah Bredwood and Bearden took on Cane Ridge in a TSSAA Class AAA state quarterfinal at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Thursday, March 18, 2021. (Photo by Danny Parker)
By JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — The play was drawn up essentially on the fly and it had a couple options, one of which was a back-screen for 6-foot-6 Bearden senior Hayden Treadwell in the corner.
But that play never materialized like it was drawn up.
So with a few ticks left on the clock, senior point guard Izaiha Bredwood had no other choice.
If the Bulldogs were to force overtime in the Class AAA state quarterfinal against Cane Ridge, he was going to have to try his luck against a much bigger defender.
“He made the best decision he could have,” said Bearden coach Jeremy Parrott.
Bredwood’s shot just never got the chance to fall through.
Class of 2022 5-star prospect Brandon Miller of Cane Ridge scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and Cane Ridge’s Ryan Oliver blocked Izaiha Bredwood’s game-tying attempt to win, 50-47.
Oliver is 6-foot-4.
Bredwood, 5-7.
The wing span won out.
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Cane Ridge (14-0), a Nashville-area school that didn’t play its first game of the season until Feb. 2, advanced to play Collierville (18-11) in a Class AAA semifinal Friday at 7 p.m. Central.
Elijah Bredwood, a Class of 2022 prospect, led the way for Bearden with 17 points, breaking down defenders with drives to the basket and with perimeter shots (3-for-4).
He and the Bulldogs (30-4), which won it all in 2019, nearly stole Cane Ridge’s opportunity to advance away, rallying with a late 10-0 spurt.
Bearden trailed by just a bucket coming out of the halftime break and took a one-point lead early in the third. But having only scored 22 in the first, high-powered Cane Ridge imposed its will in the third quarter, posting 19 points in the period and leading by as many as 10 points.
The Ravens made four of five field goals in the third quarter and 10 of 10 foul shots to lead Bearden 41-31.
The 6-foot-8 Miller, who has been offered by Tennessee, scored eight of his game-high 21 points in the third, punctuated by his alley-oop dunk in transition.
“(Miller) is a really good player. His length causes problems,” said Parrott. “During the third quarter, I felt like we got out of our containment of him.”
A.J. Pruitt kick-started Bearden’s final surge with foul shots with 2:33 remaining cut Cane Ridge’s lead to 48-41.
Then Elijah Bredwood buried a 3 to cut it to 48-44.
And Treadwell’s free throws got Bearden to 48-46 with 1:42 to go. Pruitt made one of two free throws with 37 seconds to play to cut Cane Ridge’s lead to 48-47.
And after Miller made two free throws with 11.1 seconds left to put the score at 50-47, Bearden had one last chance to draw up a game-tying opportunity.
“These guys, they’re not going to lie down and not going quit. We weren’t worried about that. We just needed to find a little something strategic and schematically to mix things up for them.
“It was really working. We got some turnovers. We didn’t get as many points out of it as I thought we should … But at the end of the day, I was proud of our guys for fighting. Converting to that 1-3-1 trap and then to the 1-2-2 seemed to mess with them a little bit and enabled the comeback.”
Bearden’s defense has been lauded all season and it set the tone in the first half. Neither team even scored the first three minutes, and Cane Ridge — a team that averaged 76 points per game with four players averaging in double figures — only led 22-20 at the halftime break.
The Bulldogs trapped Miller high above the perimeter at every opportunity and forced their opponent to beat them with other players. Miller reached halftime with just six points.
While Bearden didn’t have the headliner player of the contest, Elijah Bredwood had the marquee moment.
He drove down the lane and threw down a monstrous one-handed tomahawk dunk that sent the Murphy Center into a frenzy. That made it 6-5 Bearden with 1:01 left in the first quarter.
And his 3 from the wing to start the third quarter gave Bearden a 23-22 advantage. And when Cane Ridge opened an eight-point lead in the third, Bredwood banged home a 3 from the corner to cut it to 34-29 with roughly 3 minutes to play in the quarter.
“I felt like (today) showed to anyone who was watching what I could do,” said Bredwood. “I hope they give me an opportunity in the future.”
5STAR PHOTOS pres. by FCA: Bearden basketball vs. Cane Ridge (Class AAA quarterfinals)