Demias Munsey (4) of Bearden looks for an open teammate during a win over Cleveland on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. (Photo: John Fitzgerald/5Star Preps)
By DAVE LINK
The Bearden boys’ and girls’ basketball teams have high hopes for the 2020-21 seasons, and why shouldn’t they?
They both remained unbeaten Tuesday night victories over visiting Cleveland.
The Lady Bulldogs (5-0) started the night off with a 52-39 victory over Cleveland, and the Bulldogs (8-0) followed it with a 67-48 win over the Blue Raiders.
Here’s a look at Bearden’s rosters and why they’re expected to be formidable foes for opponents this season:
PARROTT: “THESE GUYS ARE HUNGRY”
Bearden coach Jeremy Parrott said his players didn’t like the way the 2019-20 season ended, and they’re ready to do something about it.
The Bulldogs finished 23-9 after a 56-53 loss to Oak Ridge in the Region 2-AAA semifinals. Bearden was second in the District 4-AAA regular season (12-2) behind Maryville (30-4, 14-0) and lost in the district championship to the Rebels, 70-56.
“We’re playing hard, not as smart as I’d like us to play some of the time, but these guys are hungry,” Parrott said. “They didn’t like the end of last year, losing in the region semis. They want it to last longer, so they’re hungry, and they missed all summer. We didn’t start playing basketball again, really, until a couple of weeks ago, so they’re ready to keep playing.”
The Bulldogs went 4-0 last week and Saturday and won the Food City Thanksgiving Classic at Sullivan East High in Bluff City, Tenn. They started the week off with a 45-38 win over Johnson City Science Hill.
A.J. Pruitt (1) of Bearden drives the lane during a win over Cleveland on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. (Photo: John Fitzgerald/5Star Preps)
Senior guard A.J. Pruitt, MVP of the tournament, is coming off a big junior year when he averaged 11.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.5 steals.
Pruitt led the Bulldogs in scoring Tuesday night with 15 points.
“(Pruitt) looked really good all year last year,” Parrott said. “He did not get the respect in the area that he should have gotten. He was a stat-sheet stuffer every night, double-double guy, just was a big warrior for us. We’re looking to him this year to do that, but the difference is, the other guys are a year older and they’re ready to help him.”
Parrott was without two starters of his starters at the end of the season, including 2020 graduate Tyler Nordin, a 6-4 wing.
Nordin, the team’s leading scorer and top player, went down with a knee injury about halfway through the season, while then-junior point guard Izaiha Bredwood suffered a shoulder injury and missed the last seven games of the season.
Bredwood returns for his senior season as the point guard after averaging eight points, 3.4 assists, 3.3 rebounds and two steals as a junior. He had seven points against Cleveland.
“We need him to be healthy for us to do well this year,” Parrott said.
Elijah Bredwood, a 6-1 junior guard and Izaiha’s brother, averaged 7.5 points, 1.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds last season. He scored 25 in loss to Maryville in the district championship game and had 14 points in Tuesday’s win over Cleveland.
“He’s been one of those guys that’s shown flashes,” Parrott said of Elijah Bredwood. “He just needs to develop consistency. He was a sophomore last year, so he’s kind of coming into his own a little bit.”
Hayden Treadwell, a 6-6 senior wing, had an early-season injury and finished strong, averaging six points and four rebounds and was the team’s top shot blocker. He scored 13 Tuesday against Cleveland, eight in the fourth quarter.
“He’s been working on his game,” Parrott said of Treadwell. “What he lacks in strength, he makes up in length. We need him to play big. We need him and Walker (Kyle) both to play big. Being a little under-sized, smallish, those guys do give us some length when we need it.”
Kyle, a junior post, averaged six points, four rebounds, and two assists last season, while 6-1 sophomore guard Jake Poole played some key minutes as a freshman.
Demias Munsey, a 5-8 senior guard, was a starter against Cleveland and finished with 14 points.
“It’s a good win,” Parrott said. “With things so uncertain, we’ve just tried to play as much as possible. We’re trying to settle into roles right now.
“One thing we’ve noticed with this team is we’ve been really balanced on both ends of the floor. We’re deeper than we even showed tonight. We’ve got more kids that can play. I felt like our execution was good. I felt like our spirit and sharing the basketball was good, and the result was good because of that.”
UNDERWOOD: “THEY’RE FANTASTIC KIDS”
Bearden girls’ basketball coach Justin Underwood instructs his team during a win over Cleveland on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. (Photo: John Fitzgerald/5Star Preps)
Bearden’s girls had three senior starters on the 2019-20 roster: wings Jah’niya Bussell and Emma Stone and 6-2 post Jakhyia Davis.
Still, the Lady Bulldogs look like a team that will be tough to beat.
“I would hope so,” Bearden coach Justin Underwood said. “We ask a lot of these kids, and they’re fantastic kids. They’re excellent students. They’re the full package.
“In a way, I think we come in sometimes and I probably ask too much right off the bat, so we’re trying to still figure some things out. We’re very blessed to have really good kids and talented kids. These young ladies are working hard, and we’re growing into roles and figuring out some things that give us our best options.”
The Lady Bulldogs went 30-4 last season, going 2-2 against Maryville. Bearden split two games with Maryville during the regular season, beat the Lady Rebels in the District 4-AAA title game, and lost to the Lady Rebels, 61-45, in the Region 2-AAA championship.
Bearden’s season ended with a 49-47 state sectional loss to Science Hill in Johnson City.
Davis, who signed with ETSU, was chosen to the All-5Star Preps second team after averaging 12.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. She came off the bench and had the team-high 13 points and grabbed five rebounds in ETSU’s 62-56 win over Longwood in Saturday’s season opener.
“Jakhyia could score it for us, but I think the biggest thing that we are trying to do a better job of is rebounding, and that’s as a team,” Underwood said. “That’s definitely a huge void that (Davis) left, 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, so we’ve got to do that collectively. That’s not just on the post. Guards have got to get that mentality. I know Cleveland had six offensive rebounds in the first half. We’ve just got to make it more of a consistency thing for us.”
Look for 6-3 sophomore post Avery Treadwell to be Davis’ replacement.
Treadwell played significant minutes behind Davis last year, averaging 7.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks. She shot 52 percent from the floor.
Treadwell had 11 points Tuesday against Cleveland, starting alongside 6-1 junior wing/post Maddie Brillhart. Brillhart, who averaged 3.1 points last season, scored two against Cleveland.
“Avery played a bunch last year, and Maddie’s stepping into a bigger role,” Underwood said. “(Brillhart) had a fantastic summer and has really worked hard.”
Bearden’s Jennifer Sullivan (24) runs the offense during a home win over Cleveland on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. (Photo: John Fitzgerald/5Star Preps)
Underwood has two players on his roster who earned All-5Star Preps honors last year in senior point guard Zneyah McLaughlin and junior point guard/shooting guard Jennifer Sullivan, a transfer from The King’s Academy.
Sullivan, chosen to the All-5Star Preps second team, led TKA to the 2020 Division II-A state championship game, averaging 17.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.1 steals.
“She’s very talented,” Underwood said of Sullivan. “She does a lot of stuff without the ball in her hands, and also she’s a fantastic passer in setting up other people. She’s done a great job assist-wise as she’s still learning some of the things we do.”
McLaughlin, also a standout forward for Bearden’s soccer team, was on the All-5Star Preps third team after averaging 10.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.7 steals. She shot 55 percent from the field.
Underwood said McLaughlin had no trouble settling into basketball mode once soccer season ended. She scored 12 against Cleveland.
“She’s fine. We’ve got a group that’s very unselfish,” Underwood said. “I think all five of those starters could put up some pretty big numbers, but they just want to win basketball games. All of them have college looks already and offers, so it’s just a matter of they want to do big things. We’re still kind of figuring out roles and different things on different nights, but they’re a very coachable group.”
Junior point guard/wing Emily Gonzalez is also a returning starter after averaging 6.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and two steals as a sophomore. Gonzalez, who played her freshman year at Lenoir City, led Bearden’s scoring against Cleveland with 13 points, 11 in the first half.
“I thought her first half we huge,” Underwood said. “It got us going offensively. Emily’s had a fantastic summer in the pandemic. She’s been working the whole summer, and I think it definitely shows in practice and on the court. I think she has a little more confidence in our system now and she really led us in the first half.”
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