The Bearden Bulldogs took on the Blackman Blaze in a TSSAA Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal at Murphy Center on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Bearden girls won. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO – The loss ate at Jennifer Sullivan for 363 days.
Not just with the Bearden senior guard but all of her teammates, as well.
On March 11, 2021, the Lady Bulldogs entered TSSAA State Championship Week with a 30-1 mark and title hopes — only to see them dashed in a stunning first-round defeat.
“That was just a sick feeling,” Sullivan said.
With essentially the same lineup returning for the 2021-22 season, Bearden set out to make amends.
And they did so in a major way Wednesday — against the defending champion, no less.
Sullivan scored a game-high 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting and 6-3 junior post Avery Treadwell had 15 points and seven rebounds in Bearden’s resounding 56-34 win over Murfreesboro Blackman in the Class 4A state quarterfinals.
“Honestly, that (first-round loss) sat with us all year. I know everyone who came back from last year, coming up here that’s wha we were thinking about,” said Sullivan. “We were like, ‘We do not want that feeling again.’
“I think that drove us to play how we did.”
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Bearden (34-4) shot 48.6 percent from the floor at MTSU’s Murphy Center, won the rebound battle (28-25) and had five fewer turnovers than Blackman (26-2).
The Lady Blaze had won this season off a vicious and versatile brand of defense — and rebounding.
But Bearden outshone them on both ends, even holding Blackman to 28.2 percent from the field.
“Our kids were hungry. They were hungry since last year,” said Bearden coach Justin Underwood. “Ever since I’ve been at Bearden, we’ve tried to hang our hats on defense. And to hold a team like that to 34 points, that’s a heck of a job by these ladies.”
Bearden advances to face Beech (23-12) in a 4A semifinal at 1:15 p.m. Friday. The Lady Bulldogs program is 0-for-3 all-time in state semifinals, their last outing there coming in 2018.
Blackman led for just 31 seconds Wednesday. Bearden’s lead reached double digits with 7 minutes, 11 seconds, left in the third quarter and never dipped back to a single-digit advantage the rest of the way.
It opened the fourth quarter ahead 36-19 and quickly attacked the post with Treadwell. She got fouled and made the two foul shots to extend the lead to 19.
Blackman tried to force errors on Bearden with full-court pressure. Bearden, though, beat it easily, got the ball across midcourt and then milked clock repeatedly in the fourth quarter.
Sullivan’s 3 from the left wing with 3:43 to play increased Bearden’s advantage back to 17 after a mini Blackman run.
“I think we were supposed to be dribbling it out. But they were going on a run, so I figured we needed a big bucket,” said Sullivan with a wry smile, Underwood sitting two seats down from her in the press conference. “I was confident in my shot at that point, so I was like: ‘I’ll shoot it.'”
She buried a pair of foul shots with 2:09 remaining to keep the lead at 17.
After last year’s early exit, Bearden needed some good mojo early Wednesday. And they got it. Sullivan popped in an early three, made her first two shots of the day as the Lady Bulldogs forged ahead 7-2.
“I think that got the nerves out,” said Sullivan.
And when Blackman battled back to knot the score at 13-all in the early minutes of the second quarter, Bailey Burgess buried a 3 from the wing to Bearden back in front.
Her 3-point play off a baseline slash gave Bearden a 21-15 advantage with 1:25 left before the break, and it took that score to the break. She finished with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Treadwell had eight points in the first half in the post for Bearden, shot 45 percent before the break. The Lady Bulldogs limited Blackman to 4-for-17 shooting (23.5 percent) through 16 minus while forcing seven turnovers.
First-half momentum for Bearden carried over.
Sullivan started the second half with a 3-point play for a 24-15 lead. Treadwell followed with a put-back score off a Sullivan slash into the lane and Bearden led 26-15 at the 7:04 mark in the third.
Emily Gonzalez’s two foul shots bumped the lead to 28-15 with 6:35 left in the third, and deep 3 by Burgess at the 2:35 mark of the third made it 35-17 Bearden.
They led by 17 with one quarter to play. Not even Gonzalez picking up her fourth foul with roughly 5 minutes left in the third fazed Bearden.
“We played everybody we could. We went across the country,” said Underwood. “So these kids are battle-tested. They trust each other and share the ball extremely well.
“We feel like we can play with you in the full-court game. But we also feel like that if we have to grind it out with you in the half-court game, we can do that, as well.”