Senior center Avery Treadwell (32) and the Bearden Bulldogs faced the Bradley Central Bears in a TSSAA Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal in Monte Hale Arena at the Murphy Center on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Bradley Central girls won 55-53. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — All win streaks ultimately reach an end, and Class 4A defending champion Bearden’s 57-gamer met a heartbreaking one Wednesday morning.
After not making a first-quarter field goal and after falling down by as many as 16 points in the second half, the Lady Bulldogs rallied to knot the score with one-loss Bradley Central with 38 seconds to play.
Bradley Central, though, held for the final shot and 5-9 sophomore guard Harmonie Ware put back an airball baseline mid-range miss from teammate Erika Swick just before time expired for the 55-53 win at MTSU’s Murphy Center.
The Bearettes (33-1) advanced to Friday’s semifinal against Cookeville (31-4), which beat Blackman 53-51 in the semifinal right the Bearden contest.
Ware hadn’t made a game-winning shot “since elementary school,” she said.
“It was crazy. I’m just so excited. I don’t even know,” said Ware. “I’m at a loss for words.”
SmartBank is the proud sponsor of 5Star Preps coverage of the 2023 TSSAA Girls State Tournament and made the trip possible.
Bearden (35-1) lost for the first time since midway through the 2021-22 season, a campaign in which it won its final 22 games to claim the 2022 Class 4A championship. Bearden sent four starters off that team, including 2022 Miss Basketball winner Jennifer Sullivan, off to the college ranks.
Class of 2023 forward Avery Treadwell was the lone starter back. The 2023 Miss Basketball finalist and Florida State signee was the cornerstone and consistent leader for the Bearden team all throughout the 2022-23 seasons.
But she battled foul trouble Wednesday and officially finished 0-for-0 from the floor in her final prep game. She posted 12 points (12-14 at the foul line) and six rebounds.
She fouled out with 2:22 remaining in the fourth, Bearden trailing 51-46.
With Treadwell’s aggressive style of play and 6-foot-3 frame, she’s encountered foul trouble before. So Bearden’s on-court five weren’t rattled when she was relegated to the bench.
“We don’t look at it as an excuse. It’s next person up,” said Bearden coach Justin Underwood.
Bearden sophomore Kendall Murphy was the first to step up. She hit a 3 with 1:22 remaining to sliced Bradley Central’s lead to 51-49.
Bearden freshman Natalya Hodge, who scored a game-high 23 points, knifed through the lane for a floater that cut Bearden’s deficit to 52-51 with 56 seconds to go. And her running bank shot from the right wing over two defenders tied the score at 53-all, the first tie of the game.
The Lady Bulldogs never led in the contest.
Swick’s mid-range jumper from the baseline to try to win it for Bradley Central came from just in front of her team’s bench. Bearden was in position on the backside of the goal to possibly catch the rebound, but Ware stepped in, boxed out a Lady Bulldog and got the board and subsequent stick-back score.
“What a great time to shoot an airball,” Bradley Central coach Jason Reuter said. “Harmonie just came out of nowhere and went and grabbed it, and she’s got a knack for that.”
Ware had 16 points, and her two 3s early in the third quarter turned a 3-point halftime lead by Bradley into a 12-0 run that pushed the Bearettes ahead 33-18 at the 6:14 mark of the third quarter.
That advantage swelled to 16 (43-27) on a Harmonie jumper with 2:00 remaining in the third. But a late 3 in the third by Bearden junior Lindsay Wilson triggered a 17-4 Lady Bulldogs run that reached to the midpoint of the fourth quarter. Hodge’s layup with 4:02 to play in the fourth capped the spurt and made it a 47-44 game.
TOUGH START
Bearden went 0-f0r-10 from the floor in the first quarter and trailed 11-6. Hodge finally got the Lady Bulldogs their first make with 5:19 left in the first half.
They wound up shooting 17.6 percent (3-17) in the first half with nine turnovers and nine personal fouls.
Yet, they trailed just 21-18, as Bradley went 6-for-19 from the floor and 0-for-7 on 3s.
“Yeah, it wasn’t the start we wanted. I think we were prepared. I think we were ready. Just sometimes, the ball doesn’t go in the hoop,” said Underwood.
“But I thought that playing through foul trouble and not shooting it as well as we would have liked, the biggest thing I can say about this group is: what an amazing job. You talk all the time as a coach about not giving up. This group, it was never an option. There were about five games this year that I can think of that should have been losses. And they don’t allow themselves to lose. They’ll never tap out.”
POTENTIAL TURNING POINTS
Though she played heroine late, Hodge narrowly missed a contested transition layup with 3:42 to play that would have cut Bradley’s lead to 47-46. Instead, the shot rimmed out and Bradley went down and scored in transition for a 49-44 lead. Four-point swing.
Bearden had another near momentum-grabbing play go the other way with roughly 2 minutes to play. Wilson rebounded a teammate’s miss and had her put-back attempt rattle in and out, drawing a foul in the process of shooting.
The near 3-point play netted just one point, though, as Wilson made one of two at the line. Bearden trailed 51-46 with 1:47 to go.
LOOKING AHEAD
Treadwell was Bearden’s lone senior and finished her career with 130 wins in her four-year career.
She was the MVP of the 2022 Class 4A state tournament and averaged 16.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in 2022-23.
“I can’t say enough good things about this kid next to me,” Underwood said of Treadwell. “I’ve never just had a (team with a) single senior. I’ve always had multiples and we’d divvy up the expectations of leadership.
“So for her to be able to set an example with how hard she works but also her enthusiasm and her ability to lead with voice is unparalleled. She’s done a phenomenal job.”
Hodge averaged 14.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.5 steals per game in her much-anticipated freshman season. She will undoubtedly be the centerpiece of the Bearden season in 2023-24, as the Lady Bulldogs will also return Emma Rainey (freshman, guard) and Rachael Wilhoit (junior, guard) from the injured list. Rainey played 20 games this season before being injured while Wilhoit played 34 and was the team’s leading scorer.
“Natalya is a kid that enjoys competition. She was willing to come in and her competitive desire was a huge piece for us to lead us at the point guard position,” said Underwood. “Our backup point guard went down with an ACL injury in January. These two (Treadwell and Hodge) didn’t have many times off the floor.
“So the amount of things we put on her shoulders and expectations as a point guard in our league in 4A basketball, to do what she did this year, was phenomenal.”