Bearden poses with its Class AAA state championship trophy on Saturday, March 16, 2019 – Photo: Charles Pulliam.
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO – First there was a 3-point specialist from Middle Tennessee who hadn’t been stopped in the postseason.
In the next round came one of Memphis’ best, a team with a 7-foot-4, 275-pound center and a junior guard with four stars and offers galore.
The Bearden boys’ basketball team beat them both, respectively, on Wednesday and Friday.
But in Saturday’s Class AAA state championship game at Middle Tennessee State’s Murphy Center, one challenge remained — topple the three-time defending state champion that also boasted the No. 1 player in the country.
Well, mission accomplished.
Bearden’s backcourt tandem of Ques Glover and Trent Stephney combined for 46 points, and the Bulldogs hoisted their first state title in program history via a 83-68 win. The victory tasted of redemption, as the Bulldogs lost to East in the 2018 state semifinals.
Glover scored 24 points with five assists and was named Tournament MVP. Stephney added 22, and Shamarcus Brown contributed 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Vols signee Drew Pember had seven points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
James Wiseman, a 7-1 McDonald’s All-American, Memphis signee, Gatorade State Player of the Year and Mr. Basketball finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.
Bearden (32-5) ended the year on a 20-game win streak and became the first team in Knox County since Austin-East in 1977 to win a Class AAA boys’ basketball title.
Bearden guard Ques Glover was named state tournament MVP. (Photo: Charles Pulliam).
“We knew going into this year that we were going to have a tough schedule,” said Glover. “Early in the year, we played a lot of teams, top-ranked in the nation. That was getting us prepared for these moments.
“When we got to the state tournament, it was nothing new for us.”
Bearden was ready for East this second time around. Its lead got as high as 10 in the final minute of the third quarter but the Bulldogs led just 53-51 with 6 minutes, 30 seconds to play.
Glover hit a 3 a minute later to push Bearden out front 58-51, but East senior guard Derrein Merriweather popped in a 3 and Wiseman added a dunk to trim the Bearden lead back to two.
Roman Robinson’s 3 gave Bearden a 61-56 lead with 4 minutes to go and triggered the final push. He finished with 11 points.
“That’s Rome. Roman, all these guys who are playing roles on this team, might be sacrificing personal glory — and Roman might be chief among them. Because he’s a great player in his own right,” said Bearden coach Jeremy Parrott. “He’s hit big shot after big shot since I’ve been at Bearden.”
Wiseman then picked up his fourth foul trying to block Brown’s post shot, and Brown’s foul shots with 3:12 to go put Bearden ahead 65-58.
Glover added two more 16 seconds later for a nine-point cushion.
Stephney’s score in transition on an assist from Glover made it a 10-point Bearden lead with 2:16 to play.
Wiseman fouled out a minute later.
Game. Set. Match.
Championship.
“I just wanted to take it to ’em,” said Brown, who had to guard and be guarded by Wiseman. “I knew I had to be physical all day.
“It feels like I’m still dreaming,” Brown added. “I’ve been pinching myself.”
5STAR PHOTOS: Bearden vs. Memphis East (Class AAA championship)
Bearden caught a swing of momentum to start the second half, much like it did to end the first. Stephney drove the lane and hit a floater over the outstretched arm of Wiseman — made the shot and got fouled.
His 3-point play at the 5:50 mark of the third quarter put the Bulldogs ahead 37-31. Then, Wiseman got whistled for an offensive foul — his third — and that relegated him to the bench for a spell. Bearden ran its lead to 41-34 with Wiseman out of the game. He returned with 3:52 left in the quarter.
It was imperative all game long that Bearden not let East’s role players win the game, as Wiseman was going to get his points and stats. And in the first half, East’s role players played beyond their typical productivity, as three players not named James Wiseman went 3-for-3 from the 3-point line.
Wiseman went for 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in the first 16 minutes, and Memphis East built a nine-point lead in the first half.
“The thing that I’m the most proud of today is we weathered their hot shooting, which we had not seen a lot in our scouting film” said Parrott.
Bearden answered the bell, though. Stephney went 5-for-7 from the floor in the first half for 11 points, and his mid-range jumpers sparked a rally that Glover capped.
Glover’s 3-pointers with 51 seconds left in the half and 3 seconds left in the half put Bearden out front, 32-31, heading into the second half.
In the final 16 minutes, the evolution of this Bearden team found its completion.
“It’s just been a process — a process that started that first spring I was there (in 2016) and into that summer,” said Parrott. “They were talking the other night about the conditioning we went through in August. They said it was awful. But I had to see what the guys were made of.
“Not one of them faltered. They complained a little. But not one faltered. I knew at that point that we had something to work with. We knew the talent was there. Once the heart emerged, man, it’s just been a fun ride.”