EVENSVILLE, Tenn. - The members of Bradley Central's girls' basketball team who returned from last season have waited a year to be back where they are now. Or more precisely, they've worked for a full year to get back to where they are now.
And where they are now is on the brink of hosting a TSSAA state sectional Saturday after the Bearettes defeated East Hamilton 74-31 in the Region 3-AAA championship game Wednesday night at Rhea County.
It was in last year's sectional that Bradley, 32-0 at the time, saw its season come to an end one game short of reaching the state tournament because of a loss to Stewarts Creek. This time, No. 2-ranked Bradley (31-0) gets Blackman, which ended Stewarts Creek's season 51-47 in a Region 4 semifinal before losing 70-47 to No. 1 Riverdale in Wednesday's region final.
"I think we might've been more motivated had it been Stewarts Creek," Jason Reuter said after winning his seventh region title in eight years as Bradley's head coach.
Rhyne Howard, who was selected MVP of the Region 3 tournament, said Reuter has a reminder hanging up at Bradley that the players can see every day to caution them about what happened last year.
"It doesn't matter who we play," said Howard, who had 28 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks in last year's 55-49 sectional loss. "We should win against anybody who steps into Jim Smiddy Arena."
East Hamilton (26-6), which is 0-4 against the Bearettes this season, plays at Riverdale at 8 p.m. EST Saturday.
"We're really a good basketball team," East Hamilton coach Hunter Gremore said. "The problem is, in our region and our section, you've got to go through the number one and number two teams in the state. It's tough."
Howard ended up with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists, seven steals and two blocks Wednesday, but it was her teammates who did most of the scoring damage in a 20-0 start in the first eight minutes. She picked it up and had eight of the Bearettes' 15 second-quarter points on the way to a 35-9 halftime lead.
Both teams won semifinals Monday, but Reuter acknowledged East Hamilton had a rugged one when it edged Stone Memorial.
"East Hamilton is better than this," Reuter said. "I think they were still leg-weary from Monday. I think our team is built for tournament ball."
The Bearettes continued the strong play into the second half, using a 10-0 run to go up 53-19 in the third quarter.
"We had energy at first," Gremore said. "We got some offensive rebounds. We got some stops. But we missed every shot. You're not going to hold them down, and we started 0-for-16 with a few turnovers thrown in there. Getting behind 20-0, that means you have to outscore them by 21 over the next three quarters. That ain't happening."
With reserves playing more than half the fourth quarter, the Bearettes had their low point total in a period with 14. But they still held the Lady 'Canes to five.
"What they don't get enough credit for is their defense," Gremore said. "People talk about Rhyne Howard and their ability to score, but their defense is really good. We're 0-for-16 at the start, and sure our legs had a lot to do with that, but Bradley had something to do with that, too. They forced us into some bad shots."
Reserve Jamaryn Blair scored 16 points for Bradley and also had four steals and three blocks. Cambree Mayo scored her 12 points on 3-point goals.
Madison Hayes paced the Lady 'Canes with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.