CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Much like establishing the run sets up the pass in football, having success inside leads to open perimeter shots in basketball.
Cleveland’s Blue Raiders looked every bit the part of that formula Friday night, particularly from one half to the other.
The result was a 71-44 victory for Cleveland, which hosted rival Bradley Central in a District 5-AAA game in front of a large crowd at the Blue Raiders’ new gymnasium.
Cleveland (17-2, 7-0) strengthened its hold on first place in the district, while knocking Bradley (11-7, 5-2) out of a tie for second in the loss column. East Hamilton is 4-1 in the league after Friday’s district win against Soddy-Daisy (0-7 5-AAA).
“This gives a cushion of at least a three-game lead over Bradley with us beating them twice and having the head-to-heads out of the way,” Cleveland coach Jason McCowan said. “But East Hamilton just has one loss, so we’ve still got somebody right there. There’s not a lot of room for us to relax. Plus, we’ve got three district games sandwiched in next week, with the makeup of the snow date with Ooltewah.”