MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – When last Saturday’s sectionals set the field for this week’s TSSAA Class AAA girls’ basketball state tournament at Middle Tennessee State University, Bradley Central appeared to be the team to beat.
Less than 24 hours before the Bearettes began their bid to repeat as champions, they suffered a devastating blow when 6-foot-1 senior Anna Walker – their leading scorer this season, their most dangerous 3-point shooter and a prominent defender in the post – rolled her ankle during Tuesday’s practice at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
They felt the full effect of that blow Wednesday in Murfreesboro.
Despite receiving immediate medical attention and even undergoing a cryotherapy session to treat her injured ankle, Walker was unable to play as the Bearettes lost 51-42 to Lebanon in a quarterfinal at the Murphy Center.
“You lose your senior captain, MVP of the team and most likely a two-time all-state player the day before you play, and it’s emotional,” Bradley Central coach Jason Reuter said of Walker, a UTC signee who scored 34 points and blocked 12 shots in last year’s state tournament. “It’s bad timing, bad luck. But you know what, something in life is going to happen a lot worse than that.