Three area teams received first-place rankings in the first Tennessee high school basketball Associated Press polls released Monday.
Bradley County has two of those teams as the Cleveland Blue Raiders (15-0) and Bradley Central Bearettes (11-3) top the rankings in Class AAA. Led by a suffocating defense, Boyd Buchanan (12-3) was voted No. 1 in the Division II-A boys’ poll.
The defending state champion Bearettes are 3-2 this season against teams that won state titles last year. A talented post duo of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga signee Anna Walker and 6-foot-2 junior Anna Muhonen have combined for 28.4 points and 12.6 rebounds per game.
After missing last season, Muhonen was averaging 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds and shooting a team-high 58% from the field going into Tuesday’s win over Walker Valley.
Bradley Central’s Anna Muhonen, left, missed last season but is a key factor in this year’s No. 1 state ranking for the Bearettes. / Staff file photo by C.B. Schmelter“An ankle injury in volleyball forced her to miss all of last season,” Bradley Central coach Jason Reuter said. “Anna had to wear a jogging suit all last year and watch us win a state championship. But I knew I had a horse over there in the stable nobody saw. Now people are seeing her and she has had a lot of good games for us. She does what we need around the bucket.”