ATHENS, Tenn. — Kent Smith might not have known it, but he may have coached his Bradley Central basketball team to Thursday’s District 5-AAA tournament victory over Soddy-Daisy long before the game began.
Bradley has played in 12 consecutive district championship games, and Smith held a meeting with his seniors Thursday morning in hopes of firing up the Bears.
The Bears came out hitting on all cylinders and advanced to Saturday’s semifinal against second-seeded Ooltewah by downing the Trojans 67-44 at McMinn County High School.
Cyle Herron led the Bears with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
“Coach called us in during homeroom and put the rock in the seniors’ head,” Herron said. “We didn’t want to lose; we didn’t want it to end tonight.”
Bradley outrebounded Soddy-Daisy 36-23 and hit 12 of 13 free throws.
“You never know how a team’s going to respond in the postseason,” Smith said. “We didn’t practice well Wednesday. I wanted the guys to come out loose, but I wasn’t sure how they were going to be. We had a big start, and the guys were attentive to what we were trying to do on defense.”
The Bears were especially solid defensively in the second quarter, when they blew the game open with a 17-2 run. Smith switched to a 3-2 zone defense, and after securing rebounds, the Bears often found themselves shooting layups off run-outs in transition.
“Soddy’s whole game is based on (Brandon) McNeil’s penetration,” Smith said. “We switched to the zone to keep them out of the gaps and the paint. They didn’t get too many looks and had a lot of one-and-done possessions.
“We got the rebounds and did a good job of going downcourt and converting.”
James Stovall finished with 16 points, while Parker Pierce and Colby Owenby had 11 apiece for Bradley. McNeil had 15 to lead Soddy-Daisy, with C.T. Williams adding 11.