Sixth-seeded Ooltewah played like a team that didn't want its season to end Thursday at Soddy-Daisy. But third-seeded Bradley Central proved to be better in the end.
The Bears trailed by two going to the fourth quarter but did the necessary things to come away with a 43-33 victory in the District 5-AAA boys' high school basketball quarterfinal.
Bradley (18-8) will face second-seeded East Hamilton on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Third-seeded Walker Valley won Thursday's girls' game 43-27 over sixth-seeded Ooltewah. The Lady Mustangs will play second-seeded East Hamilton on Saturday at 6.
Bradley Central had 21 points heading into the fourth quarter, then scored 22. Bradley coach Chuck Clark pointed to Cole Copeland's tip in the first minute of the fourth and Ty Beavers' 3-pointer - the only one for either team in the game - that broke a tie at 25 and gave the Bears the lead for good with 6:24 to play.
"We had two chances where the momentum could've gone the wrong way," Clark said. "One was where we missed a free throw and Cole gets a tap-in. That was huge. They were up two and we tied it up. The other was when we kind of beat the press and Saylor (Clark) goes to the middle and kicks it to Beavers in the corner, who knocked down a 3, finally. That kind of gave us some juice. It was anybody's game in the last 40 seconds."
Bradley protected its lead with 6-of-6 free-throw shooting in the last 1:11. Beavers, who led the Bears with 17 points, added a steal and layup in that span.
"We work on free throws a lot," Clark said. "We did last year and it's carried over. Every practice we work on free throws. We're a pretty good shooting team overall. Free throws are just a part of it. If you notice, our seniors were the ones making them."
Copeland contributed 14 points in the win.
Ooltewah, which ends its season 10-15, was led by Cam Chambers' 18 points.
"We may have surprised a lot of people right there, but not to be egotistical, it didn't surprise us," said Jay Williams, who was in his first season heading the Ooltewah program that was in turmoil when he took over. "You have to give them their due. They made the plays they had to make, but I'm proud of our kids and how hard they played."
He particularly praised the seniors.
"They laid the foundation for where this program is going to go," he said.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.