CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Bradley Central’s Rhyne Howard could not have beaten East Hamilton by herself Monday night. She needed someone to inbound the ball to her.
The Kentucky signee has been on a tear since the announcement she was not a McDonald’s All-American, but it would be difficult to believe any team she’s faced since then would say anything other than she should’ve been. If No. 9-ranked East Hamilton’s Lady Hurricanes didn’t already know, her performance in the District 5-AAA basketball title game should’ve been the final conclusive evidence.
Howard scored 41 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, made six steals, dished four assists and did not have a turnover as the No. 2-rated Bearettes cruised to the championship by defeating the Lady ‘Canes 73-41.
Walker Valley’s Abbey Davis made a free throw with two seconds to play and lifted the Lady Mustangs to a 52-51 victory over Cleveland in the third-place game.
Bradley (28-0) will host Warren County in the first round of the Region 3 tournament Friday. East Hamilton (24-5) will also be at home to play White County. Walker Valley will play at Rhea County and Cleveland will play at District 6 champion Stone Memorial.
The TSSAA mandates that all games start at 7 p.m. local time of the host school.
Although Bradley Central never trailed Monday, the game was close in the early stages. That is until the Bearettes turned up the pressure defensively in closing out the final 2:38 of the first quarter by scoring 12 consecutive points – 10 by Howard – to go up 24-9.
“We just knew it was a big game. We knew they were going to come out hot because the last time we played them we beat them pretty bad,” Howard said of the 63-36 win at Bradley on Jan. 23. “We should be pretty prepared for what’s ahead. (Coach Jason) Reuter’s got us on the right track.”
The run carried over to the second quarter and ended up being 19 points in succession. The halftime lead was 49-20 and Howard had scored 30 by then.
“It was almost like a TKO right then, for all intents and purposes,” Reuter said. “A 29-point lead at halftime in a high school game where you play 16 minutes per half, the game was truly about over right then.”
It didn’t help that East Hamilton had some early foul trouble. But given the roll Howard was on, it may not have mattered anyway.
“She’s a once-in-a-lifetime player,” Reuter said. “I know there have been a lot of great ones play at Bradley. I’m not trying to make comparisons before I was here. In my eight years, she the most all-around player I’ve coached. I love them all.”
Freshman Jamaryn Blair came off Bradley’s bench and scored 14 points.
Sophomore Madison Hayes topped East Hamilton with 15 points. Her eighth-grade sister, McKenna, was next with nine on three 3-point goals.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.