Bradley Central’s Anna Walker lines up a shot against East Hamilton during the District 5-AAA title game at Soddy-Daisy High School last month. The Bearettes face Lebanon in the first round of the state tournament in Murfreesboro.The Bradley Central girls’ basketball program is in a familiar place.
The Bearettes (31-3) face Lebanon (25-10) at 11 a.m. EST Thursday in the first round of the Class AAA state tournament at Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center, and the arena nicknamed the “Glass House” feels like home to the program that shares the record for most TSSAA girls’ basketball state tournament appearances (30) with Class A’s South Greene.
Now Bradley Central, which has an overall winning percentage of .816 over the past 60 years and is 38-25 in state tournament games, hopes more legendary tales are to come.
“To be a part of a storied program means a lot,” Jason Reuter, who is in his ninth season as the Bearettes’ head coach, said after the team’s practice Tuesday at McKenzie Arena. “We are trying to carry on what others have done before us, particularly a man named Jim Smiddy. When you talk about the history of women’s basketball in our state, you can’t talk about it very long without bringing up Bradley Central.”
The Bearettes are seeking the program’s sixth state championship and first in 43 years. They’ve reached a state title game just once since 1976, when Karen Mills created one of the program’s legendary moments with a game-winning shot against Smyrna to cap a second straight undefeated season.