Bearettes have the talent and experience to claim a seventh gold ball

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Bradley's Sloan Carpenter (1) looks to pass while Lakeview's Princess Simmons (3) defends.  The Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe Warriors hosted the Bradley Central Bears in a girls's basketball game on January 22, 2022.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Bradley's Sloan Carpenter (1) looks to pass while Lakeview's Princess Simmons (3) defends. The Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe Warriors hosted the Bradley Central Bears in a girls's basketball game on January 22, 2022.

Jason Reuter has been to 13 state tournaments in his time at Bradley Central High School with the boys' and girls' basketball programs, but there are two firsts he has witnessed with the Bearettes this season.

Senior Sloan Carpenter has excelled at running the show at point guard. She epitomizes what makes Bradley Central so dangerous with her stellar defense as well as excellent ball control and facilitating ability. The Johnson University signee has 114 assists compared to just 23 turnovers, good for a 4.96-1 assist to turnover ratio, while averaging 2.8 steals per game.

Carpenter -- who started in the state tournament as a freshman -- will look to help lead Bradley Central to its seventh TSSAA state championship this weekend at MTSU's Murphy Center in the Class 4A BlueCross Basketball championships.

"I have never had a point guard who turned the ball over less than Sloan Carpenter," Reuter said. "She has extremely quick feet and hands, is hard to press and gets to where she wants to go on the court. She is very unselfish too. She is exactly what we need to run the show. We would not be 32-1 without her."

The Bearettes are loaded with four different players averaging double-figure scoring per game in senior Hannah Jones (11.2 ppg), sophomores Harmonie Ware (12.8), Avary Brewer (11.4) and freshman Kimora Fields (16.9).

Bradley Central has been extremely consistent on the offensive end with a .512 field goal percentage as a team along with a near 36 percent mark from 3-point range, where Brewer is lethal shooting 44.4 percent with 84 makes. Ware, Jones and Fields all shoot over 50 percent, with Fields having been nearly unstoppable on the low block.

The 6-foot Fields is 234-of-344 (.680) from the field this season and also leads the Bearettes with 7.2 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. She has been a perfect post counterpart with Jones, who shoots 55 percent while averaging over three assists per game.

"I have never had a kid shoot in the high 60s before. Not even close," Reuter said. "My daughter (Rebecca) shot like 62 or 63 her senior year, but that's as close as anyone has come to what Kimora is doing. If we can continue to shoot the ball well, I really like our chances in Murfreesboro."

Bradley Central received a tough draw in the Class 4A bracket, facing undefeated Bearden (35-0) in Wednesday's state quarterfinals at 11 a.m.

This will only be the Bearettes and Bulldogs third meeting over the past eight seasons. Bradley Central won their last meeting 36-26 in the 5 Star Preps Classic on Dec. 19, 2019, while Bearden won at home 50-45 over Bradley's state semifinal squad from the 2015-16 season.

This will be the Bearettes 33rd appearance at the state tournament, which is more than any other girls' basketball program in the state. They will look to win their first state title since Hannah Lombard's epic game-winning 3-point shot on March 9, 2019 to beat Houston in the state finals.

Despite the tough opening-round draw, the mix of experienced and younger talent means Bradley Central remains a favorite to cut down the nets and claim their seventh gold ball from the Murphy Center, nicknamed the "glass house".

Handing Bearden its first loss would put Bradley against either Cookeville (30-4) or Blackman (31-2) in the state semifinals on Friday at 12:30 ET, while Bartlett is the favorite on the opposite side of the bracket where it will face Sevier County (26-7) in the quarterfinals, with Clarksville (27-4) going against Green Hill (17-16) in the other matchup.

"Our seniors have been here three times before," Reuter said. "This is a big stage and our younger kids will look to Sloan and Hannah along with Ericka Swick for guidance. They are ready to lead."

Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.

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