MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — For the ninth time in program history, the Bradley Central Bearettes will play for a TSSAA basketball state title.
Coach Jason Reuter’s team set the tone from tipoff against Cookeville at the BlueCross State Championships, suppressing the Lady Cavaliers’ attack on the way to a 59-43 wire-to-wire victory in the Class 4A semifinals Friday at Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center.
Now the Bearettes (34-1) will try to win the program’s seventh state title overall and first since 2019, when the current senior class was in eighth grade. On Saturday, they’ll face Bartlett (36-7) — a 56-35 winner against Green Hill in Friday’s first semifinal — at 2:30 p.m. Eastern with a gold ball trophy on the line.
Bradley Central jumped out to a 14-2 lead against Cookeville (31-5) with the help of a three-point play from freshman Kimora Fields and 3-point shots by both senior Hannah Jones and sophomore Avary Brewer. Harmonie Ware was just starting her assault on the basket, too.