Even by the illustrious standards of the Bradley Central girls’ basketball program, this season’s Bearettes are winning in a way that stands out because of the mind-boggling numbers they are producing.
In his 15th season as head coach, Jason Reuter has fielded his strongest team yet with TSSAA Class 4A’s two-time reigning state champions about to begin their quest for three wins in three days in Murfreesboro, where they’ll have to take down an unbeaten opponent right away for the third year in a row.
Bradley Central (32-1), which is ranked fourth in the country by MaxPreps.com, is set to face Coffee County (35-0) at Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center in Thursday’s last quarterfinal at 9:45 p.m. Eastern. It’s a rematch of last season’s semifinal in which the Bearettes beat Coffee County by 20 points to reach the title game.
Win that one, a Friday semifinal and Saturday’s finale, and the program’s ninth state championship will be in hand.
The Bearettes’ average score through their first six postseason games is 94.2-21.3, which includes a margin of victory of 71.7 points in the region tournament and sectional round, where the Bearettes beat Class 4A’s 10th-ranked Lebanon 82-32 on Saturday for their 49th consecutive home win while clinching their spot at state.