MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — With her arm around fellow senior Kimora Fields, guard Addie Geren helped the most decorated player in Bradley Central girls’ basketball history out of the locker room after Thursday’s 52-34 loss to Sevier County in the TSSAA Class 4A state quarterfinals.
Tears were shed after the program’s hopes for a fourth straight state title, along with its 99-game streak of wins over in-state opponents, came to a crushing close at Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center. In a matchup of teams nicknamed Bearettes, it was Sevier County that thrived on the first day of action for the bracket at the BlueCross Basketball Championships.
“Nobody would have thought we would be 32-0 coming in here,” Bradley Central coach Jason Reuter said. “We lost eight seniors, six of them signed basketball scholarships (four with NCAA Division I programs), and we finished fourth in the nation last year. This team was supposed to be Kimora and a bunch of nobodies. They have played hard for me all year long, and I am proud of them.”
Sevier County (26-5) brilliantly executed a 3-2 drop zone in which three defenders packed the paint to contain the all-time leading scorer for the winningest program in Tennessee prep basketball history.
Fields made her first two field-goal attempts but shot 3-of-12 the rest of the way as the Clemson signee finished with team highs in points (12), rebounds (eight), blocks (three) and assists (two) while sharing the team lead for steals (three). The 6-foot forward finished her Bradley Central career with 3,036 points and 66.5% shooting from the field.
“There are two girls in a class of their own who have played for me, and it’s Kimora and Rhyne Howard,” Reuter said of the former Bradley Central standout who currently stars for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. “People can argue who the best player is to ever come out of Bradley, but you can’t argue with the numbers. Kimora is the most decorated Bearette ever. She was Miss Basketball twice, the all-time leading scorer, a two-time state tournament MVP, and leaves here with three state championship rings. Nobody can touch her.
“But she didn’t get here by herself. Addie battled all year long. She is a great player, a great person and a great shooter. Jada Francis was someone nobody knew about before the year started, but she averaged over 11 points per game and had five double-doubles. She played her heart out for us.”
(READ MORE: Bradley Central guard Addie Geren playing bigger role as senior)
Bradley Central (32-1) lost to an opponent from Tennessee for the first time since falling 75-69 at McMinn Central on Jan. 30, 2023. Fields scored 26 points as a freshman in that defeat.
Bradley Central’s demise Thursday came down to poor shooting as Reuter’s team went 3-of-21 (.143) from 3-point range and 10-of-46 (.217) from the field. Francis scored all nine of her points on free throws, and she added three steals. Geren was 2-of-5 from 3-point range for all six of her points.
Sevier County guard Kaliyah Burden starred on both ends of the court as the 5-foot-8 senior totaled 16 points, eight rebounds and a trio each of assists, blocks and steals. Burden helped her team win the rebounding battle 36-25.
Bradley Central had just three assists while scoring the program’s fewest points in a game since losing 36-35 to Lebanon in the state quarterfinals in 2021.
For Fields, Geren and the team’s other seniors, it was a disappointing end to a dominant four-year run in which the team went 136-4 and never lost more than one game in a season.
“At the end of the day, everyone did what they could,” Fields said. “Shots were just not falling on our part. We pushed through and kept playing. It happens. It’s a sad way to go out, but I am proud of this team. I wouldn’t want to have gone through what we did this season with anyone else.”
Sevier County, seeking a second state championship to go with its 2022 title, advances to Friday’s second semifinal against three-time champ Blackman (29-3), a 54-30 winner over Collierville in Thursday’s last quarterfinal. The first semifinal matches two teams with a combined 10 runner-up state finishes and seeking a first title: Cookeville (29-4), which beat Page 55-47, and Bartlett (28-10), which beat Bearden 77-73. Bartlett was the runner-up to Bradley Central the past three years.
Thursday’s loss dropped Bradley Central to 50-28 overall in state tournament games — its 36 all-time appearances are a TSSAA record — and pushes the quest for the program’s 10th state title to next year. Another round number out of reach was 100 straight wins against Tennessee foes, but Reuter put that streak — and everything else about the upset — in perspective.
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“I don’t care what you are doing. If you do something 100 times straight, you are probably going to have a slip-up,” Reuter said. “This team did the right thing 99 straight times. That is something to be proud of.
“I hope people wouldn’t judge us on our worst day. These girls have a lot to be proud of and to hold their heads up about. They accomplished things many thought were impossible.”
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.