Bradley Central's girls trailed at the end of the first quarter Monday, and again at halftime of their District 5-AAA high school basketball game at East Hamilton. Then in the second half, it was as though the Bearettes remembered they were the tradition-rich Bearettes, and they came roaring back.
With sure-to-be Miss Basketball candidate and Kentucky signee Rhyne Howard leading the second-half charge, Bradley distanced itself from the Lady Hurricanes after halftime and won the game 49-40.
Both teams came in not only undefeated in the district but undefeated overall. Bradley improves to 11-0, 3-0 in the league.
"It's pretty simple," Bradley coach Jason Reuter said. "Sometimes we make it harder than what it is. We didn't shoot the ball well in the first half. And we gave up too many offensive boards. Our goal is to hold teams to eight a game or less. They had eight at halftime. We had to rethink our strategy.
"East Hamilton is the kind of team you can't let have second and third shots. They have a good team. They were 13-0 coming in. They're 13-1 now."
East Hamilton's end-of-period leads in the first half were 13-12 and 23-21. But the second half started with Howard scoring after rebounding her own miss, and then Kaleigh Hughes added a layup on a fastbreak and the Bearettes never trailed again.
They led by eight in the third quarter before the Lady 'Canes got back within 38-34 on De'Zah Lacy's 3-pointer from out front with a little more than a minute and a half gone by in the fourth. But Bradley responded by scoring the next nine points for its largest lead.
East Hamilton coach Hunter Gremore, whose team goes to 3-1 in the district, said the reason he thought the Lady 'Canes didn't get as many offensive rebounds in the second half was because more of their 21 turnovers took place in the last two quarters. He thought that was one of two key factors.
"That," Gremore said, "and the best player in the state taking over the game."
Howard finished with 24 points, including 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc, with three of her 3s coming in the second half.
"She made some tough shots," Gremore said. "I thought we defended her well. But it goes back to 21 turnovers. We have to have about 10 to have a chance to win that game. That's a seasoned team that knows how to win."
Madison Hayes, a sophomore who recently surpassed the 1,000-point mark in her career, topped East Hamilton with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Lacy contributed 10 points and Eliziah LaBoo gave support inside with nine points and 12 rebounds.
"That was round one of probably at least three, who knows? Four? Who knows?" Reuter said, knowing the Lady 'Canes are scheduled to come to Bradley on Jan. 23, plus anticipating postseason possibilities. "The good news is we don't have to come back and play them here on this floor."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.