CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Bradley Central's Anna Muhonen spaced out Stone Memorial's defense to help her teammates put on an overwhelming shooting performance from 3-point range Wednesday night.
Her own defensive play was also monumental, and now the 6-foot-2 senior is the owner of a Region 3-AAA tournament MVP award for the second year in a row.
Going up against Tennessee Miss Basketball finalist Tessa Miller, Muhonen was able to shut down her AAU teammate in the paint as the top-ranked Bearettes dominated in a 60-36 victory to win the region championship inside Jim Smiddy Arena.
Muhonen blocked three shots, including the first of the game, led her team with three assists and helped create other offensive opportunities to help the Bearettes win their sixth straight region championship and 10th in 11 years under coach Jason Reuter.
"I came in with a chip on my shoulder because a lot of people didn't think I could shut her down," Muhonen said. "I took that personally because we are a team that prides ourselves on our defense. I am really happy the hard work is paying off for all of us. My teammates really fired me up, too, because they were knocking down everything."
In Saturday's sectional round with a state tournament spot on the line, the Bearettes will host a 7 p.m. game against an opponent from Murfreesboro - the loser of Thursday's Region 4-AAA title game between Blackman and Oakland.
After entering the second quarter with the score tied at 11, the Bearettes became 3-point assassins led by Sloan Carpenter.
Bradley Central (26-1) made all nine shots from behind the arc through the second and third quarters as Kelsey Carman and Jamia Williams also caught fire from long range to help build a 46-26 lead heading into the fourth.
Carpenter helped dismantle the Lady Panthers as the sophomore point guard went 5-of-6 from 3-point range to finish with a career-high 19 points.
"We kicked it out a lot more tonight, and our shooters made the most of that opportunity," Carpenter said. "When we work as a team, we are tought to beat. We usually hang our hat on our defense, but to shoot so well tonight really sparked us, along with Anna's defense. Our seniors were all great leaders tonight."
Hannah Jones also played well for the Bearettes, who are after the program's seventh state championship.
The star sophomore post swiped the ball at midcourt to start the second half and controlled her dribble with her left hand on her way to hitting a tough layup. Jones' touch in the paint was on point as she finished with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and she also had seven rebounds and three steals, both game highs.
Senior guard Jamia Williams dove on the floor several times to force jumpballs, and she made all three of her shots to finish with eight points, along with Carman.
Bradley Central shot 68%, making 21 of 31 from the field and hitting 10 of their final 11 attempts outside the arc.
GHSA BOYS' QUARTERFINALS
Class A private - Christian Heritage 59, First Presbyterian Day 54: The Lions (23-3) controlled the action early, fell behind late and rallied for the win in Macon to earn their second state semifinal appearance in three years.
Christian Heritage will host Mount Pisgah Christian either Friday or Saturday. The Patriots (25-6) defeated St. Anne Pacelli 62-55 Wednesday.
Freshman Jax Abernathy led Christian Heritage with 25 points, with senior forward Evan Lester adding 19 with eight rebounds and six assists. FPD (22-2), which lost leading scorer Jay Jones to an ankle injury in the second quarter, took a 49-48 lead early in the final period on a jumper by Jay King, who finished with 24 points.
However, a Nash Bingham 3-pointer pushed Christian Heritage's lead to five with 2:14 remaining, and when the Lions forced a turnover on an FPD inbounds play with seven seconds left and up three, the victory celebration began.
"I told our guys you can't flinch in defining moments," Lions coach Tyler Watkins said. "You have to be tough and move to the next play. We did that tonight, and we stayed composed and we stayed together. We executed offensively, and we were disciplined defensively. Now we get to head home to host the final four!"
Class AAA - Cross Creek 72, LaFayette 60: The Ramblers (22-2) never led as visiting Cross Creek (24-4) used a stellar start fueled by point guard Richard Visitacion and elite inside defense to win at LaFayette for the second consecutive year.
Visitacion hit a trio of 3-pointers in the game's first five minutes as the Razorbacks surged to a 13-4 lead. Every time the Ramblers rallied, the senior point guard had an answer. LaFayette cut the lead to 22-19 five minutes into the second quarter on a three-point play from DeCameron Porter and a 3-pointer from Zach Barrett, but Visitacion quickly nailed a 3, stole a pass and hit a layup, making it a three-point play with a foul shot for a 28-19 lead.
Cross Creek's lead grew to 12 in the second half before LaFayette stormed back to make it a two-point game with just more than three minutes to play, thanks to an 8-0 run fueled by back-to-back three-point plays from Aidan Hadaway and Junior Barber. Visitacion, though, turned the momentum right back with a four-point play after making a 3-pointer while getting fouled. The lead did not get under six the rest of the way.
BASEBALL
Heritage 11, Dalton 0: The Generals improved to 5-1 with the nonregion win as Zach Barrett tossed a four-hitter in the five-inning game. Cannon Stafford had two hits and drove in a pair of runs, while Landon Skeen was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored and Alex Mixon and C.J. Robertson added two RBIs each.
Compiled by Patrick MacCoon and Lindsey Young. Contact MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon. Contact Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.