Staff Photo by Allison Carter/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Tuesday during Cleveland High School's basketball game against Bradley Central at Cleveland Tevin Rutledge, left, guards Justin Houston.CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Leading up to their basketball game Tuesday night against rival Cleveland, Bradley Central's Bears devoted their defensive game plan to limiting Blue Raiders guards D.J. Bowles and B.J. Davis.
Option No. 3 for the Raiders, Tevin Rutledge, took full advantage.
Rutledge finished with four 3-point baskets and 26 points, and a 22-4 Raiders run over the final 9:20 of the first half buried the Bears as host Cleveland cruised to a 66-52 victory.
"We really tried to take Bowles and Davis away," Bradley coach Kent Smith said. "We really didn't try to concern ourselves with the other guys, because from what we saw those were the two guys that consistently hurt teams.
"[Rutledge] was the X-factor."
The Bears did execute the game plan, as Bowles finished with 13 points while Davis was held to two, but Rutledge was the primary beneficiary of some open looks and seemingly knocked all of them down. The other, senior Jarod Rhodes, scored 19 points for Cleveland.
"Any time you're on the floor with D.J. and B.J., you're going to have opportunities for open shots," Cleveland coach Jason McCowan said. "I thought that Tevin took advantage of his opportunities and took good shots that he was comfortable with and capable of making."
The teams were tied at 19 at the end of the first quarter, but Cleveland started to get out in transition and convert rebounds and steals into layups. McCowan said his team's ability to keep Bradley off the boards was the key to the game.
"I didn't think [Bradley] ever got into a good rhythm," he said. "They were missing shots, but they were going and getting them early; we had trouble keeping them off the boards.
"Once we did, I thought that was a huge difference in the game."
Cleveland led 35-23 at halftime, but Bradley clawed to within 39-34 early in the third quarter. The Raiders responded again, this time with a 10-3 run to end the period, with Rutledge canning a 3 at the buzzer for a 49-37 lead.
Houston led the Bears with 17 points, while James Stovall added 15.
"We talked about keeping our composure, but we got sucked into their style of play," Smith said. "You have to be disciplined against a team like Cleveland, and tonight we weren't."
Said McCowan: "We're creeping toward finding our identity. This was a huge district win, and it's good to be able to get it against a good Bradley team. I'm proud we were able to play as well as we did."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6311. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/gh3sports.