It was a "Senior Night" to remember as the Bradley Central hoop teams evenly split 182 points in sweep of Chattanooga Christian School Friday, in Jim Smiddy Arena.
The top-ranked (4A) Bearettes opened the twinbill with a 91-39 rout of the fellow state-ranked (DII-AA) Lady Chargers, that was followed by a 91-60 victory for the Bears.
Bradley now turns its sights on the upcoming District 6-4A Tournament this week on their home court.
Both "Black-and-Gold" squads won the league's regular season championship, so they will open in the 6 p.m. games on Tuesday for the girls and Wednesday for the boys.
The Bearettes (25-1, 6-0) will take on No. 4 seed Howard (4-14, 0-6), while the Bears (18-8, 6-0) will do the same the following night against Ooltewah (4-18, 0-6).
In the nightcaps, second-seeded East Hamilton (20-11, 4-2) will tangle with No. 3 Ooltewah (14-10, 2-4) in a girls game Tuesday, with the Hurricanes (5-21, 3-3) and Hustlin' Tigers (9-13, 3-3) will meet Wednesday.
The girls' consolation and championships game will be played Friday evening, with the boys to do the same Saturday.
All four district schools will advance to the Region 3-4A Tournament to be hosted on the home floor of the District 6 champions, after the first round is played on the floor of the district champs and runners-up.
BEARS 91
CHARGERS 60
Bradley never trailed, but started rather slowly and found themselves with a slim 17-14 lead after one quarter. The Bears began to put some distance between themselves and the CCS (8-13) in the second frame to lead 40-28 at the half.
All five Bear starters, who were named to the All-District 6 team earlier in the week, seemed to have found another gear in the third quarter that had the Chargers reeling with a dominating performance by point guard Jarrius Rogers, who was one of eight Bear seniors honored between games.
Rogers hit back-to-back-back treys that were fed by Charger turnovers and gave the Bears a 67-46 lead after three periods when the hosts went on a 12-0 run to put the game out of reach.
For the game, Rogers sank five from "distance" among his career-high 19 points and for good measure added five assists, while forcing four turnovers.
“He was on fire, offensively and defensively,” said Bradley head coach Zach Carpenter. “We were really having fun out there tonight. It’s a good win on 'Senior Night' as we head to the district tourney.”
Rogers was one of three Bears in double figures with senior Dee Reid scoring 12 and junior Tyrese Stovall, the District 6 Player of the Year, blasting his way to 16 points and 10 rebounds for another double-double.
For the game the Bears sank a season high 15 3-pointers and cleared the boards for 40 rebounds, with the defense making 21 steals and forcing 26 Charger turnovers.
The Chargers were without Mr. Basketball finalist Zundra "Dre" Jackson due to injury and could have used his 24 points per game average. In their early December game Jackson pitched in 27 points in a 72-68 Bear win.
Reid Conley led the Chargers with 24 points in Friday’s game, with Caiden Baldwin notching 12.
BEARETTES 91
LADY CHARGERS 39
Unlike their male counterparts, the Bearettes honored just one senior with recent Tennessee Wesleyan University commit Grace Phillips receiving the accolades.
Bradley started slowly and trailed the Lady Chargers (15-9), 12-7 after a 7-0 run behind the torrid first quarter scoring of Aubriyana Camp, who posted 12 points in the period.
There is a reason that all five Bearette starters were named to the All-District team and it would be a short-lived lead as they came roaring back with a 35-point run, covering the first and second quarters as Miss Basketball finalist Kimora Fields poured in 24 first half points.
The Bearettes went to intermission with a 63-26 lead with Fields adding nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks to her stat line for the game.
CCS, much like their male counterparts, were without the services of their star player — Miss Basketball finalist Kamora "Momo" Moore, who was sidelined with Covid after their Thursday game with Baylor.
Moore is only an eighth-grader but under TSSAA rules, she is allowed to play for the high school varsity team since the middle school and high school are on the same campus.
“I wish she had been able to play tonight,” said veteran "Papa Bear" Jason Reuter after the game. “We needed a strong game and this hurt them. She is a great competitor as you can see from the first time we played.”
Moore led all scorers in the December game with 27 points.
Hitting 12-of-16 from the field, plus sinking 7-of-8 free throws, Fields finished Friday's rout with double-double including 31 points and 12 ricochets, while adding four steals and swatting four Lady Charger shot attempts.
Junior Harmonie Ware added 21 points with six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Classmate TaTianna Stovall missed having another double-double by just one rebound as she scored 16 points, dished out four assists and swiped four steals.
Hitting 3-of-5 shots, including a pair from distance, junior point guard Malia Wilcox helped out with eight points, four assists, four thefts and just one turnover. Sophomore Addie Geren helped out with five points, five helps and a pair of blocks.
The Bearettes recorded 21 steals, while forcing 32 Lady Charger turnovers that led to 48 points and allowed them to dominate in the paint with 42 rebounds providing 44 of their 91 points.
