Bearden basketball coach Jeremy Parrott needed a bounce-back game from his team Friday night, and he got it.
Junior point guard Justin Nordin scored 18 points as the Bulldogs beat host Maryville 57-51, shaking off Tuesday’s four-point home loss to West High. “Gigantic,” Parrott said of Friday’s victory, “especially doing what we did (Tuesday) night. I wasn’t happy.”
Bearden (21-4, 7-1 in District 4-4A), ranked No. 4 in the state by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association, moved closer to clinching the top seed for the district tournament. The Bulldogs have two district games left: at Farragut (Feb. 7) and at home against William Blount (Feb. 11).
“Anywhere in conference on the road is scary,” Parrott said. “Coming over here (to Maryville), they’ve put some things together and are playing better. It was a worrisome task.”
Maryville (16-9, 4-3) is third in the district behind Bearden and West (17-4, 5-2). Maryville lost at Bearden by a 61-33 score on Jan. 14.
Friday’s game was much tighter.
“I felt like over there (at Bearden) we got on them early and got them reeling a little bit and they didn’t recover,” Parrott said. “We knew it was going to be a whole different story over here. We didn’t expect to come over here and have that same outcome.”
Nordin was 6 of 10 from the field Friday – including 4 of 7 from 3-point range – and made 2 of 3 free throws.
Senior guard King Hubbard scored 14 points and junior wing Sean Capshaw had 12 points for the Bulldogs. Hubbard scored 11 in the second half.
Bearden played its second straight game without 6-6 senior wing Jamichael Blair, who has a foot injury. Blair, averaging about 12 points, could return next week at Farragut.
“Seeing the other guys step up (without Blair) and take care of business was very important to us,” Parrott said. “We’re deep anyway, but I think that (depth) was a strength, having to play without (Blair).”
Maryville was led in scoring by junior point guard Jonathan Woodlee with 15 points and 6-9 junior forward Luke Sigmund and junior guard Brayden Hazelbaker with 10 points each.
The Rebels’ Brody Smith, a 6-6 junior center, was held to three points.
“I hope what I see on film is we did a better job on their posts,” Parrott said. “I think we did a good job keeping them from touching it. They still got it some and it hurt us.”
Nordin’s 3-pointer tied the game 9-9 with 3 minutes and 51 seconds left in the first quarter.
Maryville went on a 10-0 run – starting with back-to-back dunks by Sigmund – and had a 19-11 lead after one quarter.
Bearden opened the second quarter with a 12-0 run. Andrew Baker’s 3-pointer started the run, and Nordin’s 3-pointer ended it, giving the Bulldogs a 23-19 lead.
Maryville reclaimed the lead at 25-23 with Woodlee’s 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer.
It was short-lived, however, as Bearden started the third quarter with a 9-0 run, capped by Nordin’s 3-pointer for a 32-25 lead. Maryville went more than 3 minutes in the third quarter without scoring.
“If you’re going to compete with the best teams in the state, you can’t do that,” Maryville coach Wes Lambert said. “You’ve got to even out your peaks and valleys, and right now, we’re just either hot or really cold. It’s frustrating, but the good thing about it is you can’t say they’re not giving everything they’ve got.”
Bearden had a 39-35 lead after three quarters, and the game was tied at 46 with 4 minutes left.
Nordin’s three-point play with 3:50 left gave the Bulldogs a 49-46 lead, and they never trailed again.
After a Maryville turnover, Baker scored on a drive and layup for a 51-46 Bearden lead with 3:15 left. The Bulldogs led by three or more the rest of the game.
“It was one of those games where it came down to who was going to make a play or two here or there, and luckily we did,” Parrott said.
Maryville committed 12 turnovers to Bearden’s eight turnovers.
“I just think we get too lackadaisical with the ball, and we don’t value our possessions,” Lambert said. “We allow Bearden’s pressure to speed us up too much, and you can’t do that.”
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