Bearden’s basketball teams played up to their rankings Friday night and pulled off a double-header sweep at rival Farragut.
Junior point guard Natalya Hodge scored 21 points as Bearden’s girls defeated Farragut 54-46, clinching the No. 1 seeding in District 4-4A for the postseason.
In Friday’s second game, junior point guard Justin Nordin scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, leading Bearden’s boys to a 54-48 victory over the Admirals.
Bearden’s girls are ranked No. 3 in the state by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association, and the Bulldogs are ranked No. 4 in the state by the TSWA.
Here are some highlights of Friday’s games:
HODGE SURPASSES 2,000
Hodge, who has multiple Power 4 offers, surpassed the 2,000-point mark for her career during the victory at Farragut.
“I think it’s in, like, 99 games,” Bearden coach Justin Underwood said. “It’s pretty special for a kid like that who can fill it up. I’ve never coached a kid that has instant offense like her. She can find a way to score at all three levels. She works so hard outside of the gym just getting better. I’m tickled for her.”
Bearden (25-4, 9-0 in District 4-4A) fended off another upset bid by Farragut (18-8, 7-2), which lost at Bearden 49-48 on Hodge’s free throw with less than a second remaining on Jan. 17.
This time, Bearden trailed 30-29 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter, and with its zone defense, held Farragut scoreless for about 7 minutes during the third and fourth quarters.
“We knew we were going to be in a tough spot with the rivalry and being on their floor and it was a close game last time,” Underwood said. “I think to hold them in the 40s with the amount of offensive firepower they have, I’m just really proud of our kids.”
Senior guard Kendall Anne Murphy had 12 points and senior wing Aisha Patel scored eight for the Lady Bulldogs.
Theola Mills, a 5-11 junior post, scored four points and had double-digit rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs. She blocked a shot early in the game, went out briefly after rolling her ankle, and was able to return.
“I think (Mills) was huge tonight,” Underwood said.
Farragut, which will be the district’s No. 2 seed, was led in scoring by senior point guard Jaci Neubert and sophomore post Trinity Curry with 13 points each and junior guard K.J. McNealy with 10 points.
Barring an upset in the district tournament, Farragut and Bearden will play again.
“We’ve done this before,” Farragut coach Jason Mayfield said. “We end up playing them multiple times, including the postseason.
“This one’s tough because we had a good feeling about it, but feelings are only feelings. We’ve got to come back to work whenever they let us come back to work since we’re out Monday and Tuesday. We’ll rebound from this and look forward to the next game.”
Knox County Schools are out Monday and Tuesday due to illnesses, so none of its schools will be playing regularly scheduled games those days.
Bearden was scheduled to be host to William Blount on Tuesday and Farragut was set to host Hardin Valley Academy.
In Friday’s game, Neubert’s 3-pointer with 6 minutes and 15 seconds left in the third quarter gave Farragut a 30-29 lead.
Bearden went on a 10-1 run, taking a 39-31 lead on Murphy’s transition layup with 3 minutes left in the third.
The Lady Admirals scored the next five points – cutting the deficit to 39-36 – but went almost 7 minutes without scoring again.
Bearden, meanwhile, used a 9-0 run and took control, leading 48-36 after Hodge’s putback with 2:30 left.
“I just felt like they were making a bunch of hustle plays,” Mayfield said, “and I thought we were getting out-worked, especially with (Bearden’s) two players inside, getting offensive rebounds and putbacks. That wasn’t the whole part of the game, but I thought that was a big part of the game. That’s how they stretched the lead.”
Bearden was 7 of 17 from 3-point range and Farragut was 6 of 27.
“I thought they were all good looks,” Mayfield said of the 3-pointers. “I didn’t mind it at all. It was a little bit more than what we normally shoot, but you’ve kind of got to do that against (Bearden’s zone defense).”
Bearden made all 11 of its free throws. Farragut was 4 of 6 from the foul line.
“They played a good game,” Underwood said. “We played a good game. We’re excited for winning the district, but at the same time, we’ll get ready for postseason ball, which is coming pretty soon.”
BULLDOGS RALLY FOR WIN
Bearden (24-4, 8-1 in District 4-4A) trailed by seven late in the second quarter of Friday’s game after a three-point play by Dom VanAcker.
Nordin’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to 33-32 with 4:37 left in the third quarter, starting a 14-2 run.
Jamichael Blair’s fast-break layup gave the Bulldogs a 43-35 lead with 7:31 left in the game.
“Farragut brought a great fight tonight,” Bearden coach Jeremy Parrott said. “They played hard and played tough and took it to us for a while. Fortunately for us, we got our wits about us and were able to slow them down a little bit because they were off and running.
“We weren’t doing very much right in the first half, so we needed to go possession by possession in the second half, and I feel like we were just a possession or two better.”
Farragut trailed by three with a minute left in the game.
With 51 seconds left, Farragut senior guard Carson MacTavish drove for a layup, and Bearden’s Sean Capshaw was called for an intentional foul that sent MacTavish landing awkwardly on the floor.
MacTavish stayed on the floor for several minutes before being helped off the court.
Farragut coach J.P. Burris said the main concern was MacTavish potentially having a concussion. He sustained a concussion in the Admirals’ third game of the season and missed an extended period of time.
When Friday’s game ended, MacTavish had already left the gym, so Burris didn’t have an update on his condition.
“He was conscious,” Burris said of MacTavish after the fall. “He was moving. He had all extremities.”
Senior guard Bryce Howard shot the free throws for MacTavish, making both and cutting the deficit to 49-48 with 50.5 seconds left.
The Admirals, however, committed a turnover on the inbounds pass, and Blair scored on a layup with 37 seconds to go for a 51-48 lead.
Howard missed the potential tying 3-point shot with 25 seconds left.
Bearden made 3 of 4 free throws in the remaining time, while Farragut missed two more 3-point attempts.
“We had an opportunity,” Burris said. “We didn’t necessarily execute in the end there at the pivotal moments, and at the end of the day, that’s on me. I need to do a better job of prepping some of this stuff in practice so we execute it better in games, but our guys battled.”
Blair, a 6-6 senior wing, returned from a foot injury and finished with 11 points.
Senior guard King Hubbard scored 10 points and Capshaw, a junior wing, finished with nine points for Bearden.
“Our guards are tough and when they’re playing well, they’re really tough,” Parrott said. “It was nice to have (Blair) back tonight.”
VanAcker, a 6-3 senior forward, led Farragut’s scoring with 23 points and junior point guard Parker Lane scored 13.
Bearden made 12 of 15 free throws, and Farragut was 7 of 16 from the foul line.
The Admirals were 1 of 7 from the line in the first quarter.
“We shoot free throws in practice every day,” Burris said. “Maybe I need to put a premium on how we shoot free throws. I’m not going to blame our guys. I’ve just got to figure out ways to help us be more successful at the line.”
Farragut lost its third straight district game.
“We’ve shown the last week and a half we can play with just about anybody,” Burris said. “We’ve just got to get over the hump, but playing West, Maryville and Bearden three straight games is not easy to do.
“All three of those teams are extremely talented and well-coached. They’ve been good tests for us. Hopefully we’ve learned from it and hopefully it will help us if we can advance in the district tournament.”
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