Guards combine for 50 as Bearden ends Irish win streaks, goes 7-0 in 4-AAA
KNOXVILLE — Bearden High School’s boys basketball team kept its perfect District 4-AAA record intact Friday night, Jan. 5. The Bulldogs also retained sole possession of first place in league standings.
But things didn’t come easily as Bearden notched an 81-68 road victory over Knoxville Catholic.
“Catholic is a tough team but we knew that,” Jeremy Parrott, BHS head coach, said.
Bearden [19-1 overall, 7-0 in District 4-AAA after the win] used another big second half to snap the Irish’s 33-game home winning streak and 12-game win streak this season.
The Bulldogs received a stellar effort from their backcourt, as guards Ques Glover and Trent Stephney, both juniors and three-year starters, combined to scored 50 points.
Glover scored a game-high 26 points while Stephney had 24. Drew Pember and Roman Robinson added seven points apiece.
The Bulldogs played well after the break despite having two of their dominant post players in foul trouble. Pember and Shamarcus Brown [who finished with just two points] were on the bench for much of the game.
“It’s funny, we had that big second half when Pember and Shamarcus Brown were out of the game,” Parrott said. “They were both in foul trouble.”
However, “This is a great group of kids and I’m blessed to have a team like this with a great junior class,” he added.
Catholic dropped to 12-2 overall and 5-2 in the district.
“They have depth and they’re good,” longtime Irish head coach Mike Hutchens said of Bearden. “They’re one of the best five or six Triple-A teams in the state.
“They hit some tough shots. It isn’t like we don’t guard,” he added. “They hit shots when we were almost knocking them down. We shot 57 percent from the floor and we lost by 13 at home.
“We were tired because I couldn’t take Brock [Jancek] or Jack [Sompayrac] off the floor.”
Sompayrac led the Irish with 25 points. Jancek finished with 18 and Jack Jancek added 12 for Catholic.
