Bearden girls dump Sci-Hill
KNOXVILLE — Bearden High School’s girls basketball team did just what it wanted to Saturday night, March 6, in a state sectional game.
Not only did the Lady Bulldogs avenge last year’s sub-state loss to Johnson City Science Hill — they did so in impressive fashion.
“We knew they were young, and we just wanted to come out here and get this over with,” said BHS junior guard Emily Gonzalez, who scored a game-high 18 points in Bearden’s 67-38 victory at BHS. “This was definitely a big accomplishment for all of us.
“But this was our goal. This is what we set out to do. We don’t care about individual stats, we just want to win.”
Saturday night’s win propelled Bearden (30-1) into the Class AAA State Tournament in Murfreesboro. There it will play Hardin County today (Thursday, March 11) beginning at 5 p.m. (EST).
It also avenged last year’s heartbreaking 49-47 loss to Science Hill (20-12), which has no seniors on its 2020-21 roster. Hardin County heads to the Midstate with a 20-2 record after routing Houston 64-28 in another state sectional over the weekend.
Lady Bulldogs’ head coach Justin Underwood said he knew Science Hill had a young team, but he also knew the Lady Hilltoppers would put forth their best effort.
“We knew that they were young but we also knew that they would battle and play hard,” said Underwood, who is making his fourth trip to Murfreesboro in his 10th year as the school’s head coach.
“I think we’ve got a very talented team, and the kids have worked extremely hard,” he added. “To come out on your home court and put 46 points on the board and hold them to 16, I thought we played about as good of a half as we could have.”
Gonzalez was one of three Bearden players to post double figures in the scoring column. Junior Jennifer Sullivan had 14 points and Maddie Brillhart finish with 12.
Avery Treadwell, Bearden’s sophomore center, finished with nine points, while guard Hannah Claire Stephens came off the bench and knocked down a pair of 3-point shots en route to scoring seven points.
