Behind Treadwell, BHS girls at state
KNOXVILLE — At Saturday night’s girls’ basketball state Sectional game at Bearden High School, visiting Science Hill had balanced scoring and a tough, gritty fight.
But Bearden had Avery Treadwell.
The 6-foot-3 junior poured in 32 points — almost all of them on lay-ups — to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a 65-52 win March 5 and a spot in the Division I-4A Girls State Tournament in Murfreesboro this week.
“Avery was a beast inside,” Bearden head coach Justin Underwood said. “When you’ve got 6-3 inside and she does what she does … I’m just so proud of her. She was the difference-maker, and they did a great job of feeding her the ball.”
It was a streaky game in which Bearden seemed to have things in hand multiple times, only for Science Hill to hang around. The Lady Bulldogs finally slammed the door in the fourth with a 15-0 run, which turned a six-point lead to 21, 60-39, with 3:19 left.
“This game was very post-centered, and it was me and their post going at it,” Treadwell said. “That’s how our team is, one person gets hot and they help the team. But it’s not always the same person. We spread the love.”
Bearden led by only three after one, but built the lead to 14 with 5:10 left in the half. The Lady Toppers cut it to nine by halftime.
Treadwell’s lay-up made it 42-29 late in the third, and it looked like Bearden would cruise from there. But an 8-1 run the rest of the quarter by Science Hill cut the lead to six, 43-37, after three.
“Feeding Avery was really starting to work, especially on that press,” said Bearden senior point guard Jennifer Sullivan, who scored 13. “If we could get the press broken, she’d already be down there. So we were definitely looking for that.”
Kijanae led Science Hill with 18. “I thought Science Hill came in here really determined and their kids played really hard,” Underwood said. “I was proud of our kids to find a way.”
The Lady Bulldogs (33-3) played Blackman from Murfreesboro at 3:45 (EST) Wednesday, March 9 (after deadline) in the quarterfinal round of the state tournament.
