Make it 48 straight, 26 this season, for Lady Dawgs
HARDIN VALLEY — On Friday, Jan. 20, Bearden High School’s girls basketball team cruised to an easy win versus visiting Hardin Valley Academy, 60-30.
Friday night’s rematch at HVA was a near mirror-image of the first game, as BHS built an early lead then rolled to a 62-32 victory Feb. 3.
The defending state-champion Lady Bulldogs record stayed perfect at 26-0 — having won 48 straight over two seasons — and 9-0 in District 4-4A entering this week. The victory also clinched the district title. The Lady Hawks fell to 16-11, 2-7 entering the week.
“I thought our kids did a good job defensively,” BHS head coach Justin Underwood said.
“I thought we were able to share the ball and get some different scorers tonight. That’s about as balanced as we’ve been for most of the year.”
“Size was a huge factor,” said Jennifer Galloway, Lady Hawks head coach. “I thought we played very tough and played hard and battled. I was proud of all the girls that they didn’t back down. We got more looks in the second half.”
Two lay-ups and a trey gave Bearden a quick 7-0 lead, but HVA cut it to 11-6 on Kyndra West’s three with 2:32 left in the opening quarter.
But in the final two minutes of the period, the Lady Dawgs ran off nine straight points to gain control 20-6 after one.
Bearden continued to assert its dominance in the second quarter, leading 46-18 at halftime.
With the score 54-21 after three quarters, Underwood was able to substitute widely in the fourth.
“I think we played really well tonight,” Bearden junior wing Rachael Wilhoit said. “We moved the ball around really well and played well together. Our defense was really good.”
Senior post Avery Treadwell and sophomore wing Kendall Anne Murphy shared scoring honors with 13 each for Bearden. Wilhoit got 10.
Lily Adkisson was the lone double-digit scorer for HVA with 12.
“Winning on the road in this league, we wanna make sure we take care of business,” Underwood said. “I thought we did a good job of making things tough on them.”
