Bulldogs sweep tourneys
Knoxville — High school basketball, at its core, is a tournament sport, and Bearden High School boys basketball coach Jeremy Parrott takes opportunities to put his teams in tournament situations.
Last week, Parrott and the Bulldogs played four games in five days, and Bearden won all four of the contests, all against quality competition, in impressive fashion
“The biggest takeaway from all of this is that we played multiple games over back-to- back days,” Parrott said. “Basketball is a tournament sport and in (postseason) tournaments, you have to play on back-to-back days.”
With last week’s four victories, the Bulldogs kept their perfect record intact, improving to 12-0 overall and 3-0 in District 4-4A.
On Saturday night, Dec. 13, Bearden defeated Austin-East, 82-50, in the Battle of the Ville at Knoxville West High School.
The Bulldogs had a balanced scoring attack against the Roadrunners (6-7) as four Bearden players posted double figures in the scoring column with Justin Nordin leading the way with 26 points.
Sean Capshaw added 14 points while Brendan Murphy had 12 and Damian Collum finished with 10.
“We’re getting production from all over the floor,” Parrott said. “We have several guys scoring but we’re trying to prepare to make changes on the fly and that’s what helps us about playing back-to-back games on multiple days.”
The Bulldogs opened the Battle of the Ville on Friday night, Dec. 12, with a win over Fulton, prevailing, 67-45, over the Falcons at Austin-East High School.
Nordin led Bearden with 19 points. Murphy and Carson Asbaty, a transfer from Knoxville Catholic, scored 13 points each while Capshaw finished with 12.
On Thursday, Dec. 11, the Bulldogs received a visit from district newcomer Rhea County and promptly routed the Golden Eagles, 87-37 as five Bulldogs scored 10-plus points in the contest.
Asbaty led the way with 19 points. Capshaw chipped in with 16. Collum had 13 while Nordin had 12 and Murphy finished with 12.
On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the Bulldogs outlasted Hardin Valley Academy, 86-78, in a district road game.
Asbaty scored 23 points while Capshaw had 21.
Nordin scored 16 and Murphy added 14.
Despite seeing his team win in impressive fashion out of the gate in 2025-26, Parrott is still looking for more from his squad.
‘”We’re playing against ourselves but we’re 12-0 and that’s all we can be,” Parrott said. “And we have some things that we need to fix.
“If we don’t get them fixed, there will be a loss looming out there somewhere.”
