No. 2 Bearden stays perfect in district
Not on Friday, Jan. 16, though. When Bearden beat Farragut 71-31 to remain perfect in District 4-4A, the Bulldogs showed exactly why they have been ranked No. 2 in their classification through a good portion of this season.
Those rankings don’t matter as much to Bearden boys coach Jeremy Parrott, who saw last season end when the Dawgs tumbled from their similarly lofty perch in a regional loss to Oak Ridge.
That result fueled Parrott’s detail-centered message this offseason, and so far, the Bulldogs have delivered with 22 wins — this one by way of 17 points from Justin Nordin, 16 from Brendan Murphy and 12 from Carson Asbaty.
“I’m happy they’ve had this great start, but 6-0 is the most important thing,” said Parrott in reinforcing his team’s mark in district play.
The coach made sure to credit his assistant coach, Tyler Pace, for the scout that led to Bearden’s defensive prowess. That effort helped guide the Bulldogs through an offensive lull, as they led 31-16 at halftime.
But they did not miss much after the break, each shot electrifying a sold-out crowd of more than 2,000 people.
“Everything was going in, so I had to throw them up,” Nordin said with a smile. “I didn’t expect we would win by that much, but at the Dawg House, with this team, that’s what we should do.
“It’s a blessing to play in front of all those people. You have to remember it’s just you and your teammates between the lines, but it brings out the best in every player.”
Farragut saw the unfortunate side of that, as senior Reid Vining led the team with nine points with Matthew Dickens and Aiden Foshie at seven apiece.
“We had opportunities,” said Admirals coach J.P. Burris with a shrug. “Gave up too many offensive rebounds. Too many turnovers, bunch of missed free throws, then missing a lot of wide-open shots. Didn’t capitalize on those, and they did and blew the game open.”
Burris continued in saying that this game provides a good measuring stick given where Bearden is currently listed.
“We’ve got to play them again and hopefully will play them a couple more times because they will be in district and region championship games,” Burris said. “There’s a reason they’re the second-ranked team in the state and ranked nationally.
“They’re well coached and do phenomenal things offensively and defensively. So just telling our guys the sun will rise tomorrow and we still have a lot of work to do.”
