Lady Bulldogs win, lack consistency
Knoxville — Despite seeing his team pick up a key District 4-4A victory at home early last week, Bearden High School girls basketball coach Justin Underwood admitted that he was a bit frustrated.
“We played well in spurts but we also had spurts where we were spectators,” Underwood said after the Lady
Bulldogs toppled Lenoir City, 66-50, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, at Bearden High. “That’s a little frustrating.
“I know it’s a Tuesday night game and I know that we’re just getting back in school after the break, but we have to be more consistent.”
The Lady Bulldogs had a 40-16 lead at halftime against the Lady Panthers, coached by former Webb School of Knoxville head coach Shelley Collier.
But Bearden got a little sloppy after the break and Lenoir City took advantage of some Bearden miscues. The Lady Panthers scored the first seven points of the second half and pulled to within 40-23 with six minutes, one second remaining in the third quarter after Lexi Varner buried a three-point shot.
From there, Bearden and Lenoir City slugged through an evenly-matched third frame as both teams scored 16 points over that eight-minute span.
“They have some good players and they made some shots,” Underwood said of the Lady Panthers. “And Shelley does a great job.”
Lenoir City, despite being behind big after three quarters, didn’t go away and they made things a bit more interesting by outscoring Bearden, 18-10, over the final eight minutes of the contest.
Lenoir City had three players post double figures in the scoring column but that trio of players did most of its damage with the game’s outcome no longer in doubt.
Kara Gresham had 15 points, including 12 over the final 16 minutes of the contest. Varner had 13 in the game and Rylee Bolling had 12, including eight after halftime.
Bearden’s Natalya Hodge led all scorers with 21 points. Riley Hunt added 18 and Emma Rainey chipped in with 11.
The Lady Bulldogs (17-3 overall, 5-0 in the district) won at McMinn County Friday night, notching a 76-38 victory in Athens.
Hodge scored 18 points. Hunt had 15. Baylie Myers added 13 and Emma Rainey finished with 11.
