The Bearden Bulldogs faced the Lebanon Blue Devils in a TSSAA Class 4A state tournament semifinal at Murphy Center on Friday, March 18, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Just a week after the Bearden High School girls’ played for and won a Class 4A state championship, the boys will try to match the feat.
And the Bulldogs have toppled two midstate giants to reach this opportunity.
Bearden senior guard and Mr. Basketball finalist Elijah Bredwood scored a game-high 26 points Friday and went 14 of 15 at the foul line, as the Bulldogs knocked off Lebanon, 62-44, in a state semifinal.
Bearden (31-6) stormed to a double-digit lead thanks to hot perimeter play and never really threatened to lose the advantage against Lebanon (29-7), showing that the Bulldogs’ quarterfinal win over Cane Ridge and McDonald’s All-American Brandon Miller was no fluke on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs, who won their first boys’ basketball championship in program history in 2019, will take on Dobyns-Bennett (32-6) at 4 p.m. Central time on Saturday.
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The Indians won their semifinal against Bartlett on Friday in overtime, making a 6-foot shot in the lane at the buzzer. Coached by former Jefferson County head coach Chris Poore, Dobyns-Bennett is making its first state-championship appearance since 1973.
Blackman High School is the last Division I program to win both the boys’ and girls’ basketball state championships in the same season in the largest classification, the Blaze doing that in 2014.
“That’s special. It’s a credit to our community and school and the kids that are in both programs,” Bearden coach Jeremy Parrott said about the opportunity to match what Blackman did eight years ago.
“I’m happy to be a part of a Bearden team in another state title game for the second time in six seasons. … If we could do that tomorrow, that’d be very special.”
If Bearden plays like it has all week, it has a chance.
Bearden led 40-29 heading into the fourth quarter Friday, the Bulldogs having led by double digits at the half and all of the third quarter.
Lebanon’s two college-caliber talents — Yarin Alexander (6-6, senior, wing) and Jarred Hall (6-8, junior, wing) — started to make an impact.
Alexander’s jumper for Lebanon in the first 30 seconds of the fourth cut Bearden’s lead into single digits, 40-31.
Hall, who has been offered by Tennessee, dunked home a putback score with 6:10 to play, cutting the lead to 42-33.
The brief rallies didn’t faze Bearden.
“Just stay calm and trust each other like we’ve done all year,” said Walker Kyle. “Just rely on what we do well: get it in the middle, look for your shooters, drive the ball. Just calm down and stay in the moment.”
That’s what the Bulldogs did while others lost their cool.
Bredwood answered back with two foul shots to go back ahead by 11.
He added two more at the 5:36 mark following a technical foul called on Lebanon coach Jim McDowell, who was upset over a charge call on Lebanon’s Alexander that led to his fifth foul.
Nevertheless, Bearden led 46-33.
Hall buried a 3 from the wing with 5:04 to go that cut Bearden’s lead to 48-41, bringing a massive Lebanon crowd back into play.
But the Blue Devils made just one more field goal the rest of the way, a meaningless jumper by a bench player with 43 seconds to play.
Bearden shot 19 foul shots in the fourth quarter, making just enough (12) to keep some breathing room between it and Lebanon.
“Their offense was something we scouted pretty well,” said Parrott. “We were pretty well-versed in what they were going to do and where they were going to try and get it.
“We knew those two guys (Alexander and Hall) were going to be the ones to carry the load. So it was going to be to focus on those two guys.”
Bearden didn’t just win the first half. It dominated it.
The Bulldogs led 30-17 at the break, having gone 7-for-15 at the 3-point line, having out-rebounded Lebanon (15-13) and having forced 11 turnovers.
Moreover, Bearden’s defensive efforts limited Alexander and Hall to a combined seven points on 3-for-10 shooting.
Kyle hit three 3s in the first half, the last of which moved Bearden ahead 25-15 with 2:50 left in the second quarter.
Wyatt Shomaker’s corner 3 at the buzzer sent Bearden into the half with a 13-point buffer.
That lead stayed in double digits in the third quarter. A 3 by Bredwood and then a 3-point play by Bredwood at the 3:29 and 1:49 marks in the third kept Bearden’s lead at 13.
Bredwood’s foul shots with 35.6 seconds left in the third made Bearden’s lead 40-27.
“All the scout had (Lebanon) in the 3-2 zone with a wide-open middle. With a defense like that, you can’t cover the corners and you can’t cover the middle,” said Parrott. “So they leaned toward the middle, and we leaned toward the corners (with 3s).
“I think they were ready to shoot those.”
5STAR PHOTOS: Bearden Bulldogs vs. Lebanon Blue Devils – 4A state semifinals (March 18, 2022)