By Ken Lay
A stifling defense helped the Bearden Middle School girls basketball team capture a big victory at home Thursday night.
The Lady Bruins toppled Powell, 38-19, in a Knox County Middle School Basketball Conference Class AAA tilt before a boisterous crowd in West Knoxville.
The Lady Bruins (7-3 overall, 6-2 in the KCMSBC) have relied on their defense all season, and Thursday night’s win against the Lady Panthers was no exception.
“This game was our seventh win, and that’s as many games as we won all last year, and I’ll be honest with you, our defense has carried us in all of our wins,” Bearden coach Eric Gray said. “Our defense has been our saving grace.
“We’ve struggled to hit shots, and our defense has carried us in our six (league) wins.”
The Lady Bruins started fast, opening a 9-3 advantage only to see the Lady Panthers rally to knot the contest, 9-9, by first quarter’s end.
Bearden kicked its defense into high gear in the second frame and didn’t allow Powell to score as the Lady Bruins were on their way to taking a 20-9 lead and all but putting the game away.
Bearden’s defense continued to keep the Lady Panthers at bay in the third quarter, outscoring Powell, 7-2, in the third stanza.
Offensively, the Lady Bruins boasted a balanced attack as Aaliyah Robinson and Mikelle Wrancher scored nine points each. Brooklyn Stewart added six points for Bearden, which led 27-11 heading into the final quarter.
Bearden has a young but experienced squad, which recently ended a long losing streak against Farragut in addition to equaling its win total from last season.
“When we beat Farragut, that was the first time that we’ve beaten them in 10 years,” Gray said. “We have a lot of people back, but we don’t have many eighth graders.
“If we can ever get to the point where we can make shots, we’re going to be a hard team to deal with.”
