Blue Raiders use inside-outside attack to beat Bradley Central [photos]

Binge of 3-pointers helps Blue Raiders top Bradley

Cleveland's Dionte Ware (15) stretches to save a loose ball early in first half action against cross-town rival Bradley Central Friday night.
Cleveland's Dionte Ware (15) stretches to save a loose ball early in first half action against cross-town rival Bradley Central Friday night.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Much like establishing the run sets up the pass in football, having success inside leads to open perimeter shots in basketball.

Cleveland's Blue Raiders looked every bit the part of that formula Friday night, particularly from one half to the other.

The result was a 71-44 victory for Cleveland, which hosted rival Bradley Central in a District 5-AAA game in front of a large crowd at the Blue Raiders' new gymnasium.

Cleveland (17-2, 7-0) strengthened its hold on first place in the district, while knocking Bradley (11-7, 5-2) out of a tie for second in the loss column. East Hamilton is 4-1 in the league after Friday's district win against Soddy-Daisy (0-7 5-AAA).

"This gives a cushion of at least a three-game lead over Bradley with us beating them twice and having the head-to-heads out of the way," Cleveland coach Jason McCowan said. "But East Hamilton just has one loss, so we've still got somebody right there. There's not a lot of room for us to relax. Plus, we've got three district games sandwiched in next week, with the makeup of the snow date with Ooltewah."

The Blue Raiders got off to an 11-2 start against the Bears with post players K.K. Curry and Dionte Ware scoring four points apiece. Curry had 16 of his 20 points and Ware had six of his 11 in the first half, which ended with Cleveland leading by 19.

Then in the third quarter, after Bradley had pulled within 40-26, Cleveland's Romeo Wykle made a 3-pointer ahead of four more by Deontae Davis in a span of two minutes. The Blue Raiders led 59-33 going to the fourth.

"I didn't think it was over until Dionte turned around and hit a couple or three 3s after we had gotten it down to about 14," Bradley coach Chuck Clark said. "Then it went right back up to 21 or so. That kind of took all the wind out of our sails."

McCowan said all of Ware's 3-point baskets during his hot streak - two from the right wing, one from the right corner and one from the left side - were all good looks at the basket.

"Once he saw it go in, his confidence went up," McCowan said. "If we'd have kept him in there longer, he'd have probably made five or six."

Ware also had a 3-pointer and a putback in the second quarter and ended up with 17 points.

Cole Copeland had 20 points for Bradley, but no teammate had more than six. The Bears were without starters Lameric Tucker and John Brown, who are expected back in the near future.

Clark said at one point, his group on the court included a freshman and two sophomores who have played little on varsity.

"Even though we got beat, I learned something tonight," Clark said. "There were a couple of guys who showed me something, and I'm going to stay with them. They earned some playing time. We've been playing about six or seven, but I'm going to give some of these other guys more of an opportunity. I'd been hesitant before. That's my fault."

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.

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