Bearden's finishing kick too much for Hardin Valley

Bearden didn't have a strong start, but finished strong.

After scoring just eight points in the first quarter, the Bulldogs bounced back to beat Hardin Valley 61-51 on Friday and clinch a spot in Tuesday's District 4-AAA title game against No. 8 Maryville, a 68-64 winner over West 68-64.

Bearden rebounded first on the defensive end, limiting the Hawks to just five points in the second quarter. After the intermission, the Bulldogs got their offense going, scoring 19 and 21 points in the third and fourth quarters.

Trent Stephney scored a game-high 20 points for Bearden, while Drew Pember added 13. HVA was paced by Aaron Dykes, who scored 15 points.

Union County 92, Gatlinburg-Pittman 81: Four days after defeating Gatlinburg-Pittman to cap its regular season, Union County downed the Highlanders once again, this time in the opening round of the District 3-AA tournament at Austin-East.

Landan Oaks scored a career-high 26 points for Union County, 16 of which came in the fourth quarter. The Patriots will face No. 4 Fulton in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Powell 56, Halls 42: Four games, four wins.

Powell has had Halls' number this season, and that did not change on Friday. The Panthers' latest victory over the Red Devils advances them to the semifinals of the District 3-AAA tournament, where they will face Karns at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Catholic 88, Scott 40: No. 1 Catholic steamrolled Scott to clinch a spot in the District 4-AA title game, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Alcoa High School. The Irish, who extended their winning streak to 21 games, got a game-high 25 points from Brock Jancek, while also getting 19- and 16-point contributions from Chase Kuerschen and Luke Smith, respectively.