Bearden falls in state quarterfinals

MURFREESBORO — Drejean Dave-Tucker sees what is coming.

The lone senior on Bearden High School’s team, Dave-Tucker’s only Tennessee state tournament experience — he played in another as a sophomore while playing in Alaska — did not last long with the Bulldogs falling to Independence 63-48 in the Class AAA quarterfinals of the tournament Wednesday inside Middle Tennessee State’s Murphy Center.

However, with all the youth that surrounded him throughout this run, including four sophomores alongside him in the starting rotation, he knows there are more appearances to come.

“The sky is the limit for these guys,” Dave-Tucker said. “I’m really proud of them for how far they made it this year. With so many sophomores, to make it to state is kind of crazy to think about.”

In this appearance — the program’s first since 2011 — the Bulldogs (22-10) did not play as they have all season. Twenty-one turnovers resulted in 21 points for the Eagles (24-10) and scoring lulls allowed Independence to extend a lead it grabbed in the opening possessions and never relinquished.

A five-minute, 38-second drought without a field goal — the only points it tallied over that stretch came on a pair of Trent Stepheny free throws — to end the first half sent Bearden into the locker room trailing 34-24. Independence built on that lead by closing out the third quarter on a 14-4 run to give itself a 52-32 lead.

“I felt the game turned into a little bit of a scramble and we felt that we had to make that 15-point shot that doesn’t exist,” Bearden coach Jeremy Parrot said. “It was one of those things that we got behind the 8-ball most of the game. We just got out of our element there and didn’t do what we needed to.”

The sophomore duo of Stephney and Ques Glover is a large part of why Bearden found itself in Murfreesboro — the two combined for 49 points in a rout of Science Hill in the Class AAA sectionals — but they were held in check Wednesday.

Stepheny tallied a team-high 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting while Glover added seven on 3-of-12 shooting. Shamarcus Brown, who scored 10 points, was the only other Bulldog to finish in double figures outside of Stephney.

Independence had four scorers in double figures, with Mac James tallying a game-high 16 points. Grayson Murphy added 12, while Greg Miller and Jeremiah Barr also chipped in 11 apiece.

The loss stings, but the Bulldogs know they have the potential to make return trips in the coming years. The focus now is on working to make sure those visits last longer than a day.

“I think next year and the year after we’re going to be better and better,” Stephney said. “We’ll grow and get better and stronger and that’ll help us compete and get back against teams like this.”

“(The future) is as bright as they want to make it,” Parrot added. “They’re a great group of kids — positive kids who work hard — and we just have to focus a little more and grow a little more. I’m never happy to lose, but hopefully the experience is money in the bank.”