Undefeated Bearden boys surge past Farragut late, 76-53
Bearden’s boys basketball team is as good as advertised, but Bulldogs coach Jeremy Parrott said there’s still plenty of room for improvement after a 76-53 win at Farragut on Friday night.
Bearden (12-0, 4-0) used a decisive fourth quarter run to pull away from the Admirals.
“The fact that we’re finding ways to win pleases me, but we’ve still got a long way to go to get to where we need to be,” said Parrott.
Bearden used a 22-7 fourth-quarter surge to end the upset hopes of Farragut (3-6, 1-3).
“Our coach talked about intensity at halftime and we stepped it up,” said Bearden’s 6-foot-4 junior post Shamarcus Brown, who scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Parrott said the Bulldogs can’t keep waiting until the fourth quarter to turn it on.
“We’ve been a second-half team this year,” he said. “We seem to guard better in the fourth quarter, but we’re not a good 32-minute defensive team right now. We’ve got to cut that out.”
As predicted
Bearden’s fast start is no surprise.
The Bulldogs were pegged as one of the teams to watch this season after making a surprise trip to the state Class AAA tournament quarterfinals a year ago with a sophomore-laden roster.
“We knew we’d get taller, quicker and stronger – that comes with age – but we’ve got to get stronger mentally,” said Parrott, in his second year as Bearden coach.
Bearden’s average margin of victory through 12 games has been 30.8 points.
The Bulldogs’ closest game was a 63-60 win at Cleveland earlier this month.
Bearden started four juniors and a senior against the Admirals.
The dynamic guard tandem of juniors Ques Glover and Trent Stephney opened in the backcourt, as usual.
Glover poured in a game-high 26 points. He was 6 of 13 from the field and 12 of 14 from the free throw line.
Stephney totaled 20 points on 9-for-21 shooting and he picked up three steals.
“Ques and Trent are our motors,” said Parrott. “They do things on both ends of the floor.”
Drew Pember, a 6-foot-8 wing, had seven points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
“Drew is a matchup problem for anybody,” Parrott noted.
Bearden also started 6-3 Roman Robinson on the wing and 6-7 post Justin Ketterl, the lone senior on the team.
Brown’s inspired play was key for the Bulldogs, especially with 6-5 junior post Kordell Kah (ankle) sidelined.
“Shamarcus Brown really is an unsung guy on this team,” said Parrott.
How Farragut hung close
Parrott said the Admirals attacked his team’s defense about as well as anyone has all season.
“Farragut played well and did a great job executing in the half court,” he explained.
Caleb Thompson led the Admirals with 12 points. Chris Dalton added 11 and Ethan Sherrill 10.
Farragut also outrebounded the taller Bulldogs, 32-26.
Stat of the game
Bearden connected on 22 of 29 free throws while Farragut went to the line just eight times and made five.
Mike Blackerby is a freelance contributor.