baconbreath

They went 5 on 5 in 1980 according to the TSSAA.

AB, Thanks for digging into the data. Bertha Teague held the most wins for a coach until Jim Smiddy of Bradley Central broke it and went on to record 1217 wins before retiring in 1993. He held the record (at that time) for the most wins by a basketball coach at any level---high school, college or pro, either male or female. Since then it has been broken by a few coaches but he is still in the top 10 nationwide. The TSSAA was formed in April 1925 and prior to that the Nashville Tennesseean held a boys tourney while Peabody School for Teachers (now part of Vanderbilt) organized a girls tournament. There were very few schools playing girls high school basketball at that time. The girls portion of the tourney was discontinued in 1929 due to schools across the state playing by 3 different sets of rules. 1) 6 on 6 on two courts, 2) 6 on 6 on three courts and 3) 5 on 5. At the state tourney at that time the girls were required to play 5 on 5 and coaches who did not play that style felt it was unfair and refused to play. It was re-instated in 1958 as a 6 on 6 style which all girls schools were then playing. In 1980 all schools went to 5 on 5 due to a law suit filed by an Oak Ridge player claiming discrimination against female players because it hurt them receiving recognition for colleges that led to college scholarships since the colleges were playing 5 on 5. So for from 1928 thru 1957 there was no contested girls state tourney. Very sad situation. The Bradley girls played in two of the early tournaments but they are not recognized by the TSSAA. Officially the Bearettes have competed in 31 state tourneys, a TSSAA record. There were several Bradley teams that won the region tourney but that was the end of the line during that time when no girls states were played. It probably cost the girls more state titles (they currently have 5) because some of the Bearette teams during that era destroyed many of the teams they played. Sorta like they continues to do even today.

According to the TSSAA there are NO FEEDER schools in Bradley County. That includes Cleveland, Walker Valley and Bradley Central. The only way they can be a feeder school is if the middle school and senior high school are located on the same campus. No school in Bradley County has a middle school on its campus.

I'm still waiting for a response if a team has more than 2165 wins in Tennessee girls public school basketball.

Oh my friend of little knowledge. The District 5 coaches voted at their post-season meeting LAST SPRING to play the region semi-finals and finals on the floor of the district tournament champion. It was not moved from Soddy-Daisy by anyone at anytime. The coaches made this vote and the only dissenting vote was that of Bradley Central who thought it best to play both boys and girls region games at one site. The fly in the ointment in this procedure was school being cancelled on Wednesday that pushed the girls game back a day. District 6 has no say so in how district 5 handles the region tourney when it is the odd year and district 5 is the host district. Just at District 5 has no say so on where the region will be when they (District 6) host it. BTW, next year's District 5 tourney will be at Walker Valley and the region will be at Rhea County from District 6 which is great for District 5 and means we won't have to spend time driving to the central time zone and getting back home late.

Correction they finished 3rd. Just goes to show you how weak D6 was this year.

If this record were updated then the Bradley Central boys would have 5th place with 2032 wins throught 2016.

You show me on the internet where its at and I'll be more than happy to look it up. The point is it has to be documented and not just a hearsay. Very few schools have records that cover their history and that is a crying shame.

Need more than "If I'm not mistaking" to verify those totals. You talking boys or girls?

Coach Kent Smith accounted for 436 of the 2049 wins while his grand dad "Tip" Smith recorded 288 total wins and two state titles in 1940 and 1942. Jimmie Lovell (the first Bear basketball coach starting in 1921) had 267 wins, Bill Walker had 268 wins and a state title in 1962 while Earl Rowan had 275 wins as the head coach. This is all documented in Ownbey's book about Bradley Central basketball.

Josh signed with East Tennessee State but transferred to Samford in Birmingham after Buzz Peterson left ETSU for UT. Justin played at Belmont and still holds many records for that school. Both are now doctors in Dalton, GA.

I knew that Dave Clary would know the Oak Ridge totals but like you say, they've only been around since 1943. DB holds the all-time football record in wins. Surely someone will have their basketball records for all-time wins.

I posted this challenge on the girls board to find out which public school in Tennessee has the most wins in boys basketball. Bradley Central has 2049 wins, 803 losses and 1 tie in their all-time history of nearly 100 years. The 1 tie resulted when a discrepancy arose in a game with Baylor many years ago when the manually operated scoreboard was in disagreement with the official score book. The official had already left the building so it was declared a tie. Can any team show documented proof of more than 2049 wins? The Bear record is documented game-by-game. I would like to see some responses. Any school approaching or beating this total would have to be open 100 years or more.

I'm on a mission to find an answer to the question--what girls team in Tennessee public schools has the most wins in history? Bradley Central has an all-time record of--2165 wins, 485 losses and 9 ties in 2644 total games played. (Into the 1950's tie games were an option to be completed in overtime or ruled a tie at the discretion of both coaches.) Can any other team account for more that 2165 wins? The BCHS records have been documented game-by-game so I'm looking for accurate documentation. It would have to be a school that's been open 100 years or more. I don't think there is another school and the TSSAA agrees at this point. Please respond if you can prove it to be a different school.

Cancellations due to flu epidemic-- Cleveland vs Rhea County tonight (02/08/ postponed and will not be made up. Cleveland at Notre Dame Friday (02/09) postponed and will not be made up. Walker Valley at Red Bank tonight (02/08) postponed and will most likely not be made up.

The cradle of high school wrestling in Tennessee lies within a 25 mile radius between Bradley Central, Cleveland and Soddy-Daisy. These programs represent the very best in wrestling and the future looks bright for it to continue indefinitely. We don't settle for 2nd place in southeast Tennessee.

Coach Davis is a class act and no matter where he won the majority of his games, 1000 wins is a lot of wins and only a very few (winning) coaches will ever come close to this number. Congratulations coach!

Rhyne Howard--Bradley Central Anastasia Hayes--Riverdale

If the District 5-AAA girls are playing as AAA teams then it is almost like the Bearettes are a AAAA or AAAAA team. There is that much difference in the programs in this district.

You must submit documented copies from a scorebook or a newspaper recap along with the TSSAA records form that must be signed by the coach and principal. It will then be evaluated for possible inclusion into the TSSAA record book.

Congrats to the Greeneville community and the successful tourney that was completed this past Saturday. There were some truly great teams in the final four and I think they'll all be successful throughout the season. The Bearettes of Bradley Central played at a level untapped by the other teams in this tourney and Rhyne Howard displayed why she is considered to be about the best in the junior class this season. From what I understand there have been about 15 DI coaches making an in-person visit to watch her play and both Purdue and Kentucky scouted her during the tourney. She has narrowed her choices to her top 7 and is looking for a school with a top-flight engineering program. I saw nearly every game of the tourney and think Sydney Newsome from Mo West has to be an All-State candidate this season along with Mykia Dowdell and Jada Guinn from Oak Ridge. The Lady Wildcats are cat-quick but Bradley Central simply was a stronger and deeper team this past week. Halle Hughes (Lee University signee) is the second half of the Bearette dynamic duo and the Bearettes should go deep in post-season play. Look for South Greene to make a run for the Single-a title as well. They are very good and well-coached. i think the Final Four in Greeneville could all be in the Final Four in their respective class in the 'boro. I'll be there to see how they fare.

Over the years there have been several players locally that transferred between schools after starting or playing at another. Tiffani Buckalew transferred to BCHS after playing 2 years at CHS. Houston Phillips transferred to CHS after 2 years at BCHS. The Colbaugh girl transferred to CHS after playing 9th grade at BCHS and the Walker girl at WVHS transferred there after playing at BHCS her 9th grade year. Rhyne Howard transferred to BCHS after starting at East Hamilton as an 8th grader in a very bad program. There are BCHS basketball boys this year that began playing at CHS before moving to BCHS. There are just a few of many more athletes that quickly come to mind. it's a matter of letting kids go where they choose to go. Many times it for more playing time or because their 'helicopter' parents who are living their life through their kids feel like their kid is not getting a fair shot at more playing time at their current school.

There are no feeder schools in Bradley County. Period. That fact was made abundantly clear by the TSSAA when both BCHS and CHS football teams and coaches were put on probation for talking to players that were at middle schools. The only way you can have a feeder school is if the middle school is located on the same campus, which none of our three schools have. East Hamilton is a perfect example of having a feeder middle school to the high school because they are in one building. As for so-called recruiting, it happens at every school that has any semblance of becoming successful. Once you attain a consistent level of success it becomes a self-perpetuating system. Players want to play for a winner even though they may have attended a middle school where most students move to a high school with most of their friends while the athletes seek out a school that will provide them the best opportunity to improve their skill level and possibly obtain a college scholarship. That's what happened with Maryville football for the past 15 or so years. Any good football player in the Blount county area seems to aspire to play for the Rebels and not the other local schools where one might expect them to matriculate. It's been that way across the state for years and it will never change. If you are following the rules then you have nothing to worry about in regard to where an athlete opts to attend high school. There are numerous student athletes and non-athletes at Cleveland, Walker Valley and Bradley Central that did not attend the middle school normally associated with a certain high school. My children chose to attend BCHS to be part of a better program and team. That's why they wear/wore the Black and Gold. If you want to really talk about recruiting then look at the private schools in Chattanooga and see how many Cleveland-area athletes attend now or have attended Baylor, McCallie, Notre Dame, etc. They legally recruit by offering scholarships in 'hardship' cases or for a myriad of reasons that they can come up with at those schools. That's exaclty why we now have separate classifications for public schools vs private schools that offer financial aid.

Seems like Hamilton Heights became the windshield on national TV Thursday night! Ouch!

I don't think that SD has the talent to play with their district foes. Why? Good question that can only be answered by the AD. Coach Daniels is a great guy but I just don't think that the athletes are interested in SD basketball at this time. There was a time in the past when SD was a state-wide powerhouse. It's a shame that they aren't even contenders in the district at this time, especially since they will be hosting the district tourney in post-season play.