Rhyne Howard came close to a triple-double Tuesday night while leading Bradley Central’s unbeaten and top-ranked Bearettes to a 74-22 victory over Soddy-Daisy in a District 5-3A girls’ high school basketball victory.
Howard scored a season-high 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, matching her high total on the season, and registered seven steals and three assists in 21 minutes, the most of any starter.
Howard went 11 for 22 from the field, 6 for 13 behind the 3-point arc and made the only free throw she attempted.
Kaleigh Hughes scored 15 points and had five steals while Cambree Mayo added 11 points, along with five steals and four assists.
Bradley’s defense forced a whopping 41 turnovers and turned them into 41 points, compared to nine forced miscues by Soddy-Daisy’s defense and five points. Summer Ghaffari had 10 turnovers and Bailey Branam eight. Hannah Lombard and Mayo each had two turnovers.
Ghaffari led Soddy-Daisy’s offense with 13 points.
The win improved Bradley’s all-time record against the Lady Trojans to 124-14, with Bradley having won 33 straight and 90 of the past 91 meetings. Soddy-Daisy last beat Bradley on Jan. 11, 2000.
Tuesday's win pushed the Bearettes' record this season to 18-0 overall and 5-0 in league play. The Lady Trojans fell to 4-10 and 0-6.
Coach Jason Reuter’s squad, ranked No. 1 in Tennessee by coachT.com and No. 2 in the state and No. 22 nationally by MaxPreps, scored 34 of the first 41 points and coasted into halftime with a 29-6 lead.
Bradley’s lead ballooned to 55-14 after three quarters. The Bearettes shot 37.8 percent (28 of 74) from the field. The Lady Trojans went 6 for 32 for 27.3 percent and battled Bradley hard on the boards, coming up short by 35-27.
Bradley was blitzed the Lady Trojans from 3-point distance by hitting 13 of 28 attempts.
The Bearettes’ bench outscored Soddy-Daisy’s 25-1.
Boxscore
Bradley Central 18 11 26 19 – 74
Soddy-Daisy 4 2 8 8 – 22
Bradley Central (74) – Kaleigh Hughes 15, Roberts 2, Rhyne Howard 29, Walker 1, Lombard 2, Williams 1, Reuter, Cambree Mayo 11, Blair, Barnes 5, Carman 2, Hullender 2, Muhonen 4.
Soddy-Daisy (22) – Dent 2, Summer Ghaffari 13, Branam, Hall 2, Hamby 4, Davis, Kearney, Prestwood, Davis, Lemacks 1.
3-Point Goals – Bradley Central 13 (Howard 6, Hughes 4, Mayo 3), Soddy-Daisy none.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)