You can expect the unexpected in rivalry games.

And sometimes you get the inexplicable.

There was all that Friday night when Bearden swept a basketball doubleheader against visiting rival Farragut.

Bearden’s girls posted a 49-48 victory when junior guard Natalya Hodge made 1 of 2 free throws with three-tenths of a second left after a technical foul was called on Farragut.

In the second game, junior guard Justin Nordin scored a career-high 30 points and Bearden pulled away from Farragut in the second half for a 74-57 victory.

Fans in attendance got their money’s worth.

“Never a dull moment, Bearden and Farragut,” Bearden girls coach Justin Underwood said.

Here are some highlights from Friday’s games:

TECHNICAL COSTS FARRAGUT

Hodge scored the game-high 21 points, and her free throw with less than a second remaining capped a bizarre finish to the game.

Farragut took a 47-45 lead with 23 seconds left on Trinity Curry’s layup.

Bearden junior guard Emma Rainey, who’s had two ACL injuries, made a 3-pointer from the right wing for a 48-47 lead with 6.3 seconds to play.

“Coming out of the timeout, we want (Hodge) to drive it,” Underwood said, “and if she got stopped, we had Emma as the shooter option and told her to look for her shot if the defense didn’t close out, and she took care of the rest.”

After Rainey’s 3, Farragut junior guard Jaci Neubert took the inbounds pass, raced the length of the floor, and missed a layup.

Neubert, however, grabbed the rebound and heaved a desperation shot from about 14 feet and was fouled with three-tenths of a second left.

When she got fouled, Neubert got hit, causing some blood on her leg and forcing her to leave the game.

“I asked (an official) a question about how long we’ve got,” Farragut coach Jason Mayfield said, “we’re trying to work on it with our trainer, and all of a sudden, I was told I had to sub.”

Mayfield put sophomore Gabbie Vanacker into the game – and onto the foul line – in place of Neubert.

Vanacker missed the first free throw and made the second, tying the game 48-48.

Then came more confusion as the inbound pass was made.

An official’s whistle blew, and Farragut was called for a technical.

“There was three-tenths of a second left on the clock,” Underwood said, “and when Vanacker made the free throw, (Farragut players) ran on the floor. They had players on the floor. In fact, I think even one of the girls checked back in onto the floor, so (the technical) was (for) leaving the bench area and too many players on the floor.

“That was the gist of it. That’s a tough situation, and a lot of emotion, just a natural reaction. Again, just kind of a crazy finish to a rivalry game.”

Mayfield said he didn’t get an explanation for the technical foul.

“I’m assuming we had some girls run on the court,” he said.

Hodge looked frustrated after her first free throw bounced off the rim and out.

Her second free throw swished, giving Bearden a 49-48 lead. A split-second later, it was game over.

“It’s a crazy ending,” Mayfield said. “Like I just told our girls, ‘You could avoid an ending like that if we do a better job of taking care of the basketball. That’s what lost us the game. We had a lot of turnovers there on the wing spots where we catch the ball.”

Bearden improved to 20-3 overall, 5-0 in District 4-4A

Farragut (13-7, 2-1 in District 4-4A) committed 19 turnovers, while Bearden committed eight turnovers.

The Lady Bulldogs shot 29 percent from the field (17 of 59), including 6 of 22 from 3-point range (27 percent).

Rainey finished with 10 points and senior guard/wing Caitlin McVeigh scored eight.

“We were not at our best offensively,” Underwood said. “I was very pleased with our defensive effort. They’ve got a really good group. They’ve got a lot of kids back from last year that made that run. But I was proud of our kids. We had a lot of spells offensively where we were not ourselves, but defensively, we did a good job.”

Bearden was 9 of 13 from the foul line, and Farragut was 9 of 11.

Hodge, who has multiple Power 4 offers, made 5 of 7 free throws.

“(Hodge) didn’t have her best night offensively,” Underwood said. “Part of that was Farragut doing a good job guarding her and part of that is she’s been really sick this week. She’s a tough kid. She’s not going to pull herself out of the game, and she still wants to play and compete.”

Farragut was led in scoring by Curry, a sophomore post, with 15 points and junior guard K.J. McNealy with 14 points.

“Farragut’s got so many ball handlers and so many good shooters,” Underwood said. “Curry killed us inside. I thought she had a great game. We challenged our posts. I thought we did a better job in the second half, but (Curry) had a really good game.”

NORDIN LEADS BEARDEN

Nordin, averaging about 14.5 points per game, scored the game’s first five points on a 3-pointer and two free throws.

Bearden had a 9-0 lead and appeared on its way to a comfortable victory – like Tuesday’s 61-33 victory over Maryville.

Farragut didn’t let it happen that way.

“It’s not a normal game,” Bearden coach Jeremy Parrott said of the rivalry. “That’s the first thing. You’ve got an opponent that’s not going to lie down, not going to quit. I never once felt like we were going to separate because in that kind of game when you’ve got that kind of pride and a lot of heritage on the line, you’re not going to see a team wilt in that situation. I didn’t expect them to and they didn’t.”

Senior guard King Hubbard scored 14 points and senior wing Jamichael Blair Jr. added 10 points for the Bulldogs.

Bearden improved to 19-3, 5-0 in District 4-4A.

“We’ve got to cherish every district win we pick up,” Parrott said. “Whether we win it by one or 100, it’s a win in the district, and that’s all you’re after at this time of year.”

Nordin made 3 of 5 shots from 3-point range and was 8 of 9 from the foul line.

“I think I played a good game, but it comes down to the team overall,” Nordin said. “I’ll be honest, I don’t think we played our best game. Coach is saying, ‘We won the game, but they won the fight.’”

Nordin had 12 points after one quarter when Bearden had a 22-17 lead.

He had 21 points at halftime and the Bulldogs were up 44-33.

“When (Nordin) plays with the right pace, he’s hard to handle,” Parrott said, “and I felt like he did a really nice job of playing with pace tonight. Not too quick, he didn’t get ahead of himself, but he didn’t play slow. When he’s playing with good pace, he’s a good guard. He’s as good as any. I thought any time we needed a bucket, it was him or King making it.”

Farragut (13-7, 1-2 in District 4-4A) cut the deficit to five early in the third quarter but trailed by 12 starting the fourth.

The Admirals were led in scoring by junior guard Parker Lane with 23 points and junior guard Dan Lanning with nine.

“They out-boarded us in the first half,” Nordin said. “In big games like that, we’re lucky we pulled it out, but going forward, if we don’t win those 50-50 balls and those rebounds, then we’re going to have a tough time.”

Article written by Dave Link/5Star Preps To read more on area high school sports or to see photo galleries, videos, stat leaders, etc… visit 5StarPreps.com — and use promo code New2024 for 30% off your first year or month subscription.