Bearden basketball pulled off a double-header sweep against visiting Greeneville on Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs won convincingly, both improving to 9-0 this season.

Bearden’s girls defeated the Lady Greene Devils 63-31 in the opener, and the Bulldogs rolled to an 81-46 victory in the second game.

Here are some highlights of Bearden’s sweep:

BULLDOGS USE DEPTH, DEFENSE

Bearden coach Jeremy Parrott said depth has been his team’s strength this season, and it was a big factor against Greeneville.

“We’ve been able to play a little tougher, more up the line, a little more physical in all our positions and press a little more because we know we’ve got some depth,” Parrott said. “We may force you to make some plays early offensively and you may make them, but our hope is that our defense will continue to wear on you and those doors will shut later in the game, and that’s kind of what happened tonight.”

Parrott’s son, Drew, came off the bench and scored the team-high 16 points against Greeneville (3-5). The senior guard played quarterback and receiver for Bearden’s football team, which lost at Maryville in the Class 6A state quarterfinals on Nov. 22.

Parrott, who made 2 of 3 shots from 3-point range against Greeneville, got some extra playing time because senior point guard Justice Watson missed the game due to illness.

Starting point guard Justin Nordin, a junior, finished with nine points.

“Drew’s shot it pretty well (so far this season),” Jeremy Parrott said. “He hit two big 3s over at Alcoa the other night in a tight game (a 65-63 victory Dec. 3). Seeing some (shots) go in early has probably helped his confidence. He’s like the rest of us. He’s supposed to go out there and do certain things when he gets his time.”

Senior wing Jamichael Blair and junior wing Sean Capshaw scored 14 points each for the Bulldogs.

Capshaw was 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and Blair was 1 of 3 from beyond the arc.

Dom Mahoney, a 6-4 senior starting wing, had seven points. He was a primary defender against 6-8 junior power forward Trey Thompson, who scored the game-high 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots.

Thompson’s college offers include Tennessee, Purdue, and ETSU.

“Dom’s our captain,” Parrott said. “Dom’s our spiritual leader. Dom is going to do whatever Dom has to do to help win the game, and a lot of the times, he draws tough defensive assignments out there.”

Thompson made 6 of 9 shots from two-point range, 1 of 2 from 3-point range, and went 5 of 9 from the foul line.

“Dom was assigned to (Thompson),” Parrott said, “but at some point or another, all of us ended up with him, and he’s a problem to handle. He’s a really good college player and he was definitely a focal point of ours.”

Thompson and senior shooting guard Dom Tweed are Greeneville’s only basketball starters who weren’t on the Greene Devils’ football team, which lost to Anderson County in the Class 4A state quarterfinals on Nov. 22.

Greeneville coach Brad Woolsey said three-fourths of his team played football.

“We’re still trying to figure it out,” Woolsey said. “There were times tonight when instead of difficult times causing us to come together, we kind of disintegrated, and that goes for all of us, as coaches and players. We’ve all got to do a good job of coming together.”

Woolsey credited Bearden’s defense for causing his team’s troubles.

“They did such a great job of defending us and taking us out of what we want to do,” Woolsey said. “They’re really physical. They switched. They did a great job defensively, so kudos to them for taking us out of what we want to try and do.”

Greeneville starting point guard Zaydyn Anderson returned from injury against Bearden and didn’t score.

Bearden had a 19-15 lead after one quarter and led 22-21 with just less than 6 minutes remaining in the half.

The Bulldogs finished the half with a 21-6 run, taking a 43-27 lead into halftime.

“In the end, the difference was their intensity on the defensive end,” Woolsey said. “I think we gave them eight points in the first half just off of transition defense where we didn’t get to 3-point shooters, and they knocked them down, and got a layup. That was a big difference.”

HODGE LEADS BEARDEN

Junior point guard Natalya Hodge had 27 points in the Lady Bulldogs’ victory over Greeneville, and she did it with a special visitor in the gym.

Florida State coach Brooke Wyckoff watched the game after recently extending an offer to Hodge, who has multiple Power Four offers.

Senior wing Kendall Anne Murphy had 13 points and sophomore wing Riley Hunt added nine points.

Murphy has signed with Lenoir-Rhyne.

Senior wing/post and Tusculum signee Aisha Patel scored three points.

“Nat’s obviously scoring it really well for us,” Bearden coach Justin Underwood said. “Kendall Anne is doing a great job not only scoring it, but playing both ends as well. Aisha’s doing phenomenal things inside for us. I just feel like each player is bringing something to the table. I’ve been really pleased so far with how we’ve got out of the gates.”

Sophomore forward Maria Lyde led Greeneville with 13 points

Bearden had a 14-8 lead after one quarter and started the second quarter with a 9-0 run.

Murphy had five points during the run. Her 3-pointer with 6 minutes left in the half gave Bearden a 23-8 lead.

Bearden outscored Greeneville 22-6 in the second quarter for a 36-14 halftime lead.

Greeneville (1-4) had 16 turnovers in the first half.

“I feel like this year for us, defensively we have ignited our offense,” Underwood said. “Tonight, we started a little bit slow, and then we did a couple of good things defensively in both halves where we kind of make a play here, get a rebound, get a stop, and get out and run and play. I thought we did a really good job with that tonight.”

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.