The Bearden Lady Bulldogs will be in the finals of the Classic on Wednesday night after going double overtime before taking down fellow Knoxville team Grace Christian 66-63.
Natalya Hodge continued her high-scoring ways for Bearden with 39 points to lead the victory. Emma Rainey hit double figures with 15.
Grace got 25 points from Nya Burns and 23 from Abby Roberts. Myrah Hood did a number on the backboards with 12 rebounds and 8 of them were on the offensive glass.
The end of regulation saw the score knotted at 53. Bearden got five points and moved to a 58-53 lead, but Grace roared back with a 3-pointer by MC Lemarbre followed by two free tosses by Roberts following a turnover by the Bulldogs. Hodge got the last shot for Bearden but it was off balance and no good.
Emma Rainey got the second OT off to a good start for the Dogs with a 3-pointer from the corner, but Grace answered at the 2:10 mark with a trey by Roberts. Hodge drove for a bucket and Grace missed on their end. Hodge was fouled and made both to give Bearden a 65-61 lead. Roberts scored again for Grace, and Hodge made one of two foul shots with 9 seconds to go to put the Dogs up 66-63, giving the Rams hope.
But a last second shot bounded off the front of the rim and the marathon game ended.
Grace (63): Hood 0-1 2-2 2, Lee 1-1 1-2 3, Nya Burns 9-21 0-0 25, Abby Robert 7-19 4-4 23, Bradley 1-5 0-0 2, Connatser 3-7 0-0 8, Rico 0-0 0-0 0, Tchanga 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21-55 7-8 63.
Bearden (66): Hodge 13-38 9-13 39, Hunt 0-2 0-0 0, Emma Rainey 5-14 2-2 15, Mills 0-3 2-4 2, Foster 1-2 0-0 2, Lemarbre 3-4 0-0 7. TOTALS: 22-63 14-21 66.
3-Point Goals: GC—14 (Burns 7 Roberts 5, Connatser 2). BHS—8 (Hodge 4, Rainey 3, Lemarbre).
Score by quarters:
Grace 13 17 11 12 5 5–63
Bearden 12 9 14 18 5 8–66
