Brewer, Ware lead Bearettes to 13th straight district championship
There is nothing lucky about the 13th district championship in a row for the perennial powerhouse Bradley Central girls’ basketball program.
Avary Brewer helped close out yet another memorable postseason moment for the Bearettes, as the sophomore sharpshooter took advantage of a zone matchup all night by hitting 5-of-9 3-point shot attempts. That included two in the final 3:30 of the fourth quarter in Monday’s 44-33 District 5-4A tournament championship win over host Cleveland High School.
“If you are in that zone (defense), we don’t care. We will pass it around up six points,” Bradley Central coach Jason Reuter said after his secondranked team improved to 28-1 overall. “We have a girl over there named Avary Brewer who is going to hit one out of two wide open 3s every time. She puts a lot of time in. That’s no accident. The great shooters all put in extra time. There’s nothing magical about that. That’s desire.”
Harmonie Ware had a limited scoring output in the championship game, but made up for her usual scoring ability by dishing out a game-high five assists.
Ware worked well in tandem with tournament and regular season district MVP Kimora Fields, whose toughness in the paint was unmatched on the way to a game-high 19 points. Ware also had a tough assignment in the post defending Lauren Hurst, who scored nine of her team-high 13 points in the first half.
Cleveland (25-10) was given a jolt of energy when senior Milah Williams made a nice move into the paint and hit a layup while being knocked to the floor. Her old-fashioned three-point play cut the Lady Raiders deficit to 33-29 with 2:09 left in the third quarter.
However, Fields would answer right back as the 6-foot freshman had a three-point opportunity herself and closed the quarter by earning a trip to the line to hit both free throws for a 37-29 lead.
Senior point guard Sloane Carpenter set the tone early in the fourth quarter with a steal, as the Bearette defense and Brewer’s hot hand helped seal the deal for the program’s 127th straight win over a district opponent.
“To have a big impact in this championship is an honor,” said Brewer, whose season-high is seven 3-pointers in one game. “I work really hard for these opportunities. You just have to be ready to knock down your shot and not even think about it. I felt pretty confident in warm-ups and knew it would be a big game for me.”