Nina Davis leads Central's girls past Bearden in Class AAA basketball tourney

images and article from Commercial Appeal

Memphis Central head coach Niki Bray talks with Nina Davis

Admittedly, she would have rather have played them in Saturday’s state championship game. But Central girls basketball coach Niki Bray is relishing her team’s matchup with mighty Murfreesboro Riverdale.

“These are the games you live for,” she said. “We have so much respect for their program; the coaching staffs are all friends and the players just love each other. I’m expecting another fantastic battle.”

Memphis Central’s Darriel Johnson (center) controls the ball ahead of teammate Kahdeja Howell as Bearden’s Erin Walsh (back) and Olivia Pfiefer defend

Central advanced to the TSSAA Class AAA semifinals with a 62-43 victory over Knoxville Bearden on Wednesday at the Murphy Center. The Lady Warriors’ reward is a 10 a.m. Friday game against Riverdale, the defending state champ and the top-ranked team in the nation. Riverdale will bring a 56-game winning streak into the contest.

“We’re just going to have to be ready to play,” said Lady Warriors guard Meme Hill.

Central (26-5) was ready for the most part against a young Bearden squad, which started three freshmen and was making its first appearance in the state tournament since 1981.

The Lady Warriors led 26-17 at halftime, but the Lady Bulldogs opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run to pull within four. Enter Nina Davis.

The Baylor signee and three-time Miss Basketball finalist scored 13 of her game-high 25 points in the third quarter to help the Lady Warriors pull away. Central led 46-31 after three quarters and the Lady Bulldogs never got the lead under double digits again.

“We knew they would make a run,” said Davis, who shot 10 of 20 from the floor and added seven rebounds. “We knew we just couldn’t lose this game.”

Said Bray, “It’s a pride thing. You can’t let freshmen beat you when you’re juniors and seniors.”
“I thought we played well ... but we didn’t play well inside. We were out of sync and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.”

Central finished the game shooting 42.3 percent from the floor, but limited the Lady Bulldogs to just 29.5 percent, including 4 of 26 from behind the 3-point line.

Hill added 19 points and six assists for the Lady Warriors and went 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in the closing moments to help Central close out the game, much to the delight of the large number of Central students who left Memphis at 6 a.m. to make it to Murfreesboro for the 11:30 a.m. tipoff.
Darriel Johnson had 12 points for the Lady Warcors and also grabbed 12 rebounds, as did Tia Wooten.

Erin Walsh had 20 points to lead Bearden, which finishes 26-9.

“We did a good job taking Walsh out of the game,” said Bray. “She’s their motor.”
Central, which is the last Tennessee team to beat Riverdale, traveled to Murfreesboro in December to play the Warriors, losing 89-72. Davis had the flu in that one and it was Hill’s first game of the season after getting her academics in order.

Bray likes her teams’ chances Friday.

“They have such a high basketball IQ,” she said. “And they like to put pressure on you, which bodes well for us as long as we don’t get too hyper. If we come to play, we can win. If we worry about beating Riverdale, it will be a long game.”