Season’s end: Bearden’s Ques Glover got the respect he wanted

<p>Bearden’s senior point guard <strong>Ques Glover</strong> wasn’t in the mood for rest Friday night as he was so anxious to get on the court Saturday afternoon to face Memphis East for the Class AAA Championship.</p> <p>“I didn’t sleep at all,” Glover said. “I probably went to sleep around 12:30 a.m. and woke up at 6:30 a.m. I took a shower, and I started stretching and shooting some form shots in my room. I was dreaming about this, and I really felt like we had to do it big for Knoxville and Bearden High School.”</p> <p>Since Saturday marked Glover’s final high school basketball game, it didn’t come as a surprise to see Glover take the journey all in, especially with an opportunity in front of him to play the Mustangs, who were the defending Class AAA Champions.</p> <p>The Bulldogs were getting a second shot at Memphis East, which eliminated Bearden last season in the semifinals round before winning its third-straight state title. The Mustangs were in position to become the first public school from Memphis, TN to win four-consecutive state titles.</p> <p>But the Bulldogs had other plans in mind.</p> <p>Behind Glover and <strong>Trent Stephney</strong>, Bearden (32-5) defeated Memphis East (25-9) by the final score of 83-68 to capture its first-ever Class AAA Championship. Glover was named Tournament MVP after the win, finishing with 24 points, five assists, four rebounds, and one steal. He made 7 of 14 shots from the field and converted on 7 of 9 shots from the free throw line.</p> <p>Stephney, who had nice looks at the rim for the most of the game, added 22 points on 8 of 15 shooting. Senior forward Shamarcus Brown wasn’t scared of <strong>James Wiseman</strong>, the 7-foot point forward, and went at him anytime he felt like doing so. Brown finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.</p> <p>Glover’s main goal was to put Knoxville, TN on the map, and he felt like the only way to do so was to win a state title, even if it meant beating one of the premier basketball powerhouses in the process.</p> <p>“Beating Memphis East gives teams from Knoxville the confidence to win games in the state tournament and maybe bring a gold ball home,” said Glover, who converted on 3 of 7 shots from 3.</p> <p>The Bulldogs had to take down both teams from last season’s championship game to hoist the gold ball. Bearden defeated Whitehaven in the semifinals round on Friday to secure a spot in Saturday’s Class AAA final. But the Bulldogs know what it’s like to come up short in the postseason. Bearden came up short in the last two seasons, falling to Independence in the quarterfinals round in Glover’s sophomore season and to the Mustangs in the semifinals round in Glover’s junior season.</p> <p>But Glover, who remained confident during the early exits in the state tournament, felt he and his teammates had to leave everything out on the court this time to finish the season as state champions.</p> <p>“In my sophomore year, I felt like we could do it. In my junior year, I felt like we could do it, but we kept falling short,” Glover said. “And this year, we knew we had to go all out and to be able to win was big for us and for our underclassmen as well.”</p> <p>Hopefully, the underclassmen paid attention to what has to be done to win a state title because the Bulldogs are losing seven key players to graduation. Glover, Stephney, Brown, Kordell Kah, Keiansay Williams, Roman Robinson, and Tennessee commit <strong>Drew Pember</strong> will not be with the team next season when Bearden tries to repeat as state champions.</p> <p><strong>So close</strong></p> <p>Memphis East was one win away from winning four-consecutive state titles. Wiseman had 24 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks, two assists, and one steal, but he fouled out late in the second half, and without him on the floor, the Mustangs had a hard time scoring. Junior forward Kylan Haywood was the only other bright spot for Memphis East. He scored 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting.</p> <p>The seniors – Wiseman, <strong>Antonio Thomas</strong>, <strong>Derrein Merriweather</strong>, Nautica Harwell, and <strong>Malcolm</strong> <strong>Dandridge</strong> – didn’t want this season to end with a state runner-up trophy, but the program’s run can’t go unnoticed. This team rallied around one another like family and became even closer when the road to the state tournament got tougher, which started with Dandridge’s season-ending knee injury before the start of the TSSAA 8 AAA Regional Tournament.</p> <p>The Mustangs will be young next season, and their two most talented guards will be a junior and a sophomore, and the both of them are brothers (Tadarius and Terrence Jacobs). Junior guard Isaiah Cathey will be the most experienced guard next season. Memphis East will just need to find some size.</p>