Ques Glover is on a mission to change Class AAA Basketball
For the past two seasons, Bearden’s senior point guard Ques Glover has been an eye witness to the dominance from the teams coming out of West Tennessee. As a senior that’s getting one more opportunity at a state championship, Glover,…
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Continue ReadingFor the past two seasons, Bearden’s senior point guard Ques Glover has been an eye witness to the dominance from the teams coming out of West Tennessee.
As a senior that’s getting one more opportunity at a state championship, Glover, a 6-foot guard, is prepared to change that.
In Glover’s sophomore season, the Bulldogs lost in the quarterfinals round against Independence. As a junior last season, Glover saw Bearden (31-6) fall short in the semifinals round against eventual champion Memphis East. But on Friday afternoon against a physical Whitehaven team that’s led by junior guard Matthew Murrell, the Bulldogs rolled past the Tigers (25-8) by the final score of 76-60 to reach Saturday’s Class AAA Championship game.
In the win, Glover finished with 20 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Tennessee commit Drew Pember added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Senior wing Roman Robinson finished with 14 points on 5 of 8 shooting, and senior forward Shamarcus Brown added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
As a team, Bearden made 25 of 49 shots from the field, including converting on 8 of 14 shots from 3-point range in a game the Bulldogs never trailed.
Bearden hasn’t been in the discussion this season as a serious title contender, something Glover didn’t understand because he felt like teams in East Tennessee are talented enough to win a state title. Seeing the Mustangs (25-8) win the last three state titles in Class AAA has motivated Glover and the other five seniors on the roster to change the narrative for once.
“That was my goal this season, to be able to turn it a little bit, to earn Knoxville, TN a little respect because Knoxville doesn’t get a lot of respect because Memphis is a powerhouse in 3A basketball,” Glover said. “To win that is really my goal, so Knoxville can get some respect.”
It’s unclear whether or not Glover knows how well the Bearden Boys’ Basketball program is respected. Memphis East head coach Javonte Holmes has been paying close attention to the Bulldogs’ journey for a while, giving props to what head coach Jeremy Parrott has been able to accomplish with his senior class.
“I have always been a fan of Bearden. I have watched Glover grow. He’s a tremendous talent,” Holmes said after his team defeated Brentwood 46-42 behind James Wiseman’s 22 points, eight blocks, and seven rebounds. “They have a great team, they have a great coach.
“They have been playing together for a while, so they deserve to be here.”
Similar position this season?
Just like Bearden, the Mustangs weren’t favored this season to get back to the state tournament and be in position to win another state title after losing Chandler and Johnathan Lawson to transfer and point guard Alex Lomax to graduation.
Holmes had to go with an unproven backcourt that was lacking championship experience to begin the season. Things got worse for Memphis East when senior forward Malcolm Dandridge went down with a season-ending knee injury before the start of the TSSAA Region 8 AAA Tournament, and yet, the Mustangs have been able to overcome all odds to be in position to become the first public school out of Memphis, Tennessee to win four-consecutive state championships.
Holmes got emotional, even tearing up while talking about this season, while Wiseman and senior point guard Antonio Thomas, who transferred from Ridgeway High School, showed support.
“Resiliency and sacrifice,” two words Holmes used to describe this season’s team. “Antonio came over and helped me out. From day one, James could have left. He could have went to any prep school he wanted to, but he decided to stay here with me.
“He believed in what we were trying to do, what we were trying to put together and look at us now.”