DUKE CENTER, PA – Kicking off the Randy Stebbins Memorial tournament, the Bradford girls’ basketball team earned their first win of the season, beating Allegany-Limestone 32-20 with help from Mackenzie Taylor’s big third quarter.
Coming into the game, the Lady Gators held a clean slate, as their Friday night contest would be their season debut. For Bradford, however, they had already seen their team in action, narrowly losing to Ridgway on Monday 28-26.
“We just wanted to move the ball and shoot,” said Bradford head coach Jason Blatchley on the team’s focus since Monday. “Once we learn that we’re good.”
As it had been on Monday, the Lady Owls’ offense was slow-going at first. Despite infrequent success at the free throw line, Bradford fell behind the Lady Gators’ fluid ball movement which exploited the Lady Owls’ 3-2 zone. Forcing turnovers and cleaning the offensive glass, A-L sparked a 6-0 run that put them in front 8-3. However, led by a couple of steals and points in transition, Bradford cut the deficit with their own 6-0 run, putting them in front heading into the second.
It would be a back-and-forth battle to close out the first half. Both teams would score tick-for-tack as the lead changed hands constantly. While the Lady Owls’ ironclad defense collapsed in the paint and came away with bunches of tipped passes, the Lady Gators were able to make up the difference at the charity stripe.
A-L would cash in on a momentum-building triple from Serena Frederick before taking the lead back in the final seconds from a fadeaway jumper from Addie Fisher at the buzzer. Going into the break, the Lady Gators sat atop a 14-13 lead.
The Lady Gators opened the third quarter by sending double-teams to Keane down on the low block while on offense they prioritized jumpshots to avoid rigid interior defense. However, they seemingly couldn’t take the lid off the basket and as their shots continued to miss their mark, Bradford managed to fine tune their offense.
Unable to feed Keane, the Lady Owls chose instead to drive and dish to their open wingers, specifically Mackenzie Taylor. Down one point around the five-minute mark, Keane would find Taylor for a made mid-range jumpshot. Gaining confidence, Taylor was emboldened to rip down an offensive rebound for a score before connecting on back-to-back jumpers to put the Lady Owls up 21-14.
As their offense got hot, so too did their defense. Ripping away steals, batting away layups and forcing ill-fated jumpshots, Bradford held A-L scoreless for the remainder of the third and entered the final quarter up 23-15.
“The main focus at halftime was just cleaning the rebounding up and we had a chance to win the game. That’s what they did,” said Blatchley. “On offense, they moved the ball and found the open person and shot very well.”
With their heads full of steam, it seemed as if nothing could stop the surging Lady Owls. Starting the quarter, Alexis Kicior came away with a steal and converted it into two points, putting Bradford up by double-digits before Alyssa Johnson and Keane tacked on four more with scores in the paint. Asserting themselves on the glass and on defense, Bradford closed out the game strong, righting their still-budding season with their first victory of the season.
“It’s so exciting. So exciting. They played awesome tonight,” said Blatchley. “I think the first game got some jitters out and we just played and hit some shots and we grinded again on defense.”
The duo of Keane and Taylor combined for 24 points, with Keane leading with 13 and her counterpart tallying 11. For the Lady Gators, Mya Hayes led with seven points, followed by Abby Peck with six and Serena Frederick with three.
Both teams will return to the tournament on Saturday. A-L will play Otto-Eldred in the consolation game at noon before Bradford takes on Port Allegany in the championship game at 3 p.m.
AT DUKE CENTER
Bradford (32)
Keane 4 5-8 13, Taylor 5 1-2 11, Kicior 3 0-4 6, Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 6-14 32
Allegany-Limestone (20)
Hayes 2 2-8 7, Peck 2 2-8 6, Frederick 1 0-0 3, Ortego 1 0-6 2. Totals: 6 4-22 20
Bradford 9 13 23 32
A-L 8 14 15 20
Three-point goals: BRD (0), A-L (2) Frederick, Hayes; Total fouls: BRD 15, A-L 14; fouled out: Craig (BD)
