By HUNTER O. LYLE
DUKE CENTER, PA – Opening their season in the Randy Stebbins Memorial tournament, the Bradford boys’ basketball team struggled to execute late, falling to Eisenhower, 63-45.
Coming into the matchup, the Owls were working with an inexperienced roster. Losing all but one starter from last season’s team, as well as that one returning starter being out with a broken wrist, Bradford was in the midst of a rebuild. However, what they lacked in experience, they made up for in effort.
The biggest threat on the court was Eisenhower’s Austin Hanson, who opened the game with a pair of triples in the opening minutes. While Bradford didn’t have the same matured talent, they kept in stride with tough rebounds, contested shots at the rim and fluid ball movement that found shooters. Through the first eight minutes of play, the Owls found themselves down by just three.
“The effort was unbelievable. These guys are playing hard,” said Bradford head coach John Bennardi. “They’re playing hard for them. They’re playing hard for me, for all the coaches. I’m proud of them.”
As Bradford continued to out-hustle the Knights, they finally found a break part-way through the second quarter. First, Danny Marasco successfully drove to the net for two points before Landon Davenport spun through traffic to tie the game. Holding the Knights scoreless, Marasco scored again in the paint for the Owls’ first lead followed by baskets from Carter Roulo and Marcus Terwilliger to put them up 30-26 with a minute and a half left to play.
Pushing the pace, Eisenhower would respond with a few made shots before drawing a costly foul in the last two seconds, sending Hanson to the line to tie the game at the break.
Unable to go into the break with momentum, the Owls were also unable to create separation on the scoreboard in the third. Returning to the tick-to-tack battle, both teams swapped leads late into the period. Coming down the stretch, the Knights would once again push the pace and, coupled by a handful of turnovers from the Owls, broke out on a 10-2 run late. Despite this, Bradford survived the initial surge and managed to cut the deficit back to one going into the final period.
Pushed up against a wall, the Knights relied on their star. For the entire period, they routinely fed Hanson who either sped down court and into the paint for acrobatic layups or found his teammates on the corners. All the while, Bradford’s yet-untested squad struggled to both stop the bleeding or respond on offense.
As the clock wound down, the gap on the scoreboard only widened. Playing with breakneck speed in transition while also slowing it down in the halfcourt to burn clock, Eisenhower left Bradford defenseless and unable to change the tide. The tightly-fought game had dissipated into the makings of a blowout and as the Owls were outscored 19-5 in the final eight minutes – Hanson scored 16 – and they tallied their first loss of the season.
“For a lot of guys, it was their first varsity game. A lot of guys went out and played hard,” said Bennardi. “You know, you hate to lose but I’m proud of what they did. I’m proud of all of them. We have to tighten some things up. Everything is correctable and we’re going to be fine.”
Three Owls ended in double-digit scoring, led by Marasco with 14. Tyler Simmons followed closely behind with 13 while Terwilliger had 11.
Bradford will stay in the tournament, playing Smethport in the consolation game on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
AT DUKE CENTER
Bradford (54)
Marasco 6 2-2 14, Simmons 5 0-0 13, Terwilliger 4 2-4 11, Roulo 3 0-0 6, Troisi 2 0-2 5, Reese 2 0-0 5 Totals: 22 4-8 54
Eisenhower (63)
Hanson 29 13-15 42, Seymour 5 0-2 10, Guiher 2 0-0 5, Lindemuth 1 1-2 4, Chase 2 0-0 2. Totals: 37 14-19 63
Bradford 15 32 46 54
Eisenhower 18 32 46 63
Three-point goals: BRD (6) Simmons 3, Terwilliger, Troisi, Reese, ESN (15) Hanson 9, Lindemuth 3, Guiher 3; Total fouls: BRD 20, ESN 10; fouled out: None.
