By HUNTER O. LYLE
BRADFORD, PA – Playing their third game in four days, the Bradford boy’s basketball team snapped their short losing skid with a 36-25 knock-down-drag-out win over Kane.
The Owls started out their week in a tight spot. Getting back to action after the holiday break, Bradford immediately hit the road with games in hostile territory against Cameron County and St. Marys. Playing on back-to-back nights, Bradford narrowly came up short in both contests, losing by a combined six-point margin.
“It came down to time and score. We talked a lot about that and playing the possession. Against Cameron County it went into overtime and when we’re in a close game like that, every possession counts. You just have to be aware of the situation and understand the game,” said Bradford head coach Andrew Terwilliger. “We made a couple errors there and those errors converted to a couple possessions for them. We watched a lot of film this week and made some corrections.”
Against the Wolves, a team they saw at the very start of the season where they took home an 11-point win, Bradford’s offense still lagged behind, albeit, just barely. Taking an advantage early with an administrative technical foul – an error in Bradford’s scorebooks – the Wolves quickly took a two-possession advantage with a steal from Eric Novasel and score from Kahne Jamerson. From there, Kane’s defense continued to keep Bradford at bay with pesky hands in the passing lane and defiant swats that protected the rim.
As the Owls settled into the feeling out process, their defense rose to the challenge. Running their full-court-press as well as a 3-2 zone, Bradford started repaying the favor with several steals of their own, breaking open looks in transition. Although they still were forced to be cautious of Kane’s athleticism, which produced several chase-down blocks, Evan Troisi put them on the scoreboard with a hard-fought layup.
From there it was off to the races. After being scoreless for the first three minutes, Bradford quickly tied the game with a Marcus Terwilliger jumpshot before Danny Marasco helped the Owls pull away with an 8-0 run by battling under the boards for second chance scores. Kane, meanwhile, went cold but managed to end a six-minute drought with a 3-pointer from Phinn Chamberlain, narrowing the deficit to just three heading into the second quarter.
In the following eight minutes of play, offense took a back seat. Despite exchanging buckets early, both teams struggled to put points on the board as they fought through the respective defenses. For the Owls, their struggles came from a hesitation to enter the paint. With the Wolves’ high-flying defenders lurking, they instead fell back on shots from the outside.
“We need to work on getting the ball to our high-low post areas. The options are there but we don’t get enough post touches,” said Andrew Terwilliger. “The times we did do it, it worked perfectly but we just need to keep hashing it out.”
Kane, on the other hand, fell victim to unreliable or forced passes that routinely fell in the hands of their opponent. As both teams sputtered and stumbled, Bradford narrowly outscored the Wolves at 5-2, taking a 15-9 lead with two quarters to go.
The tooth-and-nail battle continued in the third. After Bradford stretched their lead to nine from a split trip to the line from Tyler Simmons and a 3-pointer from Marcus Terwilliger, Kane began breaking their silence by leaning into the physicality. Forcing their way through the paint, the Wolves fought to recollect several of their misses before attempting a second shot and earning a trip to the charity stripe. Although they struggled to hit both free shots, their resilience paid off, trimming the Owls’ lead to just three with three minutes remaining.
However, seeing the momentum begin to build against them, Bradford summoned some quick scoring. Carter Roulo opened the late-quarter run with two shots at the free throw line before Simmons turned a steal into another basket, followed by a post maneuver from Roulo that put the Owls back up by nine at the end of the third.
“At one point I called a timeout and we emphasized how much we need to get the ball into the post and take advantage of (the mismatch,)” said Andrew Terwilliger. “Carter started getting going, Danny had some nice looks that didn’t convert but that’s okay.”
Although Bradford managed to take their largest lead of the game at 10 in the early minutes, it appeared to be their ceiling as Kane answered tick-for-tack coming down the stretch. Finally finding openings in the paint, Roulo and Simmons continued to duke it out down low, however, sporadic turnovers allowed the Wolves to stay within reach.
Finally, in order to preserve their lead, the Owls began to stall. Passing around the paint to avoid Kane’s aggressive on-ball pressure, Bradford burned clock until the Wolves had no other choice but to intentionally foul. Making it into the bonus in the final minute of play, Bradford sealed their fifth win of the season with near-perfect free throw shooting.
Marcus Terwilliger led the Owls with nine points while Roulo ended with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Simmons finished with seven points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Moving forward, Bradford will enjoy a three-day break before a light schedule next week. On Monday, the Owls will host Port Allegany before seeing Punxsutawney on the road on Friday. Both games are slated for a 7:15 p.m. start.
“It’s important to watch film a lot and see ourselves and make corrections,” said Andrew Terwilliger on how to keep the momentum building. “It’s just seeing the repeatable things. We have to keep reemphasizing the ball pressure, keep reemphasizing the control on the ball offensively. They’re still young kids and we have to keep repeating ourselves and getting some reps in. But I’m glad for the win.”
AT BRADFORD
Kane (25)
K. Chamberlain 2 5-8 9, P. Chamberlain 3 1-2 9, Novasel 1 1-2 3, Wensel 1 0-0 2, Jamerson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 8 7-12 25
Bradford (36)
Terwilliger 3 2-2 9, Roulo 3 2-2 8, Simmons 3 1-5 7, Troisi 2 1-3 5, Marasco 2 0-0 4, Blatchley 1 1-2 3. Totals: 14 7-14 36
Kane 7 9 16 25
Bradford 10 15 25 36
Three-point goals: KN (2) P. Chamberlain, BD (1) Terwilliger; Total fouls: KN 17, BD 7; Fouled out: None.
JV: Bradford 60, Kane 24
