If by the time a team scores its first field goal it is already
trailing by 24 points, it’s going to be a long night.
That’s the situation Highlands found itself in Friday night as
Bradford handed the Golden Rams a 62-48 loss in the first round of
the BHS Tip-Off Tournament.
Highlands limped out to a 25-1 deficit before Damon Porter made
a three-pointer with 3:45 left in the second quarter.
“Anytime you can come out and get a 25-1 lead to start the game
– we’ll take that any day of the week,” Bradford High head coach
Dave Fuhrman exhorted. “That’s a long hill to climb and that’s got
to be demoralizing to a team. But you have to give their kids
credit because they hung in there and actually cut it down to
12.”
Eric Arnett powered the Owls out of the gates by scoring 18 of
the hosts’ 29 first-half points and showing fantastic touch in the
paint. Arnett finished the night with a double-double of 30 points
and 14 rebounds.
“He had a monster game,” Fuhrman declared. “He was very active
and shot it well around the hoop. He finished the plays around the
basket. He runs the floor very well and he’s very athletic.
“He was obviously the difference in the game. Our guys did a
nice job of looking for him inside, too.”
Arnett’s 10 points, a nice jumper by lefty senior Shane Hvizdzak
and a trifecta from Ben Walter gave Bradford a 15-1 lead after the
first quarter of play.
A pair of free throws from Tommy Morris, an off-balance finish
by Walter and a Grant Ferguson-assisted lay-in by Tyler Hopkins
gave the Owls a 29-9 advantage at the half.
After the break, Highlands came out in a 1-3-1 halfcourt
trapping defense and were able to disrupt the Owls’ rhythm.
The Golden Rams put together a 14-4 run to open the third and
shave their deficit to 12, 35-23.
“I thought we got a little tentative after halftime,” Fuhrman
recalled. “We spent a couple of timeouts getting reorganized
against that.”
The Owls were then able to push their lead back to 16 by the end
of the third period.
Arnett canned a pretty pull-up jumper, Walter finished with his
strong left hand, Arnett powered in a basket and Hvizdzak nailed an
elbow jump shot for a 43-37 score after three.
Highlands cut it back to 13 with roughly four minutes remaining,
but sophomore reserve Ryan LaBrozzi buried a three in the corner to
quash any hopes of a Golden Ram rally.
“Ryan LaBrozzi’s three was big there in the corner when we were
struggling a little bit,” Fuhrman noted. “That’s the type of thing
(contributions from everyone) going to have to get. That will be a
key to our success.”
Two foul shots by sophomore point guard Tom Taylor closed out
Bradford’s scoring as the Owls secured an opening-night win.
Hvizdzak ended up with 11 points and five assists in a solid
game for the Owls, while Fuhrman also praised the play of senior
captain Ferguson and the sophomore Walter.
“I thought he guarded (his player) pretty well,” Fuhrman
commented. “He got his hands on a lot of passes and deflected a lot
of balls. I was pleased with the way he played defensively tonight.
He can contribute for us offensively, too. He did hit a three for
us tonight.
“Ben Walter did a nice job. He gave us seven points and he was
active in there. That’s good to see from a sophomore.”
While Fuhrman was concerned about his team’s defense going into
the game, the Owls held Highlands to 3-for-22 shooting in the first
half (17-for-50, 34 percent in the game) and outrebounded the
Golden Rams 30-17.
Offensively, BHS managed a 37-percent showing from the floor
(22-for-58).
“I’m happy with the win,” Fuhrman remarked. “I’m particularly
happy because I coached at Highlands before I came to Bradford and
beating someone from back home is always a good win for me,
personally.
“As a team it’s important for us to get some early season wins,
especially with the young team and a difficult December schedule,
so it’s a good start for us.”
Bradford (1-0) faces Batavia, N.Y. – a 56-44 winner over Penn
Trafford in the other opener – for the championship at 6 p.m.
today, while Penn-Trafford takes on Highlands in the consolation
game at 4:30 p.m.
“We’ve got a tough opponent tomorrow (today) in Batavia,”
Fuhrman emphasized. “They’ve got some very good individual players
and they are well-coached. We’re going to have to play even better
tomorrow (today) to beat them.”
