There was a two-week span in December in which Bradford High
lost six straight games. The Lady Owls are going to go ahead and
chalk that up to youth.
BHS does not carry a single senior on the roster, but is now
riding a five-game win streak culminating with Monday’s 59-34
drubbing of DuBois Central Catholic.
It would have been tempting for such a youthful team to pack it
in, but the Lady Owls kept playing and are now a winning team –
above .500 at 7-6 on the season.
The visiting Lady Cardinals never had a chance Monday as the
Lady Owls established all-around dominance from the get-go.
Whitney Cline, Meghan Perschke, Liz Keller, Tricia Copeland and
Nikki Siffrinn each scored inside and out as the hosts built a 10-2
edge with 2:33 left in the first quarter.
After a timeout, DCC’s Brittany Hoover canned a quick three, but
scrappy reserves Katie White and Tricia Copeland slammed the door
on any potential rally.
White drilled a corner jumper and on the next possession found
herself unguarded and took it straight to the rim for the basket
and the foul. Number 33 drilled the freebie for a heady three-point
play.
Seconds later, White got her hands up on top of Bradford’s press
for a steal and the lay-up.
Copeland then raced ahead of the defense and laid the ball in to
close out the quarter at 21-5 Bradford.
“Katie and Tricia came in and defensively they were getting
steals, tipped balls, everything,” declared Doug Lloyd, BHS coach.
“They ran the floor and got a lot of lay-ups and that all came off
their defense.
“Their speed and quickness is a great strength and you need that
spark coming off the bench. They really picked us up and they are
capable of doing that every game.”
Sophomore guard Shelly Fuhrman has emerged as a scoring threat
for the Lady Owls, but could not find the mark Monday. Instead, she
displayed her basketball savvy and helped her team in other ways,
rebounding the basketball and dishing out assists.
“Shelly rebounded well and did have some nice passes,” Lloyd
commented. “Offense can come and go but defense has to be there
every night and she picked it up in all other areas. Our team built
on that and everybody picked up their games.”
Bradford built a 31-17 cushion at the half despite Cline,
stalwart in the paint for Bradford, scoring only two points.
Cline demonstrated her total ability in the third, scoring 10
unanswered points and pushing the lead to its largest at 42-17 with
3:22 showing.
She first scored on a textbook back-door cut, then on some deft
footwork in the lane and prompted a DCC timeout with an
offensive-rebound put-back.
Less than one minute later she blocked the visitors’ Rachel
Coggins to spark a fast break, ran the floor and received the pass
for the basket. She was fouled and drilled the free throw for a
traditional three-point play.
The 5-10 junior capped off the scoring spurt with a bucket as
the trailer on another fast break.
“Whitney always does a nice job,” Lloyd praised. “She’s
averaging a double-double and she had 17 points and 10 rebounds
tonight. We need to work on getting the ball inside to her more.
She is just a complete player.”
Buckets by Keller, Cline and Copeland kept the hosts’ margin at
23 points, 48-25, after three.
BHS scored five times in the fourth, each time by a different
player.
Keller buried a deep ball, Cline dropped in a basket, Copeland
made a driving hoop, White sank a free throw and Britani VanScoter
muscled the ball in for two to close out the game at 59-34.
“This was just a great team win,” Lloyd remarked. “I think this
year, more than any other, we can go seven, eight, nine (players)
deep.
“The last game (a 59-46 win over Clearfield) Liz Keller had 19
points and Shelly Fuhrman 17. This game it was Whitney with 17
points and Tricia with 11. It will be tough for teams to guard us
with four or five different people scoring.”
Not only did the Lady Owls shoot the ball well at 46 percent
(25-for-54), but they also took care of the basketball, committing
just 14 turnovers.
“That (few turnovers) comes from Nikki Siffrinn,” Lloyd
reasoned. “She does a great job handling the ball. She had six
assists tonight and no turnovers. That’s fantastic for as much as
she handles the ball – 90 percent of the time.”
The Lady Owls will look to continue their winning ways when they
return to District 9 League action on the road against DuBois Area
on Friday.
