Elk County Catholic was not impressed by Bradford’s six-game
winning streak and it showed Tuesday night at the Owls’ Nest.
The Lady Crusaders took advantage of a 17-6 scoring margin in
the second quarter en route to a 58-46 District 9 League and
streak-snapping victory over the Lady Owls.
ECC opened up several 20-point leads in the contest on the way
to improving to 6-1 in the league to stay 1/2-game back of
Punxsutawney (6-0) in the standings.
Whitney Cline and Nikki Siffrinn executed a give-and-go to draw
the defense and Siffrinn found Katie White on the baseline for the
game’s first points.
Then four points from Vicky Straub and a bucket from Meghan
Beveridge gave Elk a 6-2 lead.
The Lady Owls answered with an 8-2 run on four points apiece
from Meghan Perschke and Siffrinn to make it 10-8 Bradford with
1:42 left in the first.
Claire Posteraro hit a three and Allie Cleveland converted two
freebies for a 13-10 score after one.
The visitors then showed why they are one of the best teams in
the league, erupting for a 17-6 scoring margin in the second that
was initiated by a deflating 10-0 spurt in the first four
minutes.
The offensive burst gave the Lady Crusaders a 30-16 halftime
cushion.
A Dominique DeFrain put-back pushed the visitors’ lead to 22,
42-20, with 5:04 showing in the third.
Bradford was able to pull within 14 points at 49-35 on a pair of
free throws by White with 5:50 left in the game.
ECC would work its lead back up to 21 points, 56-35, with 4:24
to go, but the Lady Owls stayed with it and closed the final margin
to 12, 58-46.
The push down the stretch was keyed by the junior point guard
Siffrinn, who scored nine of her 16 points in the fourth
quarter.
“Nikki (Siffrinn) played a heck of a game,” declared Doug Lloyd,
BHS coach. “She took it upon herself – she really carried the team
offensively in the second half.
“The highlight of the game would be her play.”
Siffrinn complemented her 16 points with eight rebounds and
three assists and White wound up with 11 tallies to pace 12 Lady
Owls in the scoring column. Cline added five rebounds, two points,
two blocks and two steals.
“Katie White played hard,” Lloyd noted. “She got some quick
fouls early and that really hurt a lot. She did a nice job when she
was in there.”
Elk County Catholic coach Ken Pistner was pleased with his
team’s play.
“We played great defense against Cline and Siffrinn,” Pistner
emphasized. “Our team defense was good.”
Claire Posteraro led the Lady Crusaders’ charge with 16 points
and Meghan Beveridge added 10 marks.
“This was a good win against a quality team,” Pistner
remarked.
The Lady Owls struggled from the field, shooting just 34 percent
(16-for-47), and pulled down only 23 boards – seven of the
offensive variety.
“When you have an off shooting night, you have to rebound and we
didn’t rebound,” Lloyd observed. “We only had seven offensive
rebounds. When you’re one-and-done, it’s tough to play like
that.
“They (Elk) had 15 offensive rebounds and when you’re giving up
that many offensive rebounds and not getting your own, you’re going
to struggle and we did.”
Lloyd discussed the keys to Elk halting his team’s six-game win
streak.
“Their defense was good. Their press really rattled us. When we
did get it up the court we rushed it and were all over the place.
The press isn’t always about getting turnovers, it’s also about
making a team do what they don’t want to do and they did that.
“You have to give Elk County credit,” Lloyd stated. “They pushed
the ball up and we were slow getting back. They were just the
better team tonight.”
Bradford, now 8-7 overall and 3-4 in District 9, are on the road
against Brookville on Thursday.
“Tonight (Tuesday) was just one loss,” Lloyd reasoned. “We have
to come back to practice tomorrow (today) and start over – work
hard to get ready for Brookville.”
