It could’ve been a dangerous game that was sandwiched between
the Elk County Catholic and Olean contests, but the Bradford Owls
feasted on Brookville with an 85-65 District 9 League victory at
the Bradford High gym on Friday.

You couldn’t fault the Owls for overlooking the struggling
Raiders (4-12, 2-6) after a hard-fought 76-69 loss at ECC (15-0) on
Wednesday and then facing the Huskies (12-0) in three days.

“We don’t have the type of team that can overlook anybody,” said
Dave Fuhrman, Bradford head coach. “We came out tonight, executed
our offense and gained some confidence. We have some tough teams
coming up on our schedule and we have to make a commitment to the
defensive end.”

The Owls’ defense was suffocating early in the contest as the
hosts blocked four shots on Brookville’s first possession of the
night.

Bradford was equally impressive at the other end of the floor
when six points by Eric Arnett, five from Ben Lanich, four by Shane
Hvizdzak and a three-pointer from Tommy Morris staked the Owls to
an 18-4 bulge with 3:41 left in the quarter.

Fuhrman then emptied the bench as buckets by Tom Taylor and Rob
Gault, and a free throw from Ben Walter gave the Owls a 23-5
cushion after one.

“Early we blocked a few shots with our size inside,” Fuhrman
recalled. “After that we didn’t play a whole lot of defense and
allowed them (Raiders) to shoot 55 percent from the floor. We gave
up too many easy baskets.”

In the second period, Bradford enjoyed a trio of 23-point leads
and then Walter put the Owls ahead by 24 (45-21) with a trifecta
from the left corner with 2:02 remaining in the half.

Brookville cut its deficit to 45-27 with 37 seconds showing, but
a pair of driving layups by Grant Ferguson presented the Owls with
a 49-27 halftime lead.

A bomb from the right corner by Morris gave Bradford the first
of four 25-point disparities in the third stanza before Brookville
rallied for a 61-40 score at the end of three.

In the fourth, Allen Bowen tallied eight straight points as the
Raiders pulled within 65-48 with 6:38 remaining, but Morris
answered with a triple from the left wing to increase the Owls’
lead to 20.

Bradford’s advantage was 18 points at the two-minute warning
when Gault swished a three from the right elbow and Dan Vecellio
followed with a traditional three-point play to make it 85-61 with
1:27 left.

“It was fortunate we were playing offense and put 85 points on
the board,” Fuhrman noted. “Our guys moved the ball well and got it
inside. Eric (Arnett) and Ben (Lanich) did a lot of damage around
the hoop, and Tommy (Morris) had a good game.”

Arnett amassed 20 points and 10 rebounds, Morris contributed 15
points and five steals, Lanich scored 13 points and Hvizdzak handed
out five assists for the Owls. Bowen led Brookville with 20 points
and Tyler Ross added 14.

The Owls, who now improve to 9-6 overall and 6-2 in the league,
travel to Olean High on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) to avenge the 63-48
loss in the IAABO championship on Dec. 29.

“I’m looking forward to playing Olean and I hope our kids are
too,” Fuhrman declared. “We need to win some quality games. We’re
not about moral victories. Everybody has been telling us how good
we looked down at Elk, but the bottom line is: we still lost the
game.”

In the preliminary Friday evening, Mike Manning’s Bradford High
junior varsity squad improved to 13-2 on the season with a 53-39
win over Brookville. Tom Taylor had 14 points and Randy Confer
registered 11 points for the Owls.