Bradford High attacked for 32 minutes Wednesday and sent Olean
back across the border with a non-league loss.

The Lady Owls handed the Lady Huskies a 51-35 setback to avenge
a one-point overtime loss BHS suffered in December.

“This is a sign of us getting better and better,” Bradford High
coach Doug Lloyd emphasized. “To lose to them a month ago and to
beat them by 16 this time – this is big for us.

“It was a great team win,” Lloyd continued. “We came out intense
and we kept it up for 32 minutes. That’s how we have to play.”

The hosts stressed the team concept from the start, as five
different Lady Owls put points on the board in the first
quarter.

While Olean’s Molly Redden opened things up with a lay-up right
out of the jump ball, Bradford’s Liz Keller responded swishing a
jumper on the right wing.

The visitors’ Michelle Spears grabbed two quick buckets for a
6-2 edge.

From here the Lady Owls ratcheted things up a notch, beginning
with a sweet bounce pass from Nikki Siffrinn ahead to Keller for
two.

Sophomore spark plug Tricia Copeland tied it at 6-6 with two
freebies and after a basket by Whitney Cline, made it 10-6 Bradford
with a 15-footer.

Then Katie White canned two free throws, Keller made another
shot from the wing and Cline laid one in for a 16-10 lead after the
first.

“Katie and Tricia come in and turn the game around,” Lloyd
observed. “They pick up the pace of the game.

“Those two could start, but they give us such a spark coming in
that it’s hard to change that. Their roles are very valuable to our
team.”

The onslaught continued in the second as sophomore sharp-shooter
Shelly Fuhrman buried four threes in the span of about three
minutes to make it 30-14 BHS.

Fuhrman’s bombs prompted an OHS timeout with 3:31 showing in the
first half.

The visitors gathered themselves from here and scored six
unanswered to close the half down 10, 30-20.

The third was low-scoring for both teams, but junior point guard
Siffrinn pushed the lead to 14, 37-23, with a one-on-one, spinning
fadeaway as time ran out in the quarter.

“That shot really helped a lot,” Lloyd recalled. “We weren’t
scoring and she turns around and hits that with Whitney out of the
game with foul trouble.”

Bradford’s leaders, Cline and Siffrinn, put the game away in the
fourth by scoring 11 of the hosts’ 14 points in the period.

“Nikki does a heck of a job handling the ball,” Lloyd commented.
“She had eight points, five assists and only two turnovers. That’s
fantastic for as much as she handles the ball.

“Whitney had another double-double with 15 points and 11
rebounds. She also held her girl (Olean’s Brandy Wangelin) to just
nine points. She (Wangelin) had 26 against us last time.”

With the 5-10 Cline shutting down the 6-2 center in Wangelin,
Redden led the Lady Huskies with 10 points.

“We played great team defense and our rebounding was much
better,” Lloyd remarked. “We played great.

“I can’t say enough about all of our girls. Olean is a good team
and this is a big win for us.”

Bradford, now 9-8, is on the road against District 9 League foe
Punxsutawney on Friday.

“This (Wednesday’s win) is just one step,” Lloyd cautioned. “Now
we have to come back Friday (against Punxsy) and maintain it. We’re
not gonna get any breaks down there.”