Tommy Morris and Shane Hvizdzak scored 12 points each and
brought their brooms to the game as Bradford completed its season
sweep of Punxsutawney with a 48-39 victory at the Owls’ Nest Friday
night.

The Owls overcame a sluggish first quarter where they bucketed
just three free throws in the game’s first 4 1/2 minutes.

Just two minutes into the second quarter, Bradford (10-7) gained
the lead with a key offensive rebound when a Hvizdzak three-point
attempt bounced off the rim. The Owls scooped up the board and fed
Hvizdzak again for the three and an 11-10 lead.

On the Owls’ next offensive possession, Hvizdzak found an open
Ben Lanich under the basket for a layup, widening Bradford’s lead
to three points (13-10). Lanich finished with 10 points.

At the 4:30 mark of the second quarter, Lanich would convert
underneath the basket once again to give the Owls a 15-10
advantage.

Punxsy answered with a three-point play by Dustin Dubensky to
draw within one point of Bradford (19-18) with 1:30 left in the
first half.

On the Owls’ next offensive possession, Morris answered the call
by nailing a three-pointer to put Bradford ahead 22-20. The Owls
led 24-20 at the half.

When the second half began, Bradford’s defense turned up the
heat, resulting in a missed shot, a travel and a loose ball foul on
the Chucks’ first three offensive possessions.

Offensively for the Owls, a patient Hvizdzak found Doug Rose
open from the left corner for a three-pointer to give the hosts a
27-20 advantage.

Missed shots by Bradford kept things close, as Punxsy’s Dennis
Manges drove to the basket, nailed the bucket underneath and drew a
foul around the one-minute mark of the third quarter. As the Owls’
Nest faithful cried “airball,” Manges missed the free throw and
left Bradford a three-point lead (31-28).

With 7:23 left in regulation and a three-point game hanging in
the balance, Lanich forced a key travel by Punxsy, which led to a
Hvizdzak bucket at the other end. The Owls led 33-28 and wouldn’t
look back.

The hosts utilized a pair of Morris three-pointers down the
stretch and eight fourth quarter points from Hvizdzak to distance
themselves from Punxsy and ice a 48-39 victory.

“We’ll take it (the win),” said Dave Fuhrman, Bradford coach.
“It wasn’t pretty. We just really struggled offensively and it was
a bad shooting game.”

The Owls converted on just 16-for-48 shots from the field (33
percent).

“If you look at some of the misses – offensive rebound putbacks,
layups, a lot of close-in shots – you gotta be able to put those in
the basket,” Fuhrman pointed out.

“We were very fortunate to win the game,” he added. “We won
partly because they were 15-for-43 (34 percent) from the field.

“We did force 24 turnovers tonight, but we didn’t convert those
turnovers into offense at the other end.

“In the fourth quarter, Tommy Morris hit two big threes,”
Fuhrman continued. “Shane had eight of his 12 points in the fourth
quarter. I like the fact that two of the guys we’re counting on
stepped up and scored when the game was on the line.

“It was a fine effort by Dan Vecellio tonight,” he stressed.
“Eric Arnett fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Dan played in
the JV game as well. He played seven quarters tonight.”

Fuhrman explained a key decision that the Owls coaching staff
made to switch to a matchup zone defense in the last four minutes
of the game as suggested by assistant coach Mike Manning.

“When we went to matchup zone… it seemed somewhat effective,” he
said. “They (Punxsy) hurt us in our man-to-man. Mike suggested we
go to it.

“They had a good game plan (Punxsy) to massage the ball and make
us play defense,” Fuhrman added. “We did have the lead most of the
game. That was important, because they had to play a little
bit.

“Warren is coming to town tomorrow and they’re a tough team,
with veteran guys who can score,” Fuhrman concluded. “We have to
play much better than we have these last couple of games,
especially offensively.”

Arnett grabbed eight rebounds for Bradford, which was
outrebounded 32-31 by the Chucks. Lanich pulled down six
boards.

Hvizdzak and Morris each had four steals for the Owls.

The Owls varsity squad (7-2 in District 9) hosts the Dragons
today at 2:30 p.m. The freshman game is scheduled for 11 a.m. and
the junior varsity game at 1 p.m.