Pressure may be a big part of Elk County Catholic’s game, but it
didn’t get to Nikki Siffrinn.

Siffrinn had nine points, four rebounds, four assists and two
steals in Bradford’s 48-40 defeat of ECC Wednesday in a District 9
League girls basketball game.

“The pressure didn’t affect Nikki. She’s our ball handler, she
brought it up the floor and handled the ball well,” said Doug
Lloyd, Bradford coach. “Pressure is a part of their game. They play
hard all the time.

“We were 20-for-51 shooting tonight and that was pretty good for
us. We missed a lot of easy shots and that was because of the
pressure. I give ECC credit for that. They never quit. They play
hard.”

Andie Beveridge led ECC (2-1) with 10 points.

Bradford drew first blood on a foul shot by Whitney Cline,
followed by a Bradford rebound and a shot by Shelly Fuhrman,
putting the Lady Owls up 3-0.

Bradford kept the lead alive, only falling behind ECC with 30
seconds left, as ECC’s Bre Grimone hit a basket to give the Lady
Crusaders a one-point advantage at the end of the first quarter,
13-12. That would be the last lead ECC would enjoy.

Bradford took control in the second quarter, opening scoring as
Furhman drove down the lane and sank her shot. The Lady Owls
followed that basket with three more before ECC’s Beveridge saw an
opening from inside the key and sank one for two points.

A holding call on Bradford gave ECC’s Emily Detsch a chance at
the foul line, a chance she made good use of, sinking both foul
shots and bringing the game to within seven points, with Bradford
still holding on at 24-17.

Bradford’s Katie White grabbed a rebound and went sailing down
the court alone to add two points for the Lady Owls. Her shot was
answered by two points by ECC’s Emily Radkowski, making the tally
Bradford 26-20 as the buzzer sounded for halftime.

Bradford began and ended third quarter scoring as Fuhrman opened
with a two-pointer from the side and White found the net from the
right side to end the quarter and keep Bradford in the lead,
34-28.

Siffrinn opened scoring in the fourth quarter with a steal and a
race down the court to sink her shot. White scored on a rebound,
putting Bradford ahead by 10, 38-28.

ECC’s Beveridge came alive with back-to-back three-pointers,
followed by a basket by Laken Lenox, bringing the lead down to two
points.

Bradford’s Cline sank a two-pointer and a foul shot.

The Lady Crusaders answered with another three-pointer, this
time by Dominique DeFrain to cut the Bradford lead to 41-39.

Bradford’s Cline sank a two-pointer and a foul shot, Siffrinn
added a foul shot and Tricia Copeland also sank one from the line,
giving Bradford a 46-39 advantage.

ECC’s final point of the night came from Detsch at the line.

Bradford’s Furhman added two from the line to put the final
score on the board, 48-40.

“I give Bradford credit, they played good basketball,” said Ken
Pistner, ECC coach. “They got on us early and we were playing catch
up most of the game. We played OK. We are a young team and we made
critical mistakes at some critical times. We need to take better
care of the ball and things will fall into place.”

“We looked nervous at times but played well for our first home
game,” Lloyd noted. “We have had two tough losses to good schools,
but that helped us in this game. We’ve played against pressure and
that prepared us. This was a good win for us against a good
team.”

The Lady Owls (3-2) travel to Punxsutawney Friday to take on the
Lady Chucks.