PORT ALLEGANY – Whitney Cline sank 14 points and grabbed nine
boards as Bradford defeated Smethport 58-49 in the opening round of
the Port Allegany Holiday tournament Tuesday.

Also keying the Lady Owls were Nikki Siffrinn (11 points, 8
rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals) and Tricia Copeland (10 points, 6
rebounds, 3 steals).

“Smethport played a really good game, they came out fast and did
a lot of good things offensively. They handled our pressure defense
well and shot well from the line,” said Doug Lloyd, Bradford coach.
“We came out kind of slow and got behind. Cline did a good job
rebounding and got inside to shoot some for us, Siffrinn had some
great passes and Copeland did a good job on the press and came up
with some steals.

“Our second group came out and did well for us. Kayla Murphey,
Meghan Perschke, Brittani VanScoter and Carissa Higley really
brought us back. They handled Smethport’s pressure and got some
easy baskets, cutting their lead from 10 down to four at
halftime.

“VanScoter is just coming off mono and ended up with two easy
layups from working the ball well,” Lloyd noted. “We really came
out strong in the third quarter and got ahead and held it through
the fourth quarter. We’re glad to come out with the win.”

In the tourney’s other first round match-up, Austin used a 21-8
third quarter to defeat Port Allegany 62-47.

Rayna Valenti paced Austin with 30 points, while Whitney Crosby
added 15.

Leading the Lady Gators were Jenn Anderson with 12 points and 10
rebounds and Shanel Halle with nine rebounds and two points.

“We played a nice first half,” said Kristina Francis, Port
Allegany coach. “(Rayna) Valenti played an awesome game and shot
the ball very well. Defensively we just couldn’t seem to keep track
of her.

“In the second half we gave up too many uncontested lay-ups and
that third quarter was what hurt us.”

Port Allegany will face Smethport at 3 p.m. in the consolation
game, while Austin advances to face Bradford at 4:30 p.m. in the
championship round.