ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – It’s when they say it can’t be done that
victory is sweetest.
Most people – all but die-hard Bradford fans included – probably
thought the 3-5 Owls couldn’t top 7-0 Olean that, coming into the
game, was the No. 1-ranked Class B team in the state of New
York.
The Owls knew what they were up against and intimidated they
were not in upsetting the Huskies 61-58 in the opening round of the
IAABO Tournament at St. Bonaventure’s Reilly Center on
Thursday.
Said Dave Fuhrman of the impressive victory and how it ranked
among the program’s storied wins, “This was a big one because I
don’t think a lot of people gave us much of a chance to win the
game.
“But I told our guys that I had all the confidence in the world
that we could do it.”
From the onset BHS played with that same confidence Fuhrman
expressed for his guys.
While Olean struck first with a quick steal and lay-up, the Owls
answered with a Tommy Morris trifecta, a signature Ryan LaBrozzi
pull-up and two Ben Lanich freebies for a 7-2 edge.
Husky Jon Reed carried the favorites through the first period as
with 3:06 showing it was Bradford 13, Reed 10.
The Owls look for contributions from their short bench and
sophomore Drew Kelly came in to knock down two long-range bombs in
he first half.
“Those threes were big,” Fuhrman pointed out. “We got
contributions from a lot of guys.”
Strong junior center Lanich dominated in the paint, scoring six
more points, and junior Tom Taylor knocked down three free throws
to help the Owls stun Olean 23-14 after one.
Few people, particularly Olean, expected the early score to show
Bradford on top and the Huskies played frantically in an effort to
regain control.
But the Owls kept their cool as LaBrozzi canned a deep ball and
Lanich converted around the hoop.
When Kelly canned his second bomb from the corner to make it
31-15, Olean wanted to huddle up.
The Huskies regrouped and scored four quick points, prompting a
BHS stoppage.
From here the teams were about even and Bradford held a
surprising 37-27 lead at the intermission.
The third quarter has sometimes been a slow period for BHS and
the underdogs managed only eight points, opening the door for the
Huskies at 45-38 after three.
Olean cut it to four, 45-41, and got the crowd fired up when
Reed hit his fourth three-pointer at the 7:12 mark.
Then Morris, in what shaped up to be the biggest play of the
game, drained one from behind the line, was fouled and hit the
extra shot to stretch the lead back to eight points, 49-41.
Reed brought Olean to within three, 53-50, with 3:09 to go and a
long-range shot from Parks made it 59-58 with 24 ticks left and
Husky fans went nuts.
Bradford partisons, meanwhile, were holding their collective
breath.
There were only nine seconds remaining when the junior LaBrozzi,
with his typical athletic aplomb, was fouled and stepped to the
line to bury two foul shots for what would be the final margin,
61-58.
Olean called one last time out and everyone in the gym knew the
ball would end up in the hands of Zach Moore, the Huskies’ star
player. To that point, LaBrozzi, Morris and Taylor had held the
senior standout to just 10 points in the game on only two field
goals.
But as time ran out the Owls prevented the most important three
points of the game on a long corner try by Moore to shock the
Huskies.
“Our guys gave a great effort,” Fuhrman maintained. “We’ve had a
lot of battles with Olean over the years and this was no
different.”
Bradford outcoached, outshot and outrebounded Olean in the
upset.
The Owls shot 42 percent to Olean’s 33, held a 34-28 advantage
on the boards and, perhaps most importantly, shot 19-for-21 from
the stripe (96 percent).
Bradford’s game plan included containing Moore and challenging
shots.
“I don’t think they were ready for the junk defense we showed,”
Fuhrman reasoned. “We played a chaser on Zach Moore and rotated
three different guys on him. He’s a tough guard.
“We stressed transition defense, getting back and not giving up
any easy baskets. I thought we did a good job of that. They worked
for everything they got.”
For Bradford, Lanich put up a double-double of 16 points and 11
boards, Morris finished with 12 points and four assists and
LaBrozzi wound up with 15 points and three helpers.
“Tommy’s (Morris) our go-to guy, Lanich dominated inside early
and LaBrozzi has been playing very well.
“Tom Taylor did a lot of good things that don’t show up in the
box score. Dan Vecellio had a couple of key baskets when they were
making a run at us. Randy Confer hit two big free throws in a close
game.
“Our tough schedule helped us in this game tonight. Our kids
aren’t in awe of anybody they’re going to play.”
In the other opening round game, Jamestown held off Grover
Cleveland 60-48, so the now 6-1 Huskies will play the Presidents in
the consolation game at 12:45 p.m Saturday.
The 4-5 Owls, meantime, will clash with the Red Raiders for
large-school tourney laurels at 6 p.m. Saturday.
