The buzzer-beater.
Is there any more thrilling, more dramatic play in sports?
Tommy Morris and the Owls don’t think so.
Morris, the Owls’ senior go-to guy, played the hero to
perfection in front of a home crowd Friday night with a last-second
shot that sent Bradford to a 50-48 District 9 League triumph over
Clearfield.
But don’t underestimate the importance of the charge sophomore
Drew Kelly took with 9.8 seconds left, or the game-tying jumper by
Ryan LaBrozzi with 18 ticks to go.
And before that there was the Owls’ team pressure defense on the
stalling Bisons that led to two crucial steals by, first, Tom
Taylor and then Morris.
It was a total team win that was crucial for Bradford for a lot
of reasons, the most important of which is that it keeps the Owls
solidly in contention in the league standings at 4-1, just behind
3-0 Elk County Catholic.
The victory breathes life and confidence into a team that
struggled through a tough early-season schedule, but has fought its
way back to .500 at 6-6 overall.
“I told the guys that a sign of a good team is when you win
without playing your best basketball,” commented Dave Fuhrman, Owls
coach. “We wanted to hold serve in the league so that this
mid-January match-up with Elk would mean something.
“It feels good to be back to .500,” Fuhrman admitted. “I don’t
think I’ve ever said that, but it really does.”
It was slow-going for the Owls early on as Clearfield opened up
a 12-5 advantage at the 7:18 mark of the second quarter.
“We looked very tentative against their zone defense,” Fuhrman
observed. “We thought an early lead was going to be important and
we didn’t do that, but we battled back with a pretty good start to
the second quarter.”
LaBrozzi, playing consistent basketball for the Owls, started a
fire under the hosts, canning two three-pointers in the next
minute.
Add in baskets by Lanich and Morris and the hosts had put
together a 15-2 run for a 20-14 lead with 4:33 left in the first
half.
Clearfield responded with a 6-2 spurt and the score was 22-20
Owls at the break.
It was all Bisons to open the third as the visitors put up a
10-3 spurt for a 30-25 edge and to prompt a BHS timeout.
From here the Owls finally caught fire from beyond the arc as
Morris, Taylor and Kelly each drilled a deep ball and it was 38-35
Bradford with one quarter remaining.
The Bisons regained the momentum once more with another 10-3
stretch to lead 45-41 as the clock read 4:31.
Clearfield played keep-away to try to milk the clock, but Taylor
took it away and laid it in for a 45-43 game.
Morris stole it again just 15 seconds later and was going in for
the lay-up when he was intentionally fouled. He made one of two at
the line, but the Owls couldn’t get anything out of the additional
free possession.
When James Zimmerman missed two free throws at the other end,
Lanich came back with an elbow jumper and BHS led 46-45.
The Bisons went up 47-36 when Zimmerman converted an Owls
turnover into a lay-up with 1:17 to go.
With 39.5 on the clock, Jarrin Campman hit one of two at the
foul line to leave it at 48-46.
Enter LaBrozzi with the tying pull-up and Kelly with the charge
draw.
Taylor took the inbounds pass and spun in time to find Morris
open at the free throw line. No. 12 turned, squared his shoulders
to the hoop and sent the Bisons home losers.
“Tommy’s a shooter,” Fuhrman declared. “He’s been getting it
going a little bit better lately. He had 16 points tonight, three
threes and they were all big shots. We need his offense.
“This was a good team win for us. It’s nice to see some of these
close ones go our away. Fortunately we perservered and made the big
plays at the end of the game.
“It’s nice to see a block/charge call go our way, too,” the Owls
coach added.
Morris finished with a game-high 16 points and LaBrozzi netted
13 marks. Lanich contributed nine points and nine boards.
“I like where we’re at,” Fuhrman emphasized. “I see us coming
together and our man defense has improved tremendously. If we can
knock shots down on a consistent basis we can have a good second
half.”
The Owls are idle until next Friday when they travel to DuBois
for another league contest with the Beavers.
Bradford’s junior varsity teams, both boys and girls, are in
action today at the JV IAABO Tournament. The Lady Owls take on
Allegany-Limestone at 10 a.m. at Olean High School and the Owls
will play A-L at 11:45 a.m. at OHS.
