Win streaks were meant to be broken and that’s just what
Bradford High’s girls basketball team made up its mind they were
going to do.
Friday night the Lady Owls ended Punxsutawney’s domination of
the District 9 League with a defense-led 31-25 victory over the
Lady Chucks.
Punxsy had won 67 straight league games and had an additional
win string of 90 straight games against all District 9
opponents.
On this night, however, Bradford’s defense put the clamps on all
of Punxsy’s scorers and anyone else looking for an easy basket.
“Our team played great defense,” said a smiling Doug Lloyd,
Bradford coach. “Their effort and energy tonight was outstanding.
They all came ready to play.
“Coach Marasco (Natalie) came up with the idea of going man and
our kids all played it very well. We even took away the lob down
inside the lane that Punxsy likes to set up.
“This was a great win for our program. They had not lost a game
in the league in five years,” he emphasized.
It was a long wait, but one that proved worth it.
“Our seniors have been waiting for four years and it’s been
three for me,” said Shelly Fuhrman, a junior. “It feels good to get
that off our chest. It was a good team win.”
The Lady Owls were ready to get it off their chest well before
the junior varsity game was over. Anxiously they waited along the
sidelines for their turn.
When they got it, they made good on it.
Fuhrman, who led all scorers with 15 points, opened the scoring
with a 3-pointer, but Punxsy’s Samantha Reitz matched it to tie the
game at 3-3.
Katie White put Bradford up 5-4 near the midway point of the
quarter, and Nicole Siffrinn closed out the period with a foul line
jumper to keep the Lady Owls in front, 9-8.
Lauren Martino’s 3-point play gave the visitors the lead to
start the second quarter, but Whitney Cline completed one as well
and Bradford was back in front by one, 12-11.
Cline then ignited a 6-2 run by the Lady Owls over the final
3:30 of the half.
The senior came up with a steal that was converted into points
on a 15-foot jumper by White, she buried a pair of foul shots and
then ended the half with a 12-footer to send Bradford into the
locker room up by five, 18-13.
Bradford came out for the third quarter with one thing in mind,
keep the ball away from the Lady Chucks and the player to do that
was Siffrinn.
She ran Punxsy’s defense ragged, while Cline dropped in a layup
and Fuhrman buried back-to-back 3’s from the wing to put Bradford
up by 13 points, 26-13, with 2:07 left in the period.
The Lady Chucks were rattled, but not ready to give up just yet.
Over the final 1:30 they ran off seven unanswered points, including
a “3” by Nicole Cappella as the clock ticked down to cut the Lady
Owls lead to six, 26-20, headed into the final eight minutes of
play.
Again the ball was put in Siffrinn’s hands and she set up the
passing game to run off time.
Bradford ran off nearly five minutes before Amanda Wehrle went
inside for a basket, Martino got free for a layup and Wehrle added
a foul shot to cut the Lady Owls lead to one, 26-25.
Punxsy turned up the pressure, but Fuhrman had the answer for
that with two successful foul shots at the 1:41 mark, making the
difference three points, 28-25.
Cline canned a foul shot with 17 seconds remaining and Fuhrman
sealed the Lady Chucks fate with five ticks left on the clock and
two more freethrows for the final 31-25 score.
“Our kids were probably up a little more than usual for this
game, but now they know where they have to play every game,” Lloyd
observed. “Punxsy put a lot of pressure on us, but we kept our
composure and know we can play against it.
“We didn’t win the league or the district tonight, but we took a
step in that direction. We want to enjoy this win and build on it,”
he added.
Also in double figures for Bradford (12-6) was Cline with 10
points. She is now just 11 away from joining an elite group of Lady
Owls in the 1,000-point club.
Cline was also credited with seven rebounds, while White grabbed
six and had five steals.
Martino’s seven points led the Lady Chucks.
