After an 0-3 start, Bradford High let it be known Saturday that
it’s back in the District 9 League basketball race!

Shooting over 50 percent from the field and with four players
putting double digit point totals in the book, the Owls turned up
the heat in an otherwise cool Owls’ Nest with a 62-44 victory over
visiting Punxsutawney.

The Chucks came into the game unbeaten in league play at 5-0 and
riding a seven-game win streak that had pushed their overall record
to 9-2.

“I think after we started 0-3 in the league we were flying under
the radar,” said Dave Fuhrman, Bradford coach. “These kids are
getting better and now we’re back in the hunt.

“On any night, anyone can win. We’re 3-3 and three or four
losses might win [the league] this year,” he pointed out.

Punxsy held the lead only twice in the game, on a foul shot by
Corey Neal just 18 seconds into the action and at 5-3 on a Neal
layup with 6:25 left in the opening quarter.

The contest was tied twice after that at 5-5 and 7-7, before the
Owls went in front for good on Mike White’s 12-foot jumper followed
by a Cory Viola layup that made it 11-7. The same duo finished off
the period to give the Owls a six-point, 15-9, cushion at the end
of the stanza.

Back-to-back baskets by Ryan Mackey and Dave “Pug” Fuhrman
pushed Bradford’s lead to 10 points, 22-12, with 4:55 left in the
half. Then a 7-0 run by Mackey and Viola, which included Viola’s
three-pointer just ahead of the buzzer, sent the teams into their
locker rooms with the Owls holding a solid 14-point advantage,
31-17.

The break couldn’t have come at a better time for the Chucks,
who came out firing in the third quarter with eight unanswered
points, including a pair of traditional three-point plays by Neal
and Dave Kopas to whittle Bradford’s lead down to six, 31-25.

“In the third quarter they changed their defense,” Coach Fuhrman
explained. “They went to a triangle and two, and it took us a while
to adjust to it.”

Evan Kline finally got the Owls on the board nearly three
minutes into the quarter with a layup that made the score
33-25.

Bradford held the Chucks at bay for the remainder of the quarter
and headed into the final eight minutes of play with a seven-point
advantage, 41-34.

White, Mackey and Kline opened the fourth quarter with six
straight points and Fuhrman, Tyler Grandy and Mackey completed a
13-3 run at the four-minute mark to put the Owls up by 17, 54-37,
and the crowd on hand could feel an upset in the making.

White and Pug Fuhrman buried four straight freethrows as action
moved inside the two-minute mark to give the Owls their biggest
lead of the game, 19 points, 60-41. Kline and Chris Fair sealed the
deal, each with a foul shot, as the final seconds ticked off.

Coach Fuhrman agreed that the win was a big one for his team,
now 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the league.

“We shot 55 percent, 23 of 42. That probably was higher than the
temperature in the gym. Maybe we should keep it at 50 degrees in
here,” he laughed.

“I’d like to take this game and bottle it. This may have been
our best offensive game this year. We really played well in the
fourth quarter.”

Scanning the scorebook and his stat sheet, he noted, “We had
four guys in double figures. That’s the best offensive balance
we’ve had this season. We also had only eight turnovers in the
game.

Leading the Owls was Ryan Mackey with a double-double. He had 19
points and 10 rebounds. Cory Viola put 11 points on the board and
Pug Fuhrman and White each added 10 tallies.

“Ryan’s 10 rebounds were the first time this season we’ve had a
double digit rebounder,” Coach Fuhrman pointed out. “We
outrebounded them 29-17, which was also a key. They killed us on
the boards down there.

“We also played great defense today … we really executed it
well. Neal, Kopas and Bush (Tommy) are their top three scorers and
we held two of them to single digits.”

Neal finished with 15 points for the Chucks.

“Today we did everything we had to do. Mackey had another
outstanding game, Kline got some good looks, White played well,
Viola came off the bench for us and Coats (Cody) stepped up. We got
some big contributions off the bench.

“We’ve won four games in a row and I think today we served
notice that we’re not a pushover. Teams now know they’re in for a
game, but we also have to play that much better, too,” Coach
Fuhrman emphasized.

“I’m really enjoying this group. They are a great bunch to
coach,” he added.

Bradford returns to action Wednesday on the road at Elk County
Catholic.