The 72.3-mile bus ride south on U.S. 219 must have felt like 723 miles to the DuBois High School girls’ basketball team after the Lady Beavers had suffered a 54-21 District 9 League defeat to Bradford at the BAHS gym Tuesday.
A suffocating Lady Owls’ defense forced more turnovers (29) than points allowed as Bradford (16-1, 7-0) extended its season winning streak to a lucky 13 and its consecutive league victories to 17 over the past two years.
“We pressed full court in the first half only,” said Ann Nuzzo, Bradford head coach. “We came out in the second half with a 3/4 court press and we didn’t set any traps. It was just the basic of the four variations of our press. DuBois was also missing a couple of starters and we were able to capitalize on them not having all their players.”
Kaserra Owens got the hosts off to a 5-0 start with a layup and a 3-pointer from the left side, and then 11 DuBois turnovers later it was 12-4 Bradford after one.
“We finally came out and played a good first quarter and we didn’t fall behind,” Nuzzo recalled.
Ali Rinfrette failed to enter the scorebook in the opening period, but the 5-5 junior made up for it in the second stanza with seven points on two free throws, a traditional 3-point play and a steal for a layup. Owens drilled another triple from the right wing and the Vinellis (Alex and Haley) finalized the half with layins as the intermission lead had ballooned to 26-9.
“We had balanced scoring in the first half,” Nuzzo noted. “Then Ali Rinfrette and Kaserra Owens took over in the second half.”
Rinfrette tallied five points, Owens and Haley Vinelli added four points each, and the defense limited the Lady Beavers to one field goal in the third quarter for a 39-12 discrepancy after 24 minutes of action.
To say DuBois (6-13, 1-7) was having a lousy night was an understatement when Payton Ambrose opened the Bradford scoring in the fourth period with a layup attempt that rolled across the top of the backboard and fell through the nylon for a 41-12 advantage with 6:53 remaining.
Owens later fed Rinfrette for an easy bucket and then Rinfrette swished a trey from the right wing for a 48-17 margin at the 2:49 juncture.
Two buckets by Owens and a pair of foul shots from Alex Vinelli with 59 seconds showing then capped the scoring.
Owens put in a full night’s work with 18 points, 10 assists and eight steals. Rinfrette also kept the notepad operator busy with 17 points, seven helpers, five rebounds and an equal number of thefts.
“The seniors (Owens and Alex Vinelli) played well in their next-to-last home game,” Nuzzo concluded. “The bench played well and all the girls played great defense.”
Bradford will travel to Brookville on Friday and then make up the previously postponed contest at Erie Central on Saturday (JV 6 p.m./varsity 7:30 p.m.).
DUBOIS (21)
Labue 3-0-0-8, Benton 2-1-1-5, LaBrasca 1-0-0-2, Wilcox 0-2-2-2, Beers 2-0-0-4, Totals 8-3-3-21
BRADFORD (54)
A. Vinelli 3-2-4-8, Ali Rinfrette 6-4-4-17, Ambrose 1-1-2-3, H. Vinelli 4-0-2-8, Kaserra Owens 8-0-0-18, Totals 22-7-12-54
By Quarters
DuBois 4 5 3 9 — 21
Bradford 12 14 13 15 — 54
Three-point FGs: DuBois — Labue 2; Bradford — Owens 2, Rinfrette 1
