By GREG CLARK
Era Sports Writer
The Bradford High boys’ basketball team is limping into the District 9 Class AAA playoffs with the same affliction suffered earlier in the season as the Owls dropped a 67-37 non-league decision to Warren at the BAHS gym on Tuesday.
After a 2-7 start to the 2012-13 campaign, Bradford (10-12) now ends the regular slate with three straight losses to Elk County Catholic, Punxsutawney and this one to the Dragons that was actually a three-point game at the half.
“I felt all three of those were winnable games,” said Bradford coach Brian Hobbs.. “We beat Elk and Punxsy before, and after watching the Warren film (53-33 loss on 12/28), we played bad and we did again tonight.”
Warren’s big man Mark Davis was mainly to blame for Bradford’s misfortunes as the 6-5 senior registered a triple-double with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocked shots.
“That’s a good night for him (Davis),” Hobbs admitted. “He shot the ball well from mid-range and was a huge factor. It makes a big difference when you have a guy at 6-5 or 6-6 who is athletic in the paint. We tried to attack him and get him into foul trouble.”
You wouldn’t get many takers for “Warren by 30” in the first quarter as there were six lead changes until a 17-footer by Jacoby Passmore gave the visitors an irreversible 12-11 advantage at the 1:51 mark.
“We played well early and then got flatter as the game wore on,” Hobbs recalled.
The Owls trailed 22-16 because of makable layup misses on three straight possessions, but Mike Wilber pulled the hosts within 22-19 on a 3-pointer from the right wing with 3:47 left in the second period.
Warren enjoyed its biggest margin of the half at 26-19 on a 16-footer by Davis before buckets by Matt Yurkewicz and Mike Wilber cut the Owls’ deficit to 26-23 at the intermission.
The Dragons took advantage of a couple of Bradford turnovers to commence the third period in building a 32-23 lead with 6:16 remaining in the third.
“I always tell the guys the most important part of the second half is the first two minutes and nothing really happened for us,” Hobbs stated. “We weren’t being patient and rushed some shots.”
Following a Mike Wilber layin at the 6:04 juncture, it went from bad to worse for the Owls as Warren used a 17-0 run for a 49-25 differential with 7:42 left in the contest. The highlights of the spurt was seven points by Davis and a no-look pass from Collin Fantaskey to Passmore for an easy bucket as the Dragons outscored Bradford 21-2 in the stanza.
A trey from the top of the key by Mike Wilber finally ended a 6:43 drought, but the Dragons responded with another 13-0 succession to put it far of out grasp at 62-30 with 3:47 showing.
Warren, which failed to qualify for the District 10 tournament at 12-8, shot 58 percent from field while Bradford checked in at just 33 percent.
Mike Wilber had 15 points for the Owls, who now have a few weeks for laundry chores before the AAA title game versus Punxsy in Clarion on March 2.
“We have a layoff and hopefully we can iron some things out,” Hobbs declared. “We have to get back to mid-season form.”
WARREN (67)
Foley 4-1-3-9, Jerman 2-0-0-6, Mark Davis 9-4-4-23, Sandberg 2-0-0-4, Fantaskey 3-0-0-7, Hammersly 1-0-2-2, Jacoby Passmore 4-2-2-10, Totals 28-7-11-67
BRADFORD (37)
Webster 1-0-0-3, Mike Wilber 6-0-0-15, Yurkewicz 1-0-0-2, Rice 2-0-0-4, Faulkner 1-0-0-2, Ackerman 1-0-0-2, Zimbardi 2-0-0-4, T. Wilber 2-1-4-5, Totals 16-1-4-37
By Quarters
Warren 17 9 21 20 — 67
Bradford 14 9 2 12 — 37
Three-point FGs: Warren — Jerman 2, Davis 1, Fantaskey 1; Bradford — M. Wilber 3, Webster 1
