ALLEGANY, N.Y. – For the second straight day, Bradford High took an early lead at the IAABO Holiday Tournament.
Unfortunately for the Lady Owls (0-8), a big quarter by the opposition turned a lead into a large deficit. After losing Thursday to Franklinville, Bradford matched up against Olean High, dropping the consolation game, 66-39, Friday afternoon at St. Bonaventure’s Reilly Center.
“Being 0-8 is not easy,” Lady Owls’ head coach Bob Hannon said. “Morale-wise, it’s easy to get down on ourselves.”
After taking a quick 6-0 lead and 13-8 advantage after one quarter, the Lady Owls started racking up turnovers, while Sara Pfeiffer, Gabby Carpenter and Chantel Singleton had big quarters for Olean, which scored 28 points and held Bradford to just four to take a 36-17 lead into halftime.
“We didn’t stay attached to the shooters,” Hannon said. “They hit some shots that we weren’t close enough to and we were complacent. Then we just started turning the ball over. It was just like a factory of who wants it next. The pressure wasn’t stifling pressure that we had to worry about it.
Jolynne Weaver and Brinya Moffett managed Bradford’s only two second-quarter field goals, as Olean employed a three-quarter-court press midway through the first quarter. At first, Bradford upped their tempo and scored on numerous layups, but in the second, the press resulted in unforced errors.
“In the first quarter, we were looking up the floor,” Hannon said, “getting the ball to the middle, extending it down and getting good looks at the basket and making baskets. I don’t know what happened in the second quarter. We just started throwing the ball around like a hot potato. When that happened, [Olean] fed off of that and got easy baskets.”
Unfortunately, things didn’t get much easier in the third quarter for the Lady Owls. Pfeiffer, Olean’s star sophomore guard who went over a thousand career points in Thursday’s preliminary game, caught fire, scoring 21 of her game-high 30 points, which included five 3-pointers from behind the collegiate line. The Lady Husky lead ballooned to 48-18 two minutes into the quarter after Pfeiffer went on a 10-0 run by herself.
Bri Wells, who was named to the all-tournament team, scored 13 of her 23 in the third.
Moffett was next high-scorer with six for Bradford.
Bradford opens D9 League play on Wednesday against St. Marys as the Lady Owls continue their search for win No. 1.
“When you’re winless, you have to find a way to win that first one and have some confidence in yourself,” Hannon said. “We don’t have that confidence. I don’t think we believe in ourselves enough to find that win.
“We’ll keep working at it, it’s all we can do is keep trying. It may not look like we’re working out there, but we’re trying.”
At St. Bonaventure
Olean High (66)
Anzivine 1 1-2 2, S. Pfeifer 11 2-2 30, Carpenter 3 2-3 8, G. Pfeifer 1 2-2 4, Singleton 3 3-5 9, Ramarge 2 0-0 4, Martin 1 1-2 3, Malone 1 0-0 2, Jesperson 1 1-2 3. Totals: 24 12-18 66.
Bradford (39)
Wells 8 6-10 23, Weaver 1 0-0 2, Marshall 1 0-0 2, Moffett 3 0-0 6, Luther 1 0-1 2, Warner 1 0-0 2, Sayers 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 6-11 39.
Olean 8 36 60 66
Bradford 13 17 32 39
Three-point goals: Olean 6 (S. Pfeifer 6), Bradford 1 (Wells)
Total fouls: Olean 13, Bradford 16. Fouled out: none
