A young basketball team is often capable of both surprising you with some great performances, as well as showing you in other games just how far they have yet to go.
Last week the Bradford Lady Owls hung tough with one of the best teams in the area, losing to Coudersport 67-58. Wednesday’s game, however, was an example of the latter scenario.
Bradford struggled to hang on to the ball against the North East Grape Pickers, losing the non-league contest 70-35.
“I don’t think we were ready to play tonight,” Owls coach Bob Hannon said afterward.
Hannon pointed out that Bradford was facing some personnel deficiencies. Starter Taylor Smith was out with an injury and senior Bri Wells was battling flu-related symptoms throughout the game.
The Owls were clearly affected, as they turned the ball over time after time, giving the Grape Pickers far too many easy buckets.
“That’s not an excuse but if you’re fatigued a little bit, that can happen,” Hannon said. “But we just didn’t take care of the ball.”
The sloppy passing started early, as the Owls looked to set a quick tempo but wound up playing faster than necessary.
“In the first quarter we looked decent,” Hannon said. “I don’t know if we ran out of gas a little bit, but I don’t think we were there to play the whole thing. I don’t think we had the mental toughness tonight to battle with them.”
North East sunk a couple 3s late in the quarter to pull away from what was a relatively close game, going up 22-10 after one.
Wells and Brinya Moffett (8 points) were the only two Owls to score in the first quarter, as the offense struggled to string passes together, resulting in turnovers as well as poor shot opportunities.
While she did finish with a game-high 20 points, Wells was clearly not at 100 percent.
“It started at the onset of the game and we weren’t sure she was going to go,” Hannon said about Wells’ illness. “She toughed it out and she played hard, but she missed some shots that she normally makes.”
Bradford’s poor passing continued in the second quarter. Any momentum they tried to create was stifled by turnover after turnover.
On the other end, the Grape Pickers were led by Alexis Rodenbaugh and Kaylan Mayes. Rodenbaugh (18 points) was able to consistently find open looks for herself and her teammates, while Mayes (16 points) hit four of North East’s seven 3s for the game.
After going into halftime down 41-15, the Owls started to show some signs of life in the second half, making some better passes. But on several occasions they followed up a nice basket with a mental lapse on the defensive end that allowed easy points for the opposition.
North East got good contributions from up and down the lineup, as ten different players recorded points.
“The only positive out of it, if there is one, is that it’s not a league game,” Hannon said. “It’s good for us to see this type of competition. They’ve got some girls that can shoot the ball.”
The Lady Owls (1-10) will be back at home Friday when they host Brookville in a league matchup.
