A defensive stop, long 3-pointer or crucial turnover.

With its backs against the wall, Bradford High needed a momentum-changing play to ignite a home crowd and help the team overcome a three-point deficit with just more than a minute left. That key play never came and DuBois left town with a 53-47 District 9 League victory Wednesday night.

“All we needed was that one thing to kind of get us over the hump and we just didn’t get it,” Bradford High head coach Brian Hobbs said.

Coming into the game, Hobbs and his staff knew they wanted to neutralize DuBois’ 6-foot-5, 235-pound center Nick Labrasca. Against Bradford’s zone defense, the Beavers (6-7, 2-2 D9 League) used an inside-out game plan that left shooters open on the perimeter, where DuBois nailed 10 3-pointers (42 percent). The Beavers made 3s at the first- and third-quarter buzzers.

“The first half definitely killed us,” Hobbs said. “We were very concerned with Labrasca inside. We know he can be effective in there, but also he can shoot it too. We keyed on him a lot and we were worried about him in the post too, which left some of the guys on the perimeter open.”

Kyle Hopson (11 points) hit three, while Labrasca showed his versatility to step out and knock down three as well.

“I have to give it to Hopson. (DuBois head coach) Scott [Creighton] said those were his first 3s of the year and he had three of them. He said he was going to yell at him. We didn’t expect that to happen. We were definitely sagging off of [Hopson] a little bit and very concerned with inside. Maybe we should have switched our defense up a little bit sooner.”

When Labrasca (15 points) was in the post, defensive responsibility fell mostly on junior Danny Manion. Manion did foul out late in the fourth quarter, but most of his fouls came on loose-ball situations or in full-court defense.

“He did a good job,” Hobbs said. “We were pinching in, we were doubling from the backside. I think that emphasis on the backside left some of their shooters open on the weak side.”

Aside from 3-point shooting, DuBois also led the Owls on the boards, outrebounding the hosts by a 33-21 margin. Once Bradford switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half, the Owls were able to force bad passes and got a number of breakaway layups off steals. Bradford forced 20 steals for the game.

“I thought our pressure on man defense worked well in the second,” Hobbs said. “It was just a little too late. I should have switched to that sooner.”

That pressure defense was evident when freshman Steven Knowlton stole the ball at halfcourt, raced in for a layup with 1:12 left to get the Owls to within five at 50-45. Not to be outdone, Manion did the same steal and score 13 seconds later to make it a one-possession game at 50-47.

However, DuBois’ Kenny Garvey (11 points) and Brice Bright made free throws down the stretch as the Owls were in the double bonus.

In the early going, the game was a back-and-forth affair, with DuBois taking a 12-9 lead into the second quarter. Adam Boyer scored three of his team-high 15 points early in second to tie the game at 12.

DuBois then answered with an 8-0 run to take a 20-12 lead. The Owls battled back and freshman Tyler Gigliotti’s 3-pointer midway through the quarter got the deficit to a point at 28-27, but the Beavers promptly responded with a 10-1 run to take a 38-28 lead.

Boyer – in an expanded offensive role as guard Deondre Terwilliger continues to sit with an injury and Nate Higbie is still trying to find his rhythm – led the offense. Gigliotti scored added 12 for the Owls.

“He’s scoring for us. We’re glad he’s doing that,” Hobbs said. “Tyler Gigliotti did some good things for us tonight too. I think one of the things is Higbie is really struggling to find himself offensively out there. If we can get him going, things would be a little bit better. He did a nice job distributing the ball (six assists) tonight.”

Bradford continued on with its D9 League schedule Friday, hosting Punxsutawney (8-4, 1-1 D9 League). The Chucks snapped a four-game losing streak Tuesday night with a league win against St. Marys.

“They’re very good,” Hobbs said. “They get up and down the floor. They’ve got some shooters too. Maybe this was a good wake-up call. Hopefully we defend the perimeter a little bit better on Friday.”

At Bradford

DuBois (53)

Bright 0 1-2 1, Hopson 4 0-0 11, Beers 2 0-0 6, Foley 1 2-2 5, McCluskey 0 2-2 2, Garvey 4 2-6 11, Manduley 1 0-0 2, Labrasca 4 4-5 15. Totals: 17 9-16 53.

Bradford (47)

Boyer 5 2-2 15, Pattison 0 6-8 6, Knowlton 3 0-2 7, Gigliotti 3 5-6 12, Higbie 2 0-0 2, Manion 1 1-2 3. Totals: 14 14-20 47.

DuBois  12 28 41 53

Bradford  9 21 33 47

Three-point goals: DuBois 10 (Hopson 3, Beers 2, Foley, Garvey, Labrasca 3); Bradford 5 (Boyer 3, Knowlton, Gigliotti)

Total fouls: DuBois 13, Bradford 15. Fouled out: Manion (Bradford)

JV: DuBois, 60-53 (Caleb Nuzzo, 16 points)