As is often the case, experience won out versus youth in Friday night’s game between Bradford and Punxsutawney as the more seasoned Chucks came out on top 56-47 in a D-9 League game.
The Owls (3-10, 0-4) lost a halftime lead in a third quarter in which they were outscored 16-6 as a result of numerous turnovers caused by Punxsy’s (9-4, 2-1) full court pressure defense.
The recurring theme of inexperience leading to costly mistakes isn’t lost on Owls’ coach Brian Hobbs. He understands that a winning mentality can only come through the types of tough losses his team has been the victims of so often this season.
“I’m happy with our effort tonight, but we’re making youthful mistakes and that’ll hurt you in a game like this,” Hobbs said. “Punxsy’s got some veterans. They’re aware of the level of intensity that you need. For us to match that as far as execution is kind of tough for our younger guys.”
Punxsy was led by the combo of Devin Kelly (18 points) and Brandon Matthews (17) who were both able to find openings in the paint and take advantage.
While it took both teams a while to find their footing early, the Owls found an early advantage, winning several loose balls in their own end and working hard on the offensive boards.
Adam Boyer gave the team a big momentum boost after he converted an and-one opportunity with 1.6 seconds left in the first quarter to give the Owls a 13-11 lead after eight minutes.
That momentum carried over into the next frame as Bradford started the second quarter on a 7-0 run. Both Boyer and Tyler Gigliotti made nice some buckets during this stretch. The duo would both finish with a team-high 13 points.
“[Gigliotti’s] been consistent, him and Adam both. Adam’s been doing really good things offensively for us,” Hobbs said, but also pointed to the need for more balanced scoring from the rest of the lineup.
“We just need those other two guys, whoever that might be, to give us eight [points].”
The Chucks, meanwhile, really struggled shooting from the outside in the first half. They also found it tough going in the paint as far as rebounds were concerned. Bradford’s Danny Manion was a steady presence in the low block all night, finishing with 12 rebounds in addition to three points.
A lot of tight man-to-man defense by both sides led to a low-scoring half, with Bradford holding a slim 23-21 advantage.
It was in the third quarter, though, that the Owls’ youth reared its head. Punxsy coach Dirk Neal made the decision to switch to a full court press, and it paid off brilliantly. Bradford struggled all quarter simply getting the ball past half-court resulting in easy baskets off turnovers for the visitors.
“We were hoping at halftime to take advantage of some youth,” Neal said. “Bradford’s good and they’re young. They’re going to be better. With the press, young kids get a little antsy. They’re going to throw it and panic a little bit. That’s the key word we talked about, let’s try to create panic and make them throw it through the gym.”
That’s exactly what happened, and Hobbs admitted his players were a bit unnerved by the pressure they were facing.
“I think our youth showed a little bit,” he said. “We didn’t handle the pressure well there.”
The Chucks went on a 11-0 run in the third quarter that gave them a 37-27 lead that proved to be too much for the Owls to overcome.
“You take the third quarter away and we win by one,” Hobbs said. “But you gotta play four [quarters].”
Bradford was able to get to the basket fairly consistently, but unfortunately their foul shooting wasn’t where it needed to be. The Owls made just 57 percent of their shots from the charity stripe. This proved a major hindrance to making up a deficit which, by the fourth quarter, seemed to be perpetually stuck at eight points.
The Owls eventually switched to a high pressure ‘D’ of their own. But their execution was not nearly as good as the Chucks’, as Punxsy found a few wide-open baskets late to seal the victory.
The Bradford boys will be off until Wednesday when they visit Elk Catholic (13-0) in a D-9 League game.
At Bradford
Punxsutawney (56)
Weaver 3 0-0 7, Horner 1 3-4 5, Devin Kelly 6 6-7 18, Riley 1 0-0 2, Brandon Matthews 6 4-8 17, Richardson 1 1-1 3, Zimmerman 1 0-0 2, Constants 0 2-2 2. Totals: 19 16-22 56.
Bradford (47)
Adam Boyer 5 2-7 13, Pattison 1 3-4 5, Knowlton 2 2-2 7, Tyler Gigliotti 5 2-2 13, Higbie 2 2-2 6, Manion 1 1-4 3. Totals 16 12-21 47.
Punxsutawney 11 21 37 56
Bradford 13 23 29 47
Three-point goals: Punxsutawney 2 (Weaver, Matthews); Bradford 3 (Boyer, Knowlton, Gigliotti)
Total fouls: Punxsutawney 20, Bradford 17. Fouled out: Riley (Punxsutawney), Manion (Bradford)
JV score: Punxsutawney 52-48
