It’s not often that a team can score just 17 points in a half and still win a basketball game. But that’s exactly what happened on Friday night. After a tightly played first half, Punxsutawney put together an offensive outburst over the game’s final 16 minutes to pull past Bradford 49-24 in D-9 League action.

Each team struggled to do much offensively in a hard-fought first half. The Lady Chucks hit just three field goals and scored nine points in the first quarter, while the Owls managed only six points of their own. The second quarter featured more of the same, with 14 combined points, and Punxsutawney took a 17-12 lead into halftime.

After the break, the Chucks got hot and didn’t stop rolling until the final buzzer. Punxsy hit four three-pointers in the second half and got plenty of second-chance opportunities en route to outscoring Bradford 32-12 to turn a defensive struggle into a lopsided victory.

“We’ve had a tendency to have some first halves where we don’t play with that intensity that we do in the second half,” Lady Chucks head coach Mike Carlson said.  “I wish I could say that was the first time, but we’ve had a few of those. It’s really when one kid makes a shot, it loosens that rim up a little bit and more kids get some confidence and start hitting them.”

Leah Miller led Punxsy’s charge in the second half with 19 points to go along with her 12 rebounds. Bradford had done a fine job of containing her in the first half, but as the game wore on, Miller was simply too much.

“It’s a tough matchup for anybody this year,” Carlson said. “She’s just consistent. Good game or bad game, it’s going to be 10-20 points and 10-20 rebounds. Whether she is playing good or not. And really it’s a credit to our guards too, because if she’s not making a bunch she can hit some outside shots and they can attack the hoop.”

When Bradford forced the Chucks to the perimeter, Kate Horner was there to deliver. Horner hit six field goals, including three from beyond the arc.

Punxsy (8-5 overall, 3-0 D-9 League) also employed a full-court press for a majority of the game, which forced the Owls into plenty of lost possessions. The Chucks used that to force turnovers that resulted in plenty of easy transition points the other way, and they never really allowed Bradford to get into any sort of rhythm on the offensive end.

For Bradford head coach Bob Hannon, his team scrambling in its own backcourt has been an all-too-familiar sight so far this season.

“We just don’t value the possession of the ball like we need to,” Hannon said. “They pressured us a little bit and we got careless with the ball. I think a lot of them were unforced turnovers, we just get nervous and we don’t take care of the ball.”

And when things don’t go right on one possession, it has had a real snowball effect on the next couple minutes of play, according to Hannon.

“It’s easy for a young team to get your head down when you turn the ball over and psychologically you’re not into what you’re supposed to be doing because you’re thinking of the last mistake you made,” Hannon said. “It takes a lot of your confidence away. Whereas if you put the ball in the basket, hit a couple of shots, and get up early, t’s different. Early in the game we missed three layups and four foul shots and had the opportunity to be in the lead instead of playing from behind. And that helps your confidence level too.”

Bradford (2-11 overall, 0-4 D-9 League) were led in scoring by freshman Hannah Lary, who chipped in eight points. Hannon is hoping that as league play progresses, his young group of girls can channel the effort they had in the first eight minutes of Friday night’s contest into a complete-game effort.

“It’s a good group of girls,” Hannon added. “We are trying to get better each and every game. Everything isn’t working the way that we want it to, but as long as we keep plugging away and trying to get better at it, that’s all we can ask them to do.”

AT BRADFORD

Punxsutawney (49)

Leah Miller 8 3-5 19, Kate Horner 6 0-0 15, Presloid 2 0-0 6, GIgliotti 2 0-0 4, Weaver 0 3-3 3, Lingenfelter 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 6-9 49

Bradford (24)

Lary 2 3-4 8, Maley 2 1-3 5, B. Moffett 1 3-6 5, Tyger 2 0-0 4, Marshall 1 0-0 2.  Totals: 8 7-13 24

Punxsy   9 17 32 49

Bradford 6 12 19 24

Three-point goals: Punxsy 5 (Horner 3, Presloid 2); Total fouls: Punxsy 14, Bradford 10; fouled out: none

JV: Punxsy won