DUKE CENTER — The story had basically been written. The Owls rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to pull off a thrilling comeback victory on the road against Otto-Eldred. It was going to go down like that until the Terrors scored five points in the game’s final seconds to stun Bradford with a 46-45 victory on Friday night.
The Owls were down nine points heading into the final frame, but played almost perfect basketball for the first seven and a half minutes of the fourth to not only erase that deficit, but take the lead. Deondre Terwilliger, who led all scorers with 18 points, had a big fourth quarter along with teammate Alec Kuzmeskas. Kuzmeskas had seven of his 14 points in that period, including a steal and layup to give Bradford its first lead of the game at 40-39.
After several intentional fouls, Bradford hit on its free throws to take a 45-41 lead. Following two misses, Otto’s Andrew Sheeler drove to the other end and hit a runner while being fouled with under 30 ticks to go. He missed the subsequent free throw, but the Terrors got the ball back and called timeout with just over three seconds remaining to set up the final sequence.
Dylan Close inbounded the ball underneath the basket and found a wide open Cole Sebastian to hit the game-winning three pointer to send the “Terror Dome” into a frenzy.
After the game, Otto head coach Dan Dalton couldn’t even take credit for that final play, but he couldn’t be more pleased with the results.
“Actually, my assistant coach is the one that does all the inbounds plays so he is the one that drew that up,” Dalton said with a laugh. “We were trying to get (Jordan) Sherwood off the screen under the basket for a layup, but they switched and Sebastian came open on the wing.”
Sebastian, only a freshman, had eight points, including the biggest three of his high-school career to date.
“For a freshman, he’s one of those kids that at times looks like one, and other times looks like a senior,” Dalton added. “I told the kids at halftime that we’ve lost a lot of close games this year and last year and it was time to finish one off.”
Trey Dalton led Otto with 13 points, while Close had 12. The Terrors shot 52 percent for the game, but shot themselves in the foot with 17 turnovers — including six in the fourth — to allow Bradford back into the game.
The Owls outscored the Terrors 19-11 in that fourth quarter, but for the second consecutive game, fell just short. Bradford (7-7) had just lost to Elk Catholic in double overtime on Wednesday, snapping a five-game winning streak. The Owls were also without Tyler Gigliotti, one of the team’s best scorers, who was injured in that Wednesday game.
Still, Bradford head coach Brian Hobbs wasn’t making any excuses for his team after the game.
“That (injury) hurts, it really does,” Hobbs said. “He’s a great player and he’s done a lot of really good things for us. But, I truly believe if we come in with the intensity that we had Wednesday night, with or without him, I think maybe the outcome is a little different. Not to take anything away from Otto-Eldred at all. They are a tough team.”
Although Bradford rallied late and made a spirited comeback, Hobbs was none too pleased with how his team began the game. The Terrors jumped out to a 14-4 lead, and was ahead 17-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Owls could never really get into any sort of rhythm offensively either, and shot just 28 percent (9-for-32) on the game.
“I am disappointed with the way we came out and the way we started,” Hobbs said. “I’m really disappointed in our chemistry. It seemed a little off after Wednesday night and it’s carried over.”
Bradford will have to regroup quickly, as the Owls host Brookville today at 2:30 in what will be a challenging league game.
“That does kind of hurt to have to play the game we did Wednesday and then to come in here and try to grind this one out and come up on the other end, and then to turn around and play a league game tomorrow,” Hobbs said. “It being a league game really is going to be tough on us. They are very good team that is playing well right now.”
On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Terrors will get to relish in Friday’s victory until they are back in action on Monday. Otto-Eldred (9-5) has now won five straight games after a four-game losing streak. Three of those victories have come by 20 points or more, and the Terrors sure look to be playing their best basketball of the season at the perfect time of the year. Dalton knew that Friday night would be a challenge for his team, but was confident as long as his team played with the constant energy they’ve had during the win streak.
“We came out with so much intensity that whole game,” Dalton said. “We told ourselves we were going to play man the entire night and we were going to ‘D’ it up. We know Bradford is a well-coached team. Hobbs is a great coach coming back to his home school, so you know he wants a win. He had them playing well, and we knew they were hot. But, we’ve been playing a lot better recently as well. We just picked up some intensity and it carried us again.”
AT DUKE CENTER
Bradford (45)
Deondre Terwilliger 5 6-6 18, Alec Kuzmeskas 5 1-2 14, D. Manion 2 2-5 6, Knowlton 2 0-0 5, Boyer 1 0-2 2, Pattison 0 0-2 0. Totals: 15 9-17 45
Otto Eldred (46)
Trey Dalton 4 5-8 13, Dylan Close 5 0-1 12, Sebastian 3 0-0 8, Drummond 3 0-0 6, Sheeler 2 0-2 4, Sherwood 1 0-0 3. Totals: 18 5-11 46
Bradford 9 20 26 45
O-E 17 22 35 46
Three-point goals: Brad 6 (Kuzmeskas 3, Terwilliger 2, Knowlton 1), O-E 5 (Sebastian 2, Close 2, Sherwood 1); Total fouls: Bradford 16, O-E 15; fouled out: Drummond (O-E)
JV: Bradford won 43-25
