At halftime on Saturday afternoon, it looked like the Bradford Owls were going to play another nail biting, down-to-the wire game. But those Owls had other ideas this time around.
Bradford held Brookville scoreless in third quarter, and rode that momentum to a 46-30 D9 League win to snap a two-game losing streak.
Brookville came into the game as one of the league’s hottest teams, having won its last five games, and were looking to take advantage of a Bradford team that had lost two emotional games. On Wednesday night the Owls lost in double overtime to Elk Catholic, and on Friday evening fell on a buzzer-beater to Otto-Eldred.
After a slow first quarter for both teams that saw only 12 points combined, the Raiders began to take charge in the second. Brookville roared ahead to an 18-10 lead halfway through the quarter when Bradford head coach Brian Hobbs called timeout to regroup his team. He pressed his guys to play smarter on both sides of the ball, but realized that they needed to get some buckets to start falling.
“It was the defense,” Hobbs said. “We talked about defense and then just being disciplined on offense. We started to take some shots out of the flow and the guys started to focus in and make good decisions and take good shots and we patient. I think the biggest thing is that we were patient in our offense and they did a good job.”
And the Owls responded, which might go down as the understatement of the year. Bradford scored the game’s next 25 points, a stretch that spanned from the second quarter until the 5:32 mark of the fourth quarter when the Raiders finally got back on the board with a free throw. The Owls went from being down eight to having a commanding 35-19 lead with just over five minutes to play.
The Owls were paced during that stretch, per usual, by Deondre Terwilliger. The senior finished with a game-high 20 points, and also led his team in assists with five and rebounds with seven. Bradford was also boosted by the return of sophomore Tyler Gigliotti. Gigliotti missed Friday night’s game with a minor injury, but it’s no coincidence that when he entered the game in the second quarter, Bradford went on its wild run only a few minutes later.
“We are a different team with him in there,” Hobbs said. “Deondre can play a little more comfortable off the ball. I think he really made a big difference. We started him after halftime and he came out and did a nice job.”
Gigliotti knocked down three 3-pointers in the game, and finished with 13 points. Even after Brookville began to score again in the fourth, Bradford countered each of their baskets with points on the other end. The Owls finished the game shooting an impressive 50 percent (16-for-32), while Brookville made just 11 of their 31 attempts.
After the game, Hobbs extended his praise to some of the unheralded guys on his team who really made that run, and that defensive performance, happen.
“Especially to shut a team out for a quarter, that’s impressive. And I love that, I love that part of the game. That makes me super happy,” Hobbs said. “Alec Kuzmeskas, he only had three points tonight, but he’s really done a lot of good things for us offensively and defensively. He just does a lot of the dirty work for us and we really appreciate what he’s doing for us right now.”
The Raiders (9-4 overall, 2-3 D9 League) were led by Bryan Dworek, who had 14 points.
Bradford (8-7 overall, 4-1 D9 League) will look to ride Saturday’s momentum going forward. While Hobbs is quick to admit that he still wishes his team could’ve swept their weekend games, he is happy with how his team responded on only a few hours rest from such an emotional letdown.
“They executed, and they responded well from last night,” Hobbs said. “I hoped that would happen and I am happy for the guys.”
AT BRADFORD
Brookville (30)
Bryan Dworek 6 0-0 14, Gilhousen 3 2-2 9, Keth 1 0-0 2, Park 1 2-2 4, Caylor 0 1-2 1. Totals 11 5-6 30
Bradford (46)
Deondre Terwilliger 7 4-6 20, Tyler Gigliotti 5 0-2 13, D. Manion 2 2-2 6, Kuzmeskas 1 0-0 3, Pattison 1 0-0 2, Knowlton 0 2-2 2. Totals: 16 8-12 46
Brookville 5 18 18 30
Bradford 7 17 31 46
Three-point goals: Bradford 6 (Gigliotti 3, Terwilliger 2, Kuzmeskas 1), Brookville 3 (Dworek 2, Gilhousen 1); Total fouls: Brookville 11, Bradford 10; fouled out: none
JV: Brookville won 44-39
