ST. MARYS — The first meeting between the Bradford and Elk County Catholic boys ended in heartbreak for the Owls, as ECC won 47-44 in double overtime back on Jan. 24.
On Tuesday night, Bradford got revenge in historic fashion.
The Owls held off the two-time defending District 9 Class A Champions 56-54 for their first win at ECC since the 2009-10 season. It marks back-to-back league losses for a Crusaders team (18-4 overall, 9-2 D9 League) that had won 53-straight D9 League games before last week’s loss to St. Marys.
Emerging from a visitors locker room that was filled with audible cheering after the game, Bradford coach Brian Hobbs noted just how important this victory was, not just for this year’s Owls, but for the entire program.
“It’s a big win. This means a lot,” he said. “Not a lot of teams come in here and win. We’ve got some things on the line as far as our goals for the season and the guys really responded to buying in this week. They really buckled down and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to take care of business here because we’ve got some goals to accomplish that are still out there for us.’”
Sophomore Tyler Gigliotti had the hot hand all night for the Owls, finishing with a game-high 24 points as well as eight rebounds.
Logan Hoffman (12 points), Leo Gregory (11), and Alec Wehler (10) all finished in double figures for ECC.
Offense wasn’t a problem for either team in the first quarter as the ball made it in the hoop more often than not in the early going. Midway through the frame, the Owls went on a 9-0 run to take a 16-12 lead after eight minutes.
Donny Pattison scored six of his eight points during the quarter, spurring the big run with a pair of key baskets as well as drawing an offensive foul.
The offense began to cool off for both sides in the second quarter, with several near misses keeping things relatively level. But the Crusaders would go on an 8-0 run when they began to find some lanes through which to drive the ball.
Bradford stopped the bleeding a bit to end the half when Adam Boyer followed up a miss by Pattison to beat the buzzer and give the Owls a 27-26 halftime lead.
Coming out of the half, it was all Gigliotti for Bradford. The Owls started the half on a 7-0 run, as Gigliotti scored Bradford’s first nine points in the third quarter.
“A couple times I was like, ‘Oh man,’” Hobbs said of Gigliotti. “But he was making good decisions, when to take it to the hole, when to pull up. He did a nice job tonight. He played very composed. He’s a sophomore, and in a game like this, you won’t find a lot of sophomores who’ll handles themselves like he did tonight.”
But as you would expect, the Crusaders refused to go away, hanging around and making enough baskets to keep the score tight.
Leading by one after the third quarter, Bradford really stepped up its passing in the final period, as multiple players made nice dishes that led to easy points.
It seemed like both teams realized the stakes as the game wore on. Bodies were flying everywhere in an extremely physical quarter.
As the game reached its climax, ECC had a chance to take the lead in the final minute after a pair of missed Bradford free throws. But Deondre Terwilliger — who finished with 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists — came up with a big defensive rebound, and then sank two free throws to make it 56-53 Bradford.
Hobbs was proud of how well his team composed itself in the late going of such a close game.
“I thought Deondre did a really nice job of handling the pressure,” Hobbs said. “I think that’s something that he’s been working on. (Gigliotti) and Danny Manion were big from the foul line. They gave it to us and we handled the pressure well.”
Needing a 3 to tie, the Crusaders couldn’t execute from long-range. While they were able to draw a foul on a rebound, it occurred with under a second to go.
After making his first free throw, Gregory intentionally missed his second in hopes of a miracle. But the Owls ganged up for the game-sealing rebound, sending the well-represented Bradford fans into jubilant cheers.
With the win, Bradford (12-8, 7-2) can earn a share of the D9 League title with a win over Punxsutawney at home on Friday.
“It definitely gives us some confidence moving forward,” Hobbs said. “Punxsy is playing very well right now. They had a big win against Hollidaysburg a couple weeks ago, they had a nice win on Saturday against St. Marys. I said to the guys, we still need to stay humble and focused on what we’re trying to do and what our goals are.”
AT ST. MARYS
Bradford (56)
Kuzmeskas 1 0-0 3, Boyer 2 0-2 5, Pattison 4 0-2 8, Tyler Gigliotti 9 4-4 24, Deondre Terwilliger 4 2-2 11, Manion 1 3-3 5. Totals: 21 9-13 56
Elk Catholic (54)
Alec Wehler 3 3-4 10, Logan Hoffman 5 0-1 12, Klawuhn 1 0-0 3, Leo Gregory 4 3-3 11, Newton 4 0-0 9, Breindel 3 2-4 9. Totals: 20 8-12 54
Bradford 16 27 41 56
ECC 12 26 40 54
Three-point goals: Bradford 5 (Kuzmeskas 1, Boyer 1, Gigliotti 2, Terwilliger 1), ECC 6 (Wehler 1, Hoffman 2, Klawuhn 1, Newton 1, Breindel 1); Total fouls: Bradford 14, ECC 15; fouled out: none
JV: ECC won 43-30
