After the game’s final buzzer, Chad Lyter was repeating the same scouting report he had relayed to his team pregame: Bradford had a trio of talented guards who were effective passers, ball-handlers and shooters.
And though the Allegany-Limestone (N.Y.) head coach had a game plan to neutralize Erica Marshall, Hannah Lary and Alanna Benson, the talented Lady Owls backcourt proved to be the difference on Monday night.
Bradford bested the Lady Gators, 53-37, in an interstate matchup to send A-L to its seventh straight loss and to give the Owls some much-needed momentum as it begins a crucial stretch over the final few weeks of the season.
“I told the girls that starting (tonight), we need to win our next eight games,” Bradford coach Bob Hannon said. “We need to win eight in a row (for the district playoffs). So, we got number one and now we need seven more. We’ll see what happens.”
The Lady Owls (6-9) looked as though they were going to embark on Hannon’s requested winning streak with some ease. Bradford went on a 10-2 run to start the game, led 15-6 after the first quarter, and then controlled the scoreboard with a 32-17 halftime lead.
But Allegany-Limestone (2-9), which hasn’t won since Dec. 19, wasn’t ready to head back to the Empire State without a fight.
Paced by seven points from Taylor Davis, the Lady Gators went on a 13-2 run out of the halftime break. After trailing by as many as 15, A-L cut it to a four-point game with two minutes to play.
“We got really good looks in the first half and if we had knocked down a few more of those I think you could have put the game away early,” Hannon admitted. “And then we just kind of hit a lull where we couldn’t get our rhythm going and we couldn’t hit a basket.”
But for as quickly as Bradford allowed its opponent to get back into the game, it almost just as swiftly knocked them back out of it.
Lary hit a two and Benson knocked in a 3-pointer on the next possession with seconds left on the clock to put the Lady Owls back up by nine, 39-30.
“I told the girls that I was proud of the way they let the lead get down and then they came back and built it right back up,” Hannon said. “That’s got to be helpful for us as far as a momentum type of thing.”
The momentum carried over immediately for the Lady Owls — and Lary, specifically — in the final eight minutes. After being limited to 11 points in the game’s first 23 minutes, the junior guard poured in just that many in a nine-minute span to seal the win.
It was Lary’s sixth consecutive game with at least 20 points.
“It’s really kind of impressive that they were geared up to guard Hannah and they weren’t able to because that’s a testament to her just working and working and working,” Hannon said.
“She’s a great kid and she works her butt off. Anything good that comes to her, I’m happy for her because she works hard and she does a lot for us. I’m glad she’s on my team.”
And while Lyter was pleased with holding Lary to just two made field goals in the first half, the Lady Gators allowed far too many open looks to Bradford’s other shooters. Freshman Alanna Benson hit four 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.
As a team, Bradford went 8-for-27 from beyond the 3-point arc in the game. Allegany-Limestone attempted just six 3’s, making two.
“We started playing triangle-and-2 (on Lary) and we ended up playing tandem-and-3, but she’s good,” Lyter said. “(Marshall) and (Benson)… they’re both good. I mean they really have some good guards.”
Lyter also lamented some of the missed opportunities the Lady Gators had in their comeback bid in the fourth quarter. A-L was off the mark on four free-throw attempts in the final eight minutes — and went just 13-for-24 in the game — and also missed some of those buckets you just can’t afford to while playing from behind.
“We came back well, we played well, but you’ve just got to make shots,” he said. “We missed four or five layups in the last four minutes of the game. And (all of those misses) at the free-throw line. You’re not going to win that way, not on the road at least.”
Davis led the Lady Gators with 12 points, but managed just three after halftime.
Hannon explained Davis’ lack of production, particularly in the fourth quarter where the Lady Gators hit just one field goal as a team, to a better defensive effort from his forwards around the basket.
“I thought that Sierra (Taylor), Emily (Warner) and Lea (Kakolewski) did a much better job towards the end of the second half of playing defense,” he said. “Instead of going out and just hitting people, they were actually playing defense and then boxing out when the shot went up.”
And though the five-point swing at the end of the third quarter sent the Lady Owls well on their way to the victory, Hannon said the game was really won in the trenches down the stretch.
“I really thought that the turning point was in that fourth quarter where we started boxing out and getting some rebounds,” he said.
“It changed the complexion of everything that was going on out there and I’m proud of the girls for that. I told them that we needed a win and they came out and they earned it.”
AT BRADFORD
Allegany-Limestone (37)
Taylor Davis 3 6-9 12, Hemphill 3 3-6 9, DeRose 2 0-0 6, Callen 2 0-0 4, Ralston 1 3-5 5, Giardini 0 1-4 1. Totals: 11 13-24 37
Bradford (53)
Hannah Lary 6 8-8 23, Alanna Benson 5 1-4 15, Taylor 2 0-0 4, Marshall 1 0-0 3, Swanson 0 3-3 3, Warner 1 1-1 3, Yost 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 13-16 53
A-L 6 17 30 37
Bradford 15 32 39 53
Three-point goals: A-L 2 (DeRose), Bradford 8 (Benson 4, Lary 3, Marshall 1); Total fouls: A-L 17, Bradford 18; fouled out: Taylor (Bradford)
