DUKE CENTER — John Bennardi made it clear in the preseason.

“We’re going to play defense,” he said, channeling the defining trait of many Bradford boys basketball teams before him. In Bennardi’s first game as head coach, his Owls did just that.

Bradford deployed an 11-man rotation that controlled the paint and frustrated Eisenhower’s offense all night, cruising to a 49-27 win in the first round of Otto-Eldred’s Randy Stebbins Memorial Tournament.

The Owl defense made its mark from the start, not allowing a field goal until 2:16 showed on the first-quarter clock and a 15-1 Bradford lead showed on the scoreboard. From there, the Owls maintained a double-digit lead the whole way, using patient half-court offensive sets and defense that attacked the Knights at all angles.

“We did a pretty good job defensively,” said Bennardi. “There are a lot of things we need to tighten up, but it’s just a work in progress. It’s coming.”

Cam Austin led the way offensively for Bradford, scoring 20 points while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out three assists. Jake Franz added 14 points and four assists, as the duo each knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.

“We don’t have a lot of (offensive) stuff in at this point, but what we do have in, we did a nice job,” Bennardi said. “The idea is to get some good looks, and when you get good looks you make shots.”

The Owls were disciplined in finding those open shots, often electing to pop and drive the ball into the paint instead of taking contested jumpers. When they were open, though, the Owls often cashed in, shooting 16-of-34 from inside the arc and 5-of-9 beyond it.

Jerid Wilmoth scored seven points for Bradford, three of which came on a half-court, buzzer-beating shot just before the halftime horn sounded. He was one of four senior starters (Austin, Dalton Dixon, Nolan Ruolo) that, alongside Franz, led the way before Bennardi worked in an 11-man rotation across the first three quarters.

“The way I want to play overall once we get to that point, we’re going to need 10 or 11 guys,” Bennardi said. “This is the time to get them some experience, get them in the game and used to varsity basketball. A lot of them haven’t played any meaningful varsity minutes, and it’s a big difference.”

Bennardi was impressed by the effort of his team, which shined brightly through seven team steals, including four by Franz.

“That’s something that you really can’t teach,” Bennardi said. “The effort has been there since we started this, so as long as the effort is there for the rest of the season, we’re going to be okay.”

Bennardi, a 1986 BAHS graduate, has expressed his gratitude for the Bradford boys head coaching job since he was hired.

“It’s pretty surreal,” he said. “Like I’ve said, this job is humbling and I just want to do the best I can with it and help these kids have an enjoyable experience. We’ll see what happens, you know?”

The Owls will play Otto-Eldred in the Stebbins Memorial championship game tonight at 5 p.m.

Darling 3 0-0 7, Black 2 0-5 4, Chase 0 0-1 0, Bunk 1 1-2 3, Hunt 0 0-2 0, 5 3-4 13. Totals:

Austin 8 2-2 20, Ruolo 0 1-1 1, Ward 1 0-0 2, Wilmoth 3 0-1 7, Johnson 0 1-2 1, Tyler 2 0-0 4, Franz 6 0-0 14, Gleason 0 0-2 0. Totals:

Three-point goals: Eisenhower 1 (Darling), Bradford 5 (Austin 2, Franz 2, Wilmoth); Total fouls: Eisenhower 10, Bradford 16; fouled out:

JV: None.