CLARION – Bradford’s bus broke down and didn’t pick up the team
until well after their scheduled departure time, but the Owls were
still able to show up.

Playing in still one more District 9 Class AAA title game, the
Owls dominated Punxsutawney and posted a 30-point 63-33 victory for
yet another District 9 championship at Clarion University on
Saturday.

Senior point guard Shane Hvizdzak vaulted the Owls out of the
gates, utilizing ball-screens to score 10 points by the 2:25 mark
of the first quarter.

Punxsy’s Kolby Mumau scored the game’s first basket on a floater
in the lane.

Then Hvizdzak scored the first of his flurry on a driving lay-up
with his dominant left hand.

Number 14 then turned the corner to attack the rim for two
before Ben Lanich scored a patient basket on some defensive contact
for an 8-2 score.

It was 12-4 after Hvizdzak canned a jumper off the dribble and
put up two more at the front of the rim on a nifty pass from Tommy
Morris.

“Shane got us off to a great start,” declared Dave Fuhrman,
Bradford coach. “He got us out of the gates strong.

“I told him before the game, ‘I don’t think they can guard you,
take the ball to the basket.’ We came out and ran a couple of sets
for some screens and he got in there and finished them.

“I think that relaxed us and that’s important in a big
game.”

After a Chuck timeout, Eric Arnett made a hustling save into the
hands of Dan Vecellio for a bucket.

Arnett added a foul shot and it was 15-6 Bradford after the
first period.

In the second, Doug Rose made it 17-10 with a baseline jump
shot.

Then Hvizdzak found Arnett for a basket, drive to the rim
himself and later got it to Morris for a trifecta and a 24-10
advantage with 4:24 left in the half.

Then sophomore Ben Walter scored on a nice flash through the
lane and got the roll on a shot from downtown to pad the Owls’
advantage.

“Ben Walter did a nice job today coming off the bench,” Fuhrman
observed.

In the third, Lanich picked up his third foul at the 7:21
juncture, but maneuvered to the hoop for a bucket just one minute
later.

“Lanich rebounded hard,” Fuhrman noted. “When he was saddled
with his third I made the decision to leave him in there and he
played very well with three fouls. He played good, straight-up
defense, challenged shots and hit the boards hard. He’s got a
bright future.”

Here, Grant Ferguson found the mark from beyond the arc and
Arnett followed that with six straight of his 12 points in the
quarter.

“Grant hit a big three and did a nice job on defense,” Fuhrman
commented. “He anticipated a few of the plays they were running and
got up in the passing lanes.

Arnett added two more after Ryan LaBrozzi ripped off a Chuck
pass and got it ahead to Walter. Walter’s attempt rolled out but
Arnett leapt for the athletic tip.

Arnett posted four more points on a basket at the block and a
bucket on the break to give Bradford an irrevocable 55-27 lead
going into the fourth.

The final eight minutes were highlighted by a three from senior
Tyler Calkins, while upperclassman Rob Gault got the shooter’s roll
from deep as well.

“Punxsy made a few adjustments after the first half to take away
Shane’s drives and other guys stepped up. Eric scored 12 points in
the quarter and we needed those to take control of the game.”

Arnett and Hvizdzak finished with 15 points each and Morris
added nine marks.

“We had good balance,” Fuhrman praised. We moved the ball well
in the half-court offense and attacked the basket. We reversed the
ball well and had a good inside-out combination. I like the way we
played in all phases of the game.”

The Owls, in stark contrast to last year’s championship game in
which Bradford shot 14 percent in a 49-22 loss to Clearfield,
converted 55 percent of their shots (25-for-45 overall, 6-for-12
from deep).

“You always have last year in the back of your mind, but I tried
not to talk about it too much to the kids,” Fuhrman said.

“I even broke out my lucky shirt that I haven’t worn since the
’95 season. I told the kids that this shirt has a lot of big wins
in it and it came through again today. We put it all together
today.

“When our bus didn’t show up I wondered what kind of day this
was going to be, but as it turns out it’s going to be a nice ride
home.”

The Owls (16-9) will face Blackhawk (13-14) in the opening round
of the PIAA tournament Friday at Pitt-Bradford (6 p.m.).