Bradford may have snuck up on Olean when the Owls knocked off
OHS back in December, but it’s a sure bet the Huskies had their
heads on a swivel for this one.

Couple that with the Owls’ inability to consistently score the
basketball and it all adds up to a 55-41 Olean win on Tuesday at
the Owls’ Nest.

Once again the Owls shot poorly and failed to take advantage of
the home court to pick up a needed, if non-league, victory.

Chants of “You can’t win here,” rang down from a Husky
contingent that far outnumbered Bradford students, who must’ve had
homework to do.

“They’re right,” said Owls coach Dave Fuhrman of the Olean
carols. “We have not done a good job of defending our home
floor.

“But everybody likes a winner. If you want to pack the house you
have to win the games. The home court is supposed to mean something
in this sport and it doesn’t seem like it means a whole lot to
us.”

At home or away, the Owls have not shot the ball well throughout
the current campaign and Tuesday’s loss was the same story.

The Owls converted on 16 of 46 shot attempts (35 percent),
including a 4-for-14 showing from outside the three-point line.

On the season, Bradford is shooting just 26 percent from
deep.

Managing double figures in the loss were junior Ryan LaBrozzi
with 16 marks, and senior Tommy Morris with 14 points and seven
assists on some uncanny passing.

“We’re just not very good offensively,” Fuhrman lamented. “We
don’t shoot it well and we don’t run a half-court offense. Our shot
selection is questionable a lot of times and our execution should
be better at this point and it’s not. It’s a tough game to play
when you can’t score.

“Aside from how poor our offense was, I was disappointed in our
effort. I knew they (Olean) would come in and play with a lot of
intensity – I knew they wanted to avenge that loss (61-56 in the
opening round of the IAABO Tournament) and we surely didn’t match
their intensity.

“They outscrapped us,” Fuhrman continued. “They beat us by 10 on
the offensive boards (18-8) and 38-26 overall. That’s a hustle
stat.

“Zach (Moore) a couple of times shot the ball on one side and
got his own rebound on the other,” the Owls’ coach recalled.
“That’s just effort.”

While the standout senior Moore did miss a few shots early, he
found the mark in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of his game-high
17 points in the quarter.

Also in doubles for the Huskies (13-1, ranked No. 2 in Class B)
were 5-9 senior Jon Reed (12) and 6-3 senior Jared Parks (10).

Bradford, now 8-8, returns to District 9 League play Friday at
Punxsutawney as the Owls try to gather some momentum in the final
third of the regular season.

“It’s up to them (the Owls) to get something going,” Fuhrman
maintained. “We need some guys to step up and be leaders and that
comes from within.

“Guys have to ask themselves, ‘Am I giving maximum effort every
day? Am I playing like this game is important to me?'”