The Bradford Lady Owls kept fighting until the final buzzer, but ultimately couldn’t overcome another poor first half.
Johnsonburg beat Bradford 50-38 on Monday night, sending the Owls to 0-5 on the season.
The Ramettes jumped out to a 16-4 lead before freshman Hannah Lary scored five straight points for Bradford to end the first quarter. That momentum carried over into the second period, where Bradford held Johnsonburg without a basket for six minutes. The Ramettes played solid defense of their own, however, employing a full court press that limited Bradford to 13 first half points as well as 10 turnovers.
That press and those turnovers led to plenty of easy transition points for Johnsonburg. Junior Cassidy King led all scorers with 23 and her strong decision-making ability also gave her five assists on the game. The Ramettes shared the ball well all evening, totaling 23 assists.
“She’s quick and can get to that hoop,” Johnsonburg head coach Mike King said. “She can make some nice moves and get there. If they step in to stop her, she’ll dish it off to whoever is open. The other girls will find her when she makes her cuts.”
Bradford coach Bob Hannon said that his team worked all week in practice and was determined to perform better against that press that they knew was coming. Although the game plan was there, the execution simply wasn’t.
“Until we learn not to get so panicked out there and learn to take care of the ball, we’re going to struggle,” Hannon said. “And I’m sure teams are going to press us because we are struggling to take care of the ball right now. You can’t simulate that game-type situation in practice and I think the girls just get a little bit nervous out there and when they do they forget what they’re supposed to be doing fundamentally.”
The second half featured a solid comeback attempt from Bradford. The Owls hit several big three-pointers and rebounded well, but couldn’t escape their same woes from the first half. The turnovers stuck around right up until the end, and the Owls also got into foul trouble. For the game, the Ramettes went to the free-throw line 16 times, while Bradford didn’t get a single attempt from the charity stripe.
Freshman Hannah Lary once again led the Owls in scoring with 14 points, and had five assists. She hit two three-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep Bradford hanging around. As a team, the Owls went 4-for-13, while Johnsonburg missed all five shots from beyond the arc.
The final dagger on the comeback came with under two minutes to go. Bradford tried to press, but Johnsonburg easily broke out of it on two straight possessions to take their lead from eight to 12 — which proved to be the final margin.
“Our girls drool when somebody wants to press us because they can put it on the floor and they move and they work so well together,” King said. “They’ve been together since fourth grade and I’ve coached them since fourth grade. They know where to shift, where to slide without even having to tell them when that pressure comes. As a coach that’s great, because I don’t have to sweat as badly about it.”
The Ramettes had four upperclassmen in their starting lineup, while Bradford’s only senior starter was forward Brinya Moffett. That lack of experience has shown at key moments during this season, according to their head coach.
“They came out and they wanted it more than we did,” Hannon said. “You hate to keep using it as a crutch, but we are young basketball experience-wise, and we just have to fight through those growing pains and hopefully get a little bit better each and every game.”
Bradford has one more game before the holiday break, traveling to Kane to take on the Lady Wolves on Wednesday night.
For Hannon, he is hoping that hard work and the experiences gained by this season will finally make that impact on his young team going forward.
“Sooner or later, it’s going to start clicking and I think when it does click and they understand it, it’s going to be like, ‘oh, that’s what it’s supposed to be,’” Hannon said. “ All we can do is come to practice tomorrow, work as hard as we can, and keep trying to get better each day. That’s really all we can do.”
AT BRADFORD
Johnsonburg (50)
Cassidy King 10 3-5 23, Lindsey Kocjancic 5 2-4 12, Amanda Williams 4 2-5 10, Jones 2 1-2 3,
Casillo 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 8-16 50
Bradford (38)
Hannah Lary 6 0-0 14, Kelcie Moffett 5 0-0 11, Erica Marshall 3 0-0 7, Maley 1 0-0 2, Huber 1, 0-0 2, Warner 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 0-0 38
Johnsonburg 16 21 38 50
Bradford 9 13 26 38
Three-point goals: Bradford 4 (Lary 2, Marshall 1, K. Moffett 1), Johnsonburg 0; Total fouls: Bradford 13, Johnsonburg 11; fouled out: Bradford (Maley)
JV: Johnsonburg won 31-24
