It was senior night in Bradford, but it was the underclassmen who stole the show for both teams.
A game of runs saw Elk County Catholic squeak by Bradford 40-37 in the Lady Owls’ final home game of the season on Tuesday night.
The Lady Crusaders were in control for most of the contest, and at one point in the third quarter had a 13-point lead. But, as the Owls have shown on many occasions this season, they will give you a fight until the end.
Bradford scored the four points in less than 20 seconds to close out that third quarter, and only trailed 32-27 heading into the final frame. And those final eight minutes really could have gone for either team.
Erica Marshall hit a 3-pointer with 2:30 remaining to send the game to a 35-35 tie, the only time Bradford hadn’t trailed in the game since it was 0-0. The Owls also clamped down defensively in that second half, allowing just 17 total points.
Despite some good looks in the waning moments, Bradford could never hit a shot to pull ahead. The teams traded buckets after Marshall’s three, but Josie Smith hit two free throws for ECC to make the score 39-37. After another free throw to put the Crusaders up by three, Bradford had a shot to tie the game with 10 seconds left, but a three-point attempt was off the mark.
“When you have a 13-point lead and you lose the momentum like that, it’s kind of hard to get things settled down,” Elk Catholic head coach Ken Pistner said. “I think our defensive side of the ball on the last four or five possessions was key. On the offensive side of the ball, we couldn’t make a shot. We did a good job of defending their good shooters down the stretch.”
Taylor Newton put together a dominant offensive performance for the Crusaders. Newton had eight points in the first quarter, and was the key reason her team jumped out to a 10-2 lead to start the game. The sophomore finished with 18 of her team’s 40 points.
“As a sophomore, she has taken on more of an offensive role this year than what she had last year for us,” Pistner said. “The team is looking for her in big situations. She has a lot of composure for a sophomore. She handles herself well on both ends of the court. She’s a very unselfish player too, and that works for us.”
The Crusaders (14-8, 8-3) certainly needed the composure of their young star, as two of Bradford’s own youngsters got going in that second half. The backcourt duo of freshman Hannah Lary and sophomore Erica Marshall combined to score 27 points. Marshall connected on three triples, and had 10 of her team-high 15 points in the second half.
In what has been an especially challenging year for the Owls, those two have combined for some of the team’s brightest moments.
“They are going to have to be our leaders because we are not going to have a strong inside presence next year with Brinya (Moffett) leaving,” Bradford head coach Bob Hannon said. “That’s going to have to be our focal point. I thought Kate Huber played well tonight and if you can get that three-guard combination that can stay together and work off each other. Erica and Hannah can play off of the ball a little bit more where they can just step into jump shots. That’s the thing to work on all summer for them. We’re excited about that.”
Moffett and Destinee Dietz were Bradford’s two seniors honored by the school before the game.
Bradford (2-19, 0-9) dropped its 11th-straight game on Tuesday night, and while it would be easy to not fault the team for not giving maximum effort, it just isn’t the way this group plays. The Lady Owls have lost six of their last 11 games by fewer than nine points, including a couple that went down to the wire. For Hannon, that is certainly an encouraging sign of things to come in the future.
“I thought it would have been very easy for us after what we’ve been through this year to just fold the tents when we got down double-digits in the second half,” Hannon said. “But, we didn’t. We fought hard, we gave effort. The encouraging thing is that with only two seniors on the team. If these girls can come in and work hard, there is a brighter future than what we’ve seen this year and I’m hoping that’s what we do.”
The Owls close out the regular season Friday night on the road against Punxsutawney.
“I give the girls all kinds of credit this year,” Hannon said. “I mean they didn’t quit and that’s a good sign. For a coach, losses are tough. But losses are very tough if your team doesn’t show any heart or emotion. I thought we did. I’m proud of them for that.”
AT BRADFORD
Elk County Catholic (40)
Taylor Newton 6 6-8 18, Josie Smith 2 6-9 10, Cashmer 3 1-2 7, Rohr 2 1-4 5, VanAlstine 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 14-23 40
Bradford (37)
Erica Marshall 6 0-0 15, Hannah Lary 4 3-5 12, Huber 2 0-0 4, B. Moffett 2 0-2 4, Warner 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 3-7 37
ECC 12 23 32 40
Brad 10 16 27 37
Three-point goals: Bradford 4 (Marshall 3, Lary 1), ECC 0; Total fouls: Bradford 20, ECC 11; fouled out: Maley (Bradford)
JV: Bradford won 36-35
