The Bradford and Punxsutawney boys basketball teams will be squaring off against one another for the third time this season tonight.
This time, the stakes are just a tad higher.
In front of what figures to be a raucous Bradford crowd, the Owls and Chucks will do battle in the District 9 Class AAAA semifinals. The winner of tonight’s game will be one more victory from advancing to the state playoffs.
The first two meetings between these two sides were polar opposites even though the Owls won both times.
On Friday, Jan. 19, Bradford eked out a 55-52 victory on the road during a midseason hot streak that marked its fifth win in a row at the time.
This past Friday, the Owls dominated Punxsy from start to finish, routing the Chucks 69-44 to clinch a share of the D9 League Championship.
But Bradford coach Brian Hobbs knows that just because that game went one way doesn’t guarantee it will happen again.
“We know they’re a different team than what showed up on Friday. They’ll be ready to go,” Hobbs said. “We’re expecting some different things from them. They have some different defenses that they’ll throw at you.”
Bradford will have to be mindful of 1,000-point scorer Brandon Matthews, who still managed to score 18 points on Friday despite Punxsy’s struggles.
But the Owls (13-8 on the season) have good reason to be confident heading into tonight’s game. Hobbs’ crew has won five-straight and six of seven, a stretch that has seen them beat Brookville (13-9) twice and, most impressively, defeat Elk County Catholic (19-5) on the road, the first time Bradford won at ECC in eight years.
Hobbs credits his team’s play on both ends of the court, as well as the fact that they finally have a full, healthy lineup to work with.
“It’s definitely been a mix of both (offense and defense), but it’s also been us being healthy,” he said.
Key players such as Tyler Gigliotti, Danny Manion, Adam Boyer, and Brice Whelan have all missed time this year due to various ailments.
“Just being more healthy has let us dig into the bench a little bit.”
Getting enough bench scoring will be critical for Bradford. The Owls have been able to rely on the one-two punch of Gigliotti and Deondre Terwilliger — both of whom are averaging 15-plus points per game — but will need others to step up if they hope to advance.
Hobbs pointed to the frontcourt tandem of Manion and Donny Pattison as being integral in that regard.
“We need for Danny and Donny to score,” Hobbs said. “When Danny’s been in double figures we’ve played very well. We’re also looking for guys like Adam Boyer and Steve Knowlton to give us a spark off the bench. And it’s always nice when Alec Kuzmeskas can hit some shots from the perimeter.”
Team depth is critical in the postseason, and along with senior big man Brice Whelan, the Owls hope to have a reliable eight-man rotation.
The biggest x-factor of all for tonight’s game may be the court itself. Bradford will have the convenience of not having to take a long bus ride, not to mention the support of what will be the biggest crowd of the season.
An odd schedule had Bradford play only eight home games this year, and the Owls finished with a solid 6-2 mark on their home court.
But you could easily make the case that they could’ve gone 8-0.
Both of those losses in the Owls’ Nest came in double overtime to a pair of quality opponents: a 47-41 defeat to Johnsonburg (16-7) back on Dec. 22, and a 47-44 heartbreaker to Elk Catholic on Jan. 24.
“It’s definitely nice to be at home,” Hobbs admitted. “One of the things that we talked about was that we need to come out of the gates quickly. If we do that then they have to adjust to us. We can dictate what kind of defense they throw at us instead of them making us adjust.”
If Bradford is able to execute its game plan and emerge victorious, you might be able to hear the noise all the way down in Punxsutawney.
