PUNXSUTAWNEY — Missing one of its leading scorers as well as several key contributors who were battling an illness, it’s no surprise that the Bradford boys basketball team found itself trailing Punxsy in the first half Friday night.
But like they’ve done multiple times this season, the Owls rallied and took control of the game in the fourth quarter to pull off a scrappy 42-33 D9 League win over the Chucks.
Steven Knowlton, inserted into the starting lineup for an ill Cam Austin, led Bradford (8-5, 2-2) with a game-high 13 points and also added five rebounds and three steals.
“Steve did a really nice job of getting to the basket in the fourth quarter with (six points in the final eight minutes),” Bradford head coach Brian Hobbs said. “We had such a slow start and we had to dig ourselves out but possessions were limited.
“It was honestly a typical Bradford-Punxsy game.”
Trailing by five points (20-15) at halftime, the Owls outscored Punxsy 13-5 in the third quarter to take a three-point lead.
In the fourth, Bradford went just 5-for-10 at the free-throw line, but limited the Chucks to three made field goals at the other end.
Punxsy shot just 24% (11-for-45) for the game, while the Owls made 42% of their shots (15-for-36).
“A lot of toughness and good defense was played and it went back and forth on the scoreboard,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs noted that Tyler Gigliotti (7 points) and Evan Schmidt (13 points, 10 rebounds) were also under the weather but fought to help the Owls earn the win with that run in the second half.
Micah Kriebel hit Punxsy’s (5-8, 0-5) only 3-pointer in the game and finished with a team-high 11 points.
For Bradford, it’ll have the rest of the weekend off to recover before traveling to Coudersport for a big non-league game on Monday night. The Falcons have won seven consecutive games — all by 11 points or more.
“Coudy’s playing very well,” Hobbs said. “We had an opportunity to see them early on in the season (at the IAABO Tournament) but we didn’t end up playing them.
“It’s not easy to play in Coudersport. We just have to get healthy and be 100% for that game.”
AT BRADFORD
Bradford (42)
Steven Knowlton 4 3-6 13, Evan Schmidt 6 1-3 13, Gigliotti 2 2-5 7, Wilmoth 1 2-2 4, Nuzzo 1 0-2 3, Manion 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 8-18 42
Punxsutawney (33)
Micah Kriebel 3 4-4 11, Ethan Presloid 4 2-3 10, Young 1 3-6 5, Wehrle 1 0-0 2, Byers 1 1-2 3, Humble 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 10-15 33
Bradford 7 15 28 42
Punxsy 14 20 25 33
Three-point goals: Bradford 4 (Knowlton 2, Gigliotti, Nuzzo), Punxsy 1 (Kriebel); Total fouls: Bradford 15, Punxsy 18; fouled out: Humble (Punxsy); Manion (Bradford)
JV: Punxsy won 48-45 (Jerid Wilmoth 29 points)
Freshman: Bradford won 40-36 (Isaiah Fitton 10, Nate Girdlestone, Lucas Johnson 8)
