COUDERSPORT — After a back-and-forth first half between Bradford and Coudersport, Hayden Keck took matters into his own hands.

With the Falcons leading by just three coming out of halftime, Coudersport’s senior guard took the game over in the third, getting the Falcons started on a 13-2 run to open the second half to key Coudy to a 69-53 victory over the visiting Owls on Wednesday night.

During that early spurt, Keck scored 10 consecutive points for the Falcons (10-2), and finished the night with a game-high 27.

“Hayden in transition is as good as anybody I’ve ever seen other than Owen (Chambers),” said Coudy coach Scott Easton. Chambers is Coudy’s all-time leading scorer and currently plays college basketball at Mercyhurst.

Easton added, “In the first half, we didn’t do well in our man-to-man defense. Our help side wasn’t where it needed to be, but I think we cleaned that up a lot in the third quarter and had some nice runs.”

Coudersport had led by as much as 11 in the first half, but an 11-3 Owl run down the stretch pulled Bradford (6-8) back to within 33-30 at the intermission.

However, the Owls couldn’t sustain that momentum. Bradford struggled with turnovers to begin the third quarter, and the quick-strike Falcons converted those into points in transition to nab a 49-32 lead with 2:45 left in the frame.

Keck began that Coudy run with his 10-point surge, and then treys by Derek Easton and Garrett Kellert plus an and-1 by Dalton Keglovits capped it off.

“When we score quickly like that, it revs up the defense because (the players) see there’s an opportunity to go and score on offense,” Easton said. “We’ve done a lot of stuff in transition over the last eight years. It’s fun to watch, and it’s the kind of basketball our kids want to play.”

Bradford coach Chuck Bell says the Owls were enthused to be within striking distance at halftime, but acknowledged they’d have to step it up in the second half to keep it that way and have a chance at the end.

“Coming into halftime, we talked about how we could be proud of where we were at, but it wasn’t enough. We were still down three, so we had to come another level higher than where we were at,” he said. “There were glimpses, but (Coudersport has) so many options that can score. Once they start shooting, they’re tough to defend.”

From there, the Falcons ballooned their lead to as high as 22 points late before settling for the 16-point decision. Keck added eight rebounds and five steals to his big performance, while Derek Easton notched 11 points and six assists. Brandt Kightlinger scored 10 points, as well.

The Falcons host St. Marys tonight.

“Coudersport is as advertised. You have to play a full four quarters to have a chance to beat them,” Bell said. “We held on for that first half and put ourselves in position, but coming out in that third, Hayden started cutting our face and they were finding him in the lane.

“Once he has the ball that deep, he’s tough to contain. He finishes very well. They also sped us up, and we turned it over.”

Bell was encouraged by the play of Cam Austin and freshman Jake Franz. Austin scored a team-high 18 points for the Owls, while Franz chipped in 12 and was tasked with trying to contain Keck, a Big 30 All-Star last season.

“We gave Jake a hard task to guard a senior of that caliber,” Bell said. “I thought he did a nice job. Toward the end I think Hayden got to the middle and used his size well, but he’s got four years on Jake so that’s to be expected.”

Of Austin, Bell added, “Cam definitely came alive. He got catches deep (in the post) tonight, and that was a point of emphasis — to not make him catch it on the perimeter and do everything from out there.”

The Owls travel to Northern Potter Friday. The Panthers recently got leading scorer Carter Anderson back from an injury, and Bell is expecting a battle.

“We’ll need to be ready to go,” Bell said. “No team in this bubble is an easy game for us, so we’ll be ready for their zone and for a physical game.”

AT COUDERSPORT

Bradford (53)

Cam Austin 8 1-2 18, Jake Franz 5 1-1 12, A.J. Gleason 2 1-2 5, Wilmoth 2 0-0 5, Dixon 3 1-4 7, Ward 1 0-0 2, Piscitelli 1 0-0 2, Liners 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 4-9 53

Coudersport (69)

Hayden Keck 11 5-5 27, Derek Easton 3 4-4 11, Brandt Kightlinger 5 0-0 10, Keglovits 3 3-3 9, Furman 1 1-2 3, Kellert 3 0-0 9. Totals: 26 13-14 69

Bradford 13 30 39 53

Coudersport 17 33 55 69

Three-point goals: Bradford 3 (Franz, Wilmoth, Austin), Coudy 4 (Kellert 3, Easton); Total fouls: Bradford 14, Coudy 13; fouled out: None.

JV: Coudersport won 48-46. (Bradford: Lyons 17 points, Pilon 17 points)