After falling behind 12-2 early in the second quarter against Brookville, the Bradford girls basketball team fought back to take the lead. The Owls couldn’t get the win though as the Raiders won 38-35.

“We had nerves from the beginning,” Bradford coach Jason Blatchley said. “It’s a league game against a good Brookville team, and I think we just got so nervous from the beginning.”

Bradford failed to find any success on offense in the first quarter. Brookville pressured the ball handlers, and the Owls failed to get any rhythm going. They couldn’t score until there were only 34 seconds left in the quarter and Brookville held a 10-2 lead with Lily Plyler scoring five for the Raiders.

Bradford finally began to find some success as it got deeper into the game. The Owls cut the deficit to 15-12 after Alexis Kicior completed a three-point play making the game 15-12. “The girls fought back,” Blatchley said. “I was proud of their effort.”

Brookville finished the half still in control, leading 19-14. Haley Keane was a girl on a mission for the Owls as the second half began though. She scored eight straight points off of four layups coming out of the locker room to propel the Owls to a 22-19 lead.

Unfortunately, that initial burst of momentum didn’t last very long. The Raiders turned the momentum again, responding with a 12-2 run of their own, and Brookville led 31-24 going into the fourth quarter.

The Owls weren’t going away though. Two layups made it 31-28 within the first two minutes of the fourth. Brookville still held strong and were leading 36-30 with less than four minutes remaining.

Alyssa Johnson banked in a three-pointer to make the score 36-33. Keane then scored a layup two minutes later to make it a one-point game.

Bradford had possession with 14 seconds remaining and Keane brought the ball up the floor. Brookville went for the steal, and they succeeded, taking the ball away from Keane and forcing the Owls to foul.

The ensuing inbounds pass was intercepted on a jumping catch by Bradford but was called a travel because she fell down while holding the ball coming to the ground.

Brookville went to the free-throw line soon after with three seconds left and hit both free throws attempts.

Bradford needed to quickly get up court and make a three-pointer to tie the game, but the inbounds pass was deflected, and the clock ran out with Brookville winning 38-35.

Samantha Whitling led Brookville, scoring 14 points with Plyler having seven. For Bradford, Keane was the game’s leading scorer with 19 points while Mackenzie Taylor added eight. The Owls have now lost three straight and fall to 6-6 on the year while Brookville improves to 5-3.

Bradford hopes to get back on track with a road game at Cameron County on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Brookville will play at Cranberry on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

“We have been in every game, we are a couple possessions away from being 10-2,” Blatchley said. “The girls could have given up, but they gave everything until the end. You always want a shot to win at the end of the game and we had it.”

AT BRADFORD

Brookville (38)

Wilson 1 1-2 3, Yoder 1 0-0 2, Northey 3 0-0 6, Whitling 3 8-11 14, Guth 2 2-2 6, Plyler 2 3-4 7. Totals: 12 14-19 38.

Bradford (35)

Long 0 0-0 0, Craig 0 0-4 0, Taylor 3 2-2 8, Kicior 1 1-1 3, Keane 9 1-5 19, Johnson 1 0-0 3. Totals: 14 4-12 35.

Brookville 10 9 12 7

Bradford 2 12 10 11

Three-point goals: Brookville None, Bradford 1 (Johnson). Total fouls: Brookville 9, Bradford 11. Fouled out: None.