LEWISBURG – The Bradford Lady Railroaders continue to pick up steam after a resounding defeat of the winless Tri- County North Lady Panthers last Thursday night, 53-17.
The win catapults the high-charging Lady Roaders to an impressive 9-3 record overall and now are above .500 in the Cross County Conference at 4-3. The Tri-County North Panthers are still looking for answers as their record plummets to 0-10 overall and 0-6 in the CCC.
Tri-County North played hard and physical the first quarter and actually led after one quarter 7-6 with Shyanna Baker leading the way. Baker’s 4 points in the quarter was also the team-high for the game for the Panthers. Bradford was led by freshman fireplug Austy Miller, who doused the nets for 22 with the aid of five 3-pointers. Up next was the only other Roader in double figures, who had half of Miller’s total which was Emma Canan with 11 and one trifecta.
Seven was the lucky and not so lucky number for the Lady Panthers as they had 7 points for the first quarter to lead the game by one. However they still had that same 7 points 11 minutes later into the third quarter. Bradford went on a scoring fest after the first period with 29 unanswered points much to the chagrin of Jessica Spitler’s spirited TCN crew.
After Baker scored her 4 points in the first period for the Panthers, the Roader defense came alive and clamped down on her tighter than a tie is attached to a railroad track. Sisters Rylee and Emma Canan accounted for Bradford’s 6 first-quarter points with four and two respectively to keep the game a one-point deficit heading into quarter number two.
Bradford’s defense arose in the second eight minutes and shut down the Panthers by holding them to zero points and one missed free throw attempted by Sidney Jackson. The Lady Roaders totaled 24 points in the frame as Austy Miller led the scoring brigade with 9 on two big threes along with scoring companion Emma Canan’s 7. Abby Fike made her presence felt as she knocked in four to help with the scoring onslaught.
The third quarter started much the same as the second with the points still proliferating for the young and dangerous Railroaders who enjoyed their 35-minute trek to Preble County. The Panthers’ scoring drought finally ended when Mackenzie Bacher made three the old-fashioned way at the 3:51 mark to make it 35-10. The scoring spree did not cease however – not by a long shot so to speak – as Chris Besecker’s squad embarked on a 14-point run increasing the score to 49-10 after three. Austy Miller erupted again with 13 points including three more triples for this 5-foot scoring juggernaut.
The fourth quarter saw subs coming in from all angles off the black and orange bench as Bradford scored a quiet four. The Panthers tied their best quarter scoring outburst for the game with another seven but it was not nearly enough.
North was paced by three players with a deuce apiece in Maddy Flory, Rachel Dempsey and Lexi Delong. Scoring honors for Bradford went to Abby Gade and Bianca Keener also with a bucket apiece.
”Austy is sure giving us a lot of points the last two games as we don’t know when Skipp might or if she will return for the season. Austy spends a lot of time in the gym and it is definitely paying off for her with the point production from the 3-point area. We got to keep coming up with the shots like we did tonight and keep working on our defense each game out. We must take care of the ball which we did after the first quarter,” commented Besecker.
Scoring for Tri-County North – Bacher 3, Flory 2, Jackson 3, Dempsey 2, Baker 4 and Delong 3 for 17 points. 6 regulars, 5 free throws out of 12 for 42 percent.
Scoring for Bradford – Gade 2, Miller 22, Emma Canan 11, Fike 4, Rylee Canan 8, Karissa Weldy 2 and Bianca Keener 4 for 53 points. 6 threes, 17 regulars and 1 free throw out of 2 for 50 percent.
