By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

BRADFORD — The Bradford High School boys basketball did all they could against Preble Shawnee, but couldn’t come away with a victory. The Railroaders lost to the Arrows, 58-24, at home.

Both teams entered the game undefeated in WOAC play. However, Bradford has played the last few games without senior Parker Davidson. Davidson was injured during the holiday tournament at Covington and figures to miss the rest of the season.

Head coach Jay Hall said the team is still learning how to play without him on both sides of the ball. But so far, the offense is struggling without him.

“We’re completely different now. We’re more offensively talented than what we’re showing. We just have to figure out how to bring it all together, to capitalize on the opportunities that the defense gives us in the flow of us all working together on the same page,” Hall said.

The game started out well for the Railroaders. They were able to frustrate the Arrows early in the game. In the first quarter, Preble Shawnee sat their starters down for a few minutes. The Bradford defense played with intensity and fought for rebounds.

After the starters came back for Preble Shawnee, they started to string together some plays and put up 14 points in the first quarter.

Bradford had scored 13 points in the first half. The players couldn’t get in sync on offense. They tried to push the pace and prevent Preble Shawnee from setting up their defense, but the Railroaders would turnover the ball most of the time.

At times, Bradford was able to get an open shot but couldn’t convert. Hall said this team earlier in the season could put up the same amount of points they are scoring in whole games in a quarter.

After the third quarter, Preble Shawnee had a 45-16 lead. The Railroaders’ first points of the second half came with 18.7 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Arrows were taking advantage of the Railroaders’ turnovers and were getting some open looks from their half-court offense.

But no matter the score, Bradford stayed locked in defensively. They kept fighting for rebounds and were giving everything they had in contesting shots. The Railroaders were physical on defense for all four quarters.

Hall said with Davidson, he felt like the team would expect to win by showing up. He got on his team’s level of toughness after their first game without him against Russia in the Covington holiday tournament.

”Tonight, I think the boys brought the effort. They really did,” Hall said. “A lot of times with high school guys if the offense is struggling, the defense is gone. We didn’t let that happen. They continued to battle and give everything they had.”

Bradford just couldn’t turn their defense into offense in this game.

For Preble Shawnee, WOAC leading scorer Mason Shrout had 21 points in the game. Shrout averages 25.2 points a game so far this season. Sophomore Isaac Blankenship had 12 points for the Arrows.

For Bradford, juniors Hudson Hill and Landon Wills led the team with six points each. Sophomore Zage Harleman was close behind with five points. Hill was the only Railroaders to hit a three-pointer with making two this game.

The Railroaders are 7-4 on the season with a 4-1 conference record. After a non-conference game against Miami Valley School, the Railroaders travel to Arcanum on Jan. 10 and to Mississinawa Valley on Jan. 13 for back-to-back conference games.