By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

BRADFORD — It was a 32 minute battle at Bradford on Jan. 7. The Bradford High School girls basketball team hosted Arcanum High School for a WOAC conference matchup and both teams came out physical.

The Lady Trojans came out the 43-22 winners. Head coach Abbey Moore said Bradford gave them a good fight with their aggressiveness on both sides of the court.

The Lady Trojans didn’t come out with a full-court press to make it easier for their offense to score. Moore wanted to see how her team would react in these situations that come up in a physical game like this one.

“I wanted to put us in some situations that would make us work for it. I’m proud of how the girls handled it and we’re tough. They showed that they could handle that physicality, which we’ve had that all year with our non-conference schedule being the way it is,” Moore said.

The Lady Railroaders didn’t let the Lady Trojans get many easy baskets. Bradford fought for rebounds and contested any second chance opportunities Arcanum got. The Lady Trojans also couldn’t make many shots when they did get an open look.

Head coach Josh Siedling said they need to make games nasty in order to stay in games. The defensive effort was enough to have Bradford hang around the whole game.

“For the most part, we shocked some people with how intense and how well our defense was. A few minor miscommunications along those lines, but the effort did not lack at all. I’m very proud of that,” Siedling said.

The Lady Trojans were up 24-10 at halftime. Arcanum had 17 free throw attempts in the first half. Bradford, with their physical style of play, ended up in foul trouble during the first half.

Arcanum was able to mostly score from the free throw line and by transition offense. They were able to get turnovers and run out to get some easy points.

Siedling said his offense has been in a shooting slump. It seemed like the team is on their way of getting out of that slump. The 22 points scored is their highest total points scored since Dec. 6 when they put up 27 at Northridge.

The Lady Railroaders were able to work towards some open looks, but couldn’t convert on enough of them to make it a closer game. Siedling told his team to just keep letting it fly, you can’t get out of a slump if you don’t shoot the basketball.

“We missed some open shots, but I felt like we made some too. We just have to keep taking them. They will end up falling,” Siedling said.

In the second half, both teams got into foul trouble. But, the Lady Trojans continued to make frequent visits to the charity stripe.

Moore said it seemed like this game was one of their worse free throw shooting games. They went 22 for 40 from the free throw line, shooting 55% from the line.

The Lady Trojans won’t have a practice before their game against Mississinawa Valley on Jan. 9, but that probably won’t stop the some players from getting into the gym to work on their free throws.

“I know I’m going to have some girls asking me to get into the gym tomorrow to get some shots up to hopefully make that a different stat come Monday,” Moore said.

Arcanum sophomore Alexis Gibbons led the team with 15 points. Sophomore Brooke Anderson was second with eight points, all from the free throw line.

For Bradford, seniors Shayleigh Swick and Isabella Hamilton along with junior Brooklyn Crickmore all had five points to lead the team.

The Lady Railroaders are now 0-13 on the season with a 0-6 conference record. They will host Mississinawa Valley on Jan. 12 for another WOAC conference matchup.

The Lady Trojans are now 4-8 on the season with a 3-3 conference record. After their game against the Lady Blackhawks, Arcanum will host Twin Valley South for another conference matchup.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]