By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

ARCANUM — The Bradford High School boys basketball team held on to their lead in the fourth quarter and defeated Arcanum High School, 50-47, on Jan. 10 at Arcanum.

Bradford head coach Jay Hall said Arcanum was able to take advantage of the team’s missed free throws late in the game. But, he’s still proud of his team for closing this game out.

“I give my guys credit, we hung in there. It’s tough to do something like that when you’re going up against a group of nine or ten and you got six,” Hall said.

The Railroaders finished the game going 17 for 28 from the free throw line, that’s 60.7% from the line.

For Arcanum, they couldn’t overcome their slow start to the game. Trojans head coach Roger McEldowney said Bradford deserves a lot of credit for playing great defense on their leading scorer, senior Nick Sharritts. It also didn’t help the offense as a whole couldn’t get going early.

“They (Bradford) had a good game plan, played hard and tried to limit Nick’s touches in the post,” McEldowney said. “We just didn’t shoot it very well early on and dug ourselves too big a hole to get out of.”

Entering the fourth quarter, Bradford had a 37-24 lead. The Railroaders were able to prevent Sharritts from taking over in the game as he only had 10 points through the first three quarters. Hall said his big guys in junior Landon Wills and Tucker Miller along with sophomore Zage Harleman all executed the plan to limit Sharritts.

The offense for Bradford also showed some progress after losing senior Parker Davidson. They were able to move the ball around effectively and cashed in on some second chance opportunities. Hall said the team hasn’t seen a lot of zone this season. From the bench, he saw some opportunities for the team to hit the open guy. But, the players just couldn’t see the open guy.

There’s still some work to be down on the offensive side, but the Railroaders are improving.

“Each practice, we’re getting a little more comfortable without Parker and understanding it’s still basketball. We should know what to do,” Hall said.

It took awhile, but the Trojans started to find a rhythm on offense. Senior Garrett Garno had 11 points in the fourth quarter to jump start the team’s offense. Arcanum scored 23 points in the fourth quarter alone.

Despite being in foul trouble relatively early in the quarter, Arcanum played more aggressive on defense and press more. That led to causing some turnovers as they made Bradford uncomfortable.

With 2:22 left in the fourth, the Trojans got to within eight points of the Railroaders. Soon later, a basket by freshman Regan Christ made it a two point game with 1:15 left in the game.

But, Bradford did just enough from the free throw line to get a three point lead when it mattered most. With just two seconds left in the game, Arcanum was forced to go for a three. The Bradford defense held strong for not only that possession, but for the last minute of the game.

The Railroaders went 10 for 17 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans have been in single-digit games in three of their last four games now. They lost to Fort Recovery in overtime, 55-52, on Jan. 3 and defeated Northridge, 58-53, on Jan. 7.

McEldowney said the team did a better job in a close game like this against Northridge. This time around, like McEldowney said, they dug themselves in too deep of a hole early on.

“We were behind the eight ball today and never really got a chance to catch up. We were kind of scrambling at the end,” McEldowney said.

He also said the team will continue to work hard and get better so they start winning more of these close games. They have proven they have the talent to win some close games, but have came up short in these situations as well.

Garno led the team in points with 14. Sharritts was close behind with 13 points and junior Brady Lock had 11 points. All 11 points for Lock was scored in the second half.

For Bradford, sophomore Owen Canan led the team with 19 points. Junior Hudson Hill had 10 points in the game.

Bradford is now 9-4 on the season with a 5-1 conference record. They will travel to Mississinawa Valley on Jan. 13 to take on the Blackhawks in another WOAC showdown.

Arcanum is now 5-7 on the season with a 2-4 conference record. They will also go on the road for a conference matchup as they will take on Twin Valley South on Jan. 13.

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