Junior Owen Canan drives in and goes for the under hand layup.
Photos by Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
Senior Hudson Hill let it fly during the game with five made three-point shots.
Senior Landon Wills did a majority of his damage around the rim.
By Drew Terhall
DailyAdvocate.com
COVINGTON — After being down 11-0 to start this game in the Buccaneer Holiday Tournament, the Bradford boys basketball team won 65-41 over Houston to earn a spot in the championship game.
Coach Alex Swabb said he gives major props to Houston for coming out swinging when his team wasn’t playing well. Once Bradford saw that first shot go in, they started to roll from there.
“Big props to Houston, they came out and set the pace, set the tone. We were playing their tone to start that game. We were able to get a nice break there, broke the lid on the basket a little bit. Once that happened, we settled in, relaxed a little bit and we were able to play our game,” Swabb said.
Bradford came out of the first quarter with a 16-13 lead. Senior Hudson Hill made a three-point shot to get the lead with seconds left. Right before the buzzer, junior Dalton Branson stole the inbound pass and scored.
That momentum carried throughout the game. Bradford opened the second quarter on a 7-2 run and led 37-20 at halftime.
The offense was carried by the three starters that have been around for awhile. Hill, senior Landon Wills and junior Owen Canan combined for 58 points.
Swabb said all three are able to kick start the team if they’re struggling as they all have a lot of varsity playing experience.
“All three of those kids have a lot of experience. We leaned on them a lot. They’ve all have varsity experience the last three years. All three have seen varsity minutes since they were freshmen. That’s dramatically helped their development,” Swabb said. “In pressure situations, to be able to pull out of doubt and to start getting some things going good for us and take control.”
Canan led with 21 points. Hill had 19 points and five made three-point shots. Wills had 18 with 13 of them coming in the second half.
Branson scored the rest of the seven points and made some big shots to give or keep momentum for Bradford. Swabb said Branson is a great shooter who is very reliable in big moments.
The offense was able to get going once the defense started to get turnovers. Bradford was able to get turnovers at mid-court or down low.
The Railroaders had active hands and were not letting Houston feel comfortable offensively. Swabb said they primarily focus on defense as it’s one of the team’s strengths.
“Defense is a big thing for us. When we’re able to apply pressure and dictate pace in games, it’s definitely one of our strengths. Defense and defensive pressure, especially, is something we build on, harp on and practice a lot,” Swabb said.
Bradford will play in the championship game against the host, Covington, on Dec. 30 at 7:30 p.m. Swabb said the tournament so far has been great as Covington does a great job running it. He also said seeing the different, talented teams gives the tournament great games throughout.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]
