DAYTON – The Bradford Railroaders were still smarting from a 9-point loss on Saturday against rival Covington.
Unfortunately for Northridge they were the next team up and Bradford avenged that loss in decisive fashion by hammering the Polar Bears for four quarters and parted with a 78-25 victory.
In the first half both teams began in man-to-man defenses and Bradford pressed. The press was effective as they would open up a 21-4 first quarter lead. Offensively they fed the ball to sole senior post player Bianca Keener, who scored in the red zone and finished with 19 points. Skipp Miller also operated close to the basket knifing her way for layups. She led all scorers in the game with 20 points. The team did a great job in this half of translating steals into baskets. They scored well in transition.
“Bianca is a tough player to defend when she has the ball in her hand,” Bradford coach Chris Besecker said. “It’s our job to get the ball to her, we just don’t always do that effectively.”
At halftime it was a 42-12 game. The Polar Bears went to a zone and tried to trap out of it, but Bradford had an answer with wings Rylee Canan and Austy Miller begin hitting treys. Behind their shooting Bradford began the half with a nice 12-2 run to quell any hope of a Northridge comeback.
In the last quarter, the Railroaders cleared the bench – every one who was in the book earned a score. Even with the bench players on the court, the team maintained both offensive and defensive integrity scoring 12 points and only allowing 4 points. It was a morale boosting win for a team that has another big game on Thursday against league leading Miami East.
“It was nice to come back and play this way after our loss against Covington on Saturday,” Besecker said. “We just didn’t shoot well that game. It was nice to come out here and relax and knock down some shots. All our players including our bench players are pretty good players. They were all successful in junior high so we don’t lose a whole lot going to the bench. Our biggest issue is our lack of overall height once you get past Bianca and Skipp Miller. It makes it hard to rebound.
“Miami East has Morgan Haney, one of the better players in the league. That will be the key to the game – being able to defend her,” he added.
