BROOKVILLE – The Bradford girls basketball team got off to a slow start in the opening round of the OHSAA DIV Sectional before Austy Miller took control scoring a game high 24 points to lead the Railroaders to a 47-35 win to advance in tournament play.
Newton jumped out to a quick 8-0 start on two triples by Tori Benedict but the Roaders finally got on the board with a Cassie Mead triple and three fielders form Miller, Riley Canan and Remi Harleman to take a 9-8 first quarter lead.
Miller would rattle off 10 points in the second quarter while the defense clamped down on Newton holding them to 3 points to give Bradford a 23-11 lead at the break.
Chris Besecker is a veteran coach and one of the best ever to coach in the Cross County Conference which is disbanding after this season.
Besecker was disappointed with the slow start but was glad to see his kids kick into gear in the second quarter.
“I thought the key for us was getting some transition buckets and that really got us going,” Besecker said.
Newton turned the tables on Bradford in the 3rd quarter winning it 9-8 to stay in the game trailing 31-20 heading into the final stanza.
Bradford performance in the 3rd quarter was summed up by coach Besecker’s after the game.
“I feel like we have improved in some areas throughout the year although the evidence wasn’t quite there at times today as we were little inconsistent on both ends of the floor,” Besecker stated.
But the Lady Roaders took care of business in the final quarter as Newton ended up fouling to try and get back in the game. Bradford shot 19-23 from the line in the game which was a big key in keeping Newton from being able to close the gap as they went on to win the game 47-35.
“That is one of our strengths, we shoot really well from the free throw line, although at one point I was a little concerned with Austy Miller missed two in a row and she never does that,” Besecker commented.
Miller led with 24 points, Remi Harleman and Rylee Canan each added 8 points for Bradford who will advance to play Covington in the 2nd round on Tuesday at 7:30pm at Brookville High School. Bradford defeated the Buccs 46-39 back in January.
“We knew today was going to be a dogfight, they gave us a good game in the regular season and teams are going to give you their best shot when you play in the tournament and we’ll have to be ready to shoot our best shot on Tuesday when we take on Covington for the second time,” Besecker concluded.
Box Scores:
Score by Quarters:
BRADORD 9 14 8 16=47
NEWTON 8 3 9 15=35
Team Scoring
BRADFORD-MILLER 24, R CANAN 8, HARLEMAN 8, MEAD 5, E CANAN 2. TOTALS 13-20=47
NEWTON-GLEASON 13, BENEDICT 9, M CRAIG 8, HESS 5. TOTALS 12-6=35
Three Pointers: Bradford 1 (Mead) Newton 5 (Benedict 3, M Craig 2)
