Brookville much too much
By George Starks

BRADFORD - Bradford said farewell to five seniors Monday night before the start of the Lady Railroaders game with Brookville. Brookville had little to no respect on this night.

Bradford started out like a ball of fire but soon fizzled out as Brookville rolled to a 61-38 victory over Bradford.

“My seniors came out with a lot of emotion and I wasn’t for sure what way they would go but they played right with them in the first quarter,” said Roaders coach Dennis Fair. “My seniors came out with a lot of energy and played well tonight.”

After finishing the first quarter tied at 13-13, the Blue Devils went to work, outscoring Bradford 16-10 in the second and 13-5 in the third to open a commanding 44-28 lead with eight minutes left to play.

“Brookville came out in the second half and just shot the lights out,” Fair admitted. “It’s hard to compete with a team that comes out and shoots as well as they did tonight. I don’t know what they shot from the floor but I’m sure their percentage was very high. When you’re not making shots the way the other team is, it’s hard to compete with them. I don’t care who you are.”

The inability to connect from the field, coupled with turnovers (18) and fouls (24), the Roaders were fighting a battle they couldn’t win.

“Turnovers have been a big issue all year,” said Fair. “At times, we can play some of the best defense around and not get into foul trouble. In the blink of an eye, we can go to the laziest defense around too. We got lazy tonight and Brookville took advantage of it.”

Brookville started the second frame, going on a 12-4 run to start the quarter. Then came the hot shooting sophomore Bree Bates for Bradford.

Bates scored six points in the stanza and 11 in the game before rolling her ankle in the fourth quarter. Hobbling around on one foot, Fair had to force Bates to get off the floor.

“She is only a sophomore but we are looking for big things out of her,” Fair stated. “To be honest, the whole sophomore class is very talented. She is sort of the backbone of that group. She been playing hurt with the ankle injury and she is a silent player. I don’t think a lot of teams realize how much of a key player she really is. I know she is a good athlete and I hound her looking for that greatness that is in her.”

Scoring 10, five and then 10 in the last three frames, Fair knows, games will not be won with those numbers.

“We are just not consistent,” said Fair. “You can’t compete with numbers like this. I didn’t want to see my seniors go out like this.”

Bradford won the junior varsity, 42-30.

Bradford will end its regular season Thursday at Covington.