Bradford holds off scrappy Ansonia bunch
Tigers make fourth quarter push in upset bid
By George Starks

BRADFORD- When a team follows the game plan a coach puts out, good things happen.

When a team gets away from that game plan, things have a tendency to fall apart.

Such was the case for the Bradford Lady Railroaders as the Roaders posted a tough 49-42 Cross County Conference victory over Ansonia Thursday.

The game plan for Bradford was obvious right from the beginning.

Throw a zone press at the Tigers and go after Ansonia’s big three, Catey Fischer, Lydia Sink and Monica Stover.

For three quarters, it all worked to perfection.

Sink fouled out in the third quarter on an offensive foul and Fischer was gone late in the game, leaving Stover.

“We knew Fischer and Sink were their big guns and we knew if we could get them into foul trouble then we would have them in trouble,” said Bradford coach Patrick McKee. “We attacked the zone well and tried to get those girls isolated one on one. Then we could attack the basket and get a foul or something. It all worked well for us and we did a lot of thing that worked for us and we kept out of foul trouble.”

While all was looking well for Bradford, it all fell apart just as well.

Holding leads of 18-9, 26-16 and 43-23 at the breaks, the fourth quarter saw another side of Ansonia that hadn’t been seen all game long.

Before Bradford could blink its eyes, a 20 point lead had been shaved to 10 in less than three minutes time.

After McKee called for time, sophomore Abby Helmke hit a trey with Fischer following with a deuce in the paint at the 4:26 mark.

Thirty-one seconds later, Helmke dropped in a pair from the foul line and the Tigers were threatening to pull off a monumental upset of the 13-4 Roaders, trailing 43-40 with 3:55 remaining.

“I really don’t know what happened there in the fourth quarter,” admitted McKee. “Fischer done a real nice job distributing the ball and attacking the basket as well. Our girls weren’t defending and a goal of ours was to play strong defense as a team, not just one or two girls. We weren’t playing well at all at that point.”

Just as fast as the lights went out of the Roaders game, someone flipped the switch back on.

Senior Haley Patty took the bull by the horns and played a little senior basketball.

Bradford went on a 6-2 spurt led by Patty with four of the six points with Gabby Fair netting the other two to put the game on ice.

“Haley really stepped up in the final minutes and led this team to the finish line. She did a very nice job defensively as well,” McKee stated. “Haley has had a few games where she has been very aggressive. We were getting a little nervous. When things go from a 10 point lead to a three point lead in what seemed like a matter of seconds but you’ve got to have confidence in your girls on the court.”

For the second straight night, the Tigers gave it all they had.

After a disappointing 57-45 Wednesday at Arcanum, Ansonia fell to 5-9 (2-5) on the season.

“We played a tough game last night at Arcanum,” remarked Ansonia coach Jim Bolin. “When we got down to three points (43-40), we turned them over three times in a row and if we could have converted on just one of those turnovers, it would have been real interesting. We had a tough game last night and the kids could have very easily rolled over, got the game over with and went home. They didn’t do that. They showed their class and character tonight.”

Fischer led all scorers with 20 points after a 29 point game Wednesday at Arcanum.

The Roaders were led with 15 by Patty and 10 by Brooke Dunlevy in support.

Bradford will be idle until Feb. 3 when the Roaders will head to Twin Valley South in a varsity only clash.

Ansonia will host National Trail tonight in a 6 pm. Start.