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Ansonia's
Bailey Stammen looks to score during first half action at
Bradford Thursday.
The Tiger sophomore netted 14 as Ansonia overwhelmed
the Lady Roaders 49-33 in Cross
County Conference play. CNO Photos by
Don Selanders, goroaders.com
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Ansonia stops
Bradford in conference action
Lady Roaders senior night spoiled
By George Starks
BRADFORD- It was just a few days ago when Parkway beat Ansonia on the
Lady Tigers senior day in overtime.
Thursday, the Tigers got a little revenge by turning the tables on
Bradford.
The Roader faithful honored its two seniors (Mackenzie Weldy and Kelly
Moore) before the start of the game Thursday.
After that, it was all academic.
Ansonia came out of the gates with an 11-2 run to get the party started.
When the party was over, the Tigers were doing all the dancing as they
celebrated a 49-33 Cross County Conference victory.
“I thought we played real well,” said Tigers coach Jim Bolin. “They
were ready to go. They came out ready to go and they did what they had
to do to get the game off to a good start.”
With a 13-6 lead after the opening quarter, it was Bradford that found
itself with its backs against the wall. Despite only being down seven,
it was Weldy that was on the bench with three personal fouls with just
under three minutes left in the frame.
Even though Weldy re-entered the game to start the second stanza, the
Bradford scoring machine was forced to play with less aggressiveness.
With Mandi Bates forced to pick up the slack, the Tigers made hay.
With the offense putting up the points, it was the defense that was
speaking volumes, taking advantage of the Bradford misfortunes.
At the break, the Tigers were well on their way, up 25-11.
“We played extremely well on defense,” said Bolin. “I think that was
probable the best all-around game we’ve played together. We actually
played as a unit tonight. I just think the kids did great.”
With the Tigers defense playing like a well-oiled machine, forcing 12
Bradford turnovers on defense, Bradford coach Patrick McKee summed it
up well.
“Kind of sloppy,” McKee stated. “We didn’t handle the pressure they
gave us. Just getting the ball from one point to the next was rough for
us. We got better but we didn’t hit some of the shots we usually hit.
Defensively, I thought we were out of character. We were doing some
things that took us back to the first ten games of the year rather than
the last five or six.”
Holding a 42-23 lead after three quarters, both teams came out cold but
at that point, it wasn’t going to make a difference.
Ansonia held leads of 20 on three different occasions (43-32, 45-25 and
47-27) before Bolin called off the dogs.
With tournament starting a week from today, Bolin knows that now is the
time to get it right.
“You always want to peak toward the end of the season,” Bolin pointed
out. “The kids have been working real hard and we had a tough week this
week.”
Stammen led the Tigers with 14 points with Abby Helmke adding a dozen
in support for the Tigers while Bates led all in scoring with 17 for
Bradford while Weldy added 10.
It was a hard loss for McKee.
“This is a tough one for me,” McKee said. “This is my first group I’ve
taken from a freshman to a senior (Weldy and Moore), and I’ve seen
those two girls so much. I remember the freshman year and that summer
when I first got the job and they walked in the gym and I knew they
were going to be something special. Not only are they great basketball
players, they’re great people in general.
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Bradford
junior Ally Booker is cut off by a Tiger on her way to the bucket.
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