BRADFORD 42, ECC 25

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Dec. 11, 2007

By Blaise O’Conner and D9Sports.com staff

BRADFORD – Bradford snapped Elk County Catholic’s 25-game D9 League win streak with a 42-25 win at Bradford Tuesday night.

“This is a huge win for us,” Bradford head coach Dave Fuhrman said. “Elk has dominated the D9 League in recent years, and we needed this win at home. I think the league is going to be very balanced and every league game is going to be battle. So it’s important to win at home and try to steal a few wins on the road to be successful in our league.”

Punxsutawney was the last team to knock off ECC (2-1 overall, 0-1 D9 League) in D9 League toppling the Crusaders 41-39, Feb. 29, 2005.

Bradford (3-1, 1-0), meanwhile, broke a 6-game losing streak to the Crusaders, whom they last beat 52-49, Jan. 14, 2004, in St. Marys.

That time the game was close. This time, Bradford’s defense made sure it wasn’t going to be nail bitter holding ECC to its lowest point total in almost 10 years – Bradford held ECC to 23 points in a 54-23 win Feb. 11, 1998. The 25-points are tie for the second fewest points in ECC history (ECC lost to Erie Cathedral Prep 42-25 Dec. 17, 1994), and the last time the Crusaders were held to under 30 points was in a 52-29 loss to Mercyhurst Prep Dec. 19, 1999.

“We were not very good offensively this evening,” ECC head coach Aaron Straub said.

Bradford’s offense wasn’t exactly on fire early on either with neither team scoring a point until 4:45 into the game when Bradford’s Tom Taylor nailed a 3-pointer.

“The game was a chess match in the early going,” Fuhrman said. “Elk’s game plan was to slow the game down and make us play defense. They succeeded in the first quarter.”

The first frame ended with Bradford holding a 7-6 lead, but the Owls caught fire in the second quarter outscoring ECC 13-2 to take a 20-8 halftime lead. Taylor led the way in the half for Bradford with eight points.

“Elk came out in a triangle-and-two defense on Ryan LaBrozzi and Drew Kelly,” Fuhrman said. “It took us a while to adjust. But Tommy Taylor hit two big three’s to get us going, and we scored on a couple of offensive rebounds to gain control.”

With Taylor hitting from the outside, ECC had to come out extend its defense out a little more in the second half allowing LaBrozzi some good looks inside. He scored eight points in the second half, while Randy Confer also added eight second-half tallies. LaBrozzi and Confer led Bradford with 12 points apiece on the night.

“In the second half, they had to come out and chase a little bit,” Fuhrman said. “LaBrozzi and Randy Confer were able to keep us going offensively. We also scored a few buckets off turnovers. I also thought we played well defensively, particularly our post defense.”

Bradford’s post defense help limit ECC’s two key big men – Logan Haberberger and Nate Higgins – to a combined eight points (four points each). Kiel Nissel led the Crusaders with eight points.

“I told our guys before the game Elk is still the champs until someone knocks them off,” Fuhrman said. “They are well coached and very discipline and fundamentally sound. They make you earn everything you get, and believe me, we had to earn this one tonight.”

Both teams are back in action Friday night with Bradford traveling to Punxsutawney and ECC hosting Ridgway.

NOTES – LaBrozzi added nine rebounds and five assists, while Ben Lanich led the Owls with 12 rebounds … The team will meet again Jan. 15 in St. Marys with history on Bradford’s side in that game. The series hasn’t split since 1998-99.  

BRADFORD 42, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 25

Score by Quarters

ECC 6 2 5 12 – 25

Bradford 7 13 10 12 – 42

ECC – 25

Garner 0 0-0 0, Simbeck 2 1-2 5, Jones 0 0-0 0, Agosti 0 0-0 0, N. Wortman 1 0-0 2, Bauer 0 0-0 0, Rupprecht 0 0-0 0, R. Wortman 0 0-0 0, Higgins 1 2-2 4, Haberberger 2 0-0 4, Mastrogiacomo 1 0-0 2, Gausman 0 0-1 0, Nissel 2 3-5 8. Totals 9 6-10 25. 

Bradford – 42

Taylor 3 0-0 8, Frombach 0 0-0 0, Viola 0 0-0 0, Ivancic 0 0-0 0, Ryan LaBrozzi 6 0-1 12, Kelly 1 0-0 3, Teribery 0 0-0 0, Mackey 0 0-0 0, Fuhrman 0 0-0 0, Lanich 3 1-3 7, Randy Confer 5 2-2 12, Laroche 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 3-6 42. 

Three-pointers – ECC 1 (Nissel). Bradford 3 (Taylor 2, Kelly)