Calvary Chapel’s Bradford back on Sabers’ bench

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BANGOR – After several days of rest and antibiotics, Ross Bradford returned to the Calvary Chapel bench Thursday afternoon to find the perfect antidote for his recent illness.

“Nothing revives you quite like a win,” said Bradford after the top-ranked Sabers topped East Grand of Danforth 85-46 in their Eastern Maine Class D boys basketball semifinal Thursday.

Bradford had been sidelined since last weekend with a condition he described as a combination of flu and bronchitis.

“I had a lot of things going at once,” he said.

Assistant coach Mike Warman guided Calvary Chapel to its 87-63 quarterfinal win over Van Buren.

“When I was listening to that game Monday, I just couldn’t go through another one,” Bradford said. “I had to be here, and the Lord just worked it out so I could.”

Bradford’s team, including sons Kyle and Brock Bradford, were glad to have the head coach back on the sidelines.

“Having our coach, my dad, back here today was a big thing for us,” said Kyle Bradford “Not having him there kind of rattled us a little bit against Van Buren. I think we came out more relaxed as a team and ready to play basketball today the way we knew we could.”

Three-point bonanza

Through two tournament victories, Calvary Chapel is averaging 29 3-point shot attempts per game – and shooting 39 percent from beyond the arc.

The Sabers made 10 of 29 attempts in their quarterfinal win against Van Buren, and went 13 of 29 in Thursday’s semifinal victory against East Grand.

“I don’t have a specific rule on when to shoot the 3 and when not to shoot it,” said Calvary Chapel coach Ross Bradford.

“Our guys can shoot, and they can choose the 3. I like my ballplayers to have a sense of what the defense is giving them, and to play smart. They just need to be aware of what’s going on when they’re on the court and go with their feelings, and they usually they make the right choices.”

Calvary Chapel set a tournament record with its 13 3-pointers against East Grand, with seven by Josh Madden and six by Kyle Bradford.

“Kyle and I were both shooting with a lot of confidence, and they left some spots open and we were just knocking down our shots,” said Madden, now 11 of 18 from beyond the arc in the Sabers’ two tourney wins.

Calvary Chapel had eight 3-pointers by halftime, but armed with a big lead the Sabers shot sparingly from long range in the second half until fans of the Orrington team shouted words of encouragement midway through the fourth quarter.

Madden then tied the Eastern D record of 11 set earlier in the day by Katahdin of Stacyville with 3:02 remaining, and Bradford set the record on the Sabers’ next possession before Madden added a final 3 with about two minutes left.

“We kind of knew about the record, but we had the lead and the guys were playing smart,” said Ross Bradford. “You can shoot yourself out of a lead, too, so we didn’t need it.

“We’re not really concerned with records. Yeah, it’s fun to get it, but we were concerned with winning the basketball game first.”

Anderson hits mark

The Katahdin boys basketball team may have had the 3-pointer record for a few short hours, but at least one of the Cougars will remember the brief stretch.

Keith Anderson, a sophomore guard, broke the record when he hit a 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left. Anderson was in the game for the first time as Katahdin coach Bill McAvoy put in his substitutes in Central Aroostook’s 74-60 win.

“We can hit the 3 when we get open,” Anderson said after the game. “It’s pretty cool. We’ll have to beat it again next year.”

Both the Cougars of Stacyville and the Central Aroostook Panthers tied the record with 10 each but Anderson’s shot broke the mark.

Patrick Willette led Katahdin with three 3-pointers. Owen McCarthy, Frank Grass and Brian Sullivan each had two and Sam Cyr had one.

Andrew York led the Panthers of Mars Hill with four 3-point baskets.

“It’s two teams that really have a lot of perimeter players,” Katahdin coach Bill McAvoy said. “They have outstanding shooters on the perimeter and we do too. If they shoot like that they’re going to hard to take out of here in the finals.”

Denbow ‘had to try’

It may not have been smart for Maranacook’s Kim Denbow to play in last week’s Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal game, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Denbow, a senior guard, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during a practice Jan. 19. She hadn’t played since then, but she just couldn’t imagine sitting on the bench for the No. 2 Black Bears’ quarterfinal against No. 7 Rockland.

“The doctor said I was fine to try it with the brace and I can’t injure my ACL already than it already is,” Denbow said. “So I was taking a risk but it meant that much to me so I just decided to try and play. I couldn’t just sit and watch. I had to try.”

So she played – and scored five points – in what would be a 50-40 win over the Tigers. But she re-injured the knee early in the fourth quarter and left the game for good.

Doctors don’t think she did any more damage, but the knee is visibly swollen and Denbow said it was sore. She didn’t risk it for Wednesday’s semifinal against Hermon, which the Bears lost 43-41.

Denbow will likely wait to have surgery until after softball season.