November 07, 2024
SCHOOLBOY BASKETBALL

Sabers’ Bradford shines in new role Calvary to battle CAHS Thursday night

BANGOR – Brock Bradford showed a sign of things to come during the 2004 Class D state championship game, when he scored 24 points as Calvary Chapel of Orrington defeated Valley of Bingham to end the Cavaliers’ six-year title run.

For most of the 2003-04 campaign, Bradford’s primary role was one of distributor for teammates Josh Madden and older brother Kyle Bradford, two 1,000-point scorers.

But with the 2004-05 season came dramatic change in Brock Bradford’s role, and for the 6-foot-1 junior guard the transition has been seamless.

The distributor has become a scorer – through 20 games this season he has scored 607 points, or more than 30 points a game.

“We knew from the beginning of the season that people’s roles were going to be totally different,” said Bradford, who scored 32 points Monday as the Sabers defeated Deer Isle-Stonington 52-36 in an Eastern D quarterfinal.

The Sabers will play Central Aroostook of Mars Hill in a 7:05 p.m. semifinal Thursday at the Bangor Auditorium.

“My job last year was to score a few points and get the ball to Kyle and Josh and Tyler [Gans], to get them open looks,” Bradford added. “This year, I’m taking more of the scoring load, but I’m still trying to make sure everybody else gets involved. Our roles have changed, and people have accepted them and done a good job stepping into them.”

Bradford’s scoring success this winter has stemmed from his consistency in the face of a myriad of defensive schemes designed to shut him down. He has scored at least 20 points in every game, with a low of 20 in the Sabers’ preliminary-round victory over Fort Fairfield and a high of 49 when Calvary Chapel opened its new gym with a Dec. 16 victory over Greater Houlton Christian Academy.

The son of Sabers’ coach Ross Bradford also cashes in at the free-throw line, as evidenced by his 13-of-16 effort against Deer Isle-Stonington on Monday. That offset a 9-of-22 performance from the field, though Bradford did shoot 5-of-9 after intermission.

“The difficult thing is he can pull up and shoot any time,” said DI-S guard Nick Ciomei, who guarded Bradford for much of Monday’s game. “I had a hand right in his face on half his shots and he can still hit them. Basically, you play him so he doesn’t get any easy layups. Make him hit the outside shots, and today he did.”

Much of Calvary Chapel’s offense involves isolating Bradford on a defender, though usually it doesn’t take long for him to draw a crowd.

“If they play me man to man, I feel I can take anyone to the hoop,” said Bradford, who scored his 1,000th point earlier this season. “In the second half today, I felt a lot more confident, and my shots started falling and I was able to make some free throws.”

When the defense does converge on Bradford, that leaves openings for teammates Mike Astle, Ian Seekins, Fernald Haverlock and Bryan Miller.

Against Deer Isle-Stonington, Miller was the primary complement, scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds – with three baskets coming directly from offensive rebounds.

“As soon as he shoots it, we’ve got to rebound and box out,” said Miller. “We’ve got to get in front of their tall guys so we can get the rebounds.”


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