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Ansonia
junior Max Muir drives the lane as Bradford senior
Tyler Atchley defends Tuesday
during the Cross County Conference
battle. The Tigers picked up their first victory
ofthe season, 44-36
over the Roaders. CNO Photo by George Starks
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Ansonia holds on for conference victory
Bradford still
looking for first win of the season
By George Starks
ANSONIA - When asked how he thought things went, Ansonia coach Darrick
Barga said, “We got the win. It was ugly.”
After jumping out to the early lead, it was all Ansonia could do
to stave off a stubborn bunch from Bradford Tuesday.
In the end, the Tigers were able to post a 44-36 Cross County
Conference win Tuesday over the Roaders.
Before Barga departed the locker room to do his post-game interview on
WJYW, he was heard telling his team, 24 turnovers.
Despite having 24 miscues handling the ball, Ansonia pulled off a huge
victory to go to 1-1 in the conference and 1-2 on the season.
“Sometimes, you can’t help it,” said Barga. “You got to play the game
and it is what it is. I tell my guys to play in the moment. If you make
a bad play, then just move on. If it’s a teammate, then pick him
up because the next time, it may be you making the mistake.”
Going into the break, the Tigers held a 20-13 lead in a half that
featured 13 Ansonia miscues to only eight for the Railroaders.
The deciding factor in the opening 16 minutes was Ansonia’s transition
defense.
Even with the Roaders looking to gain easy points in transition, the
Tigers were able to get back and stop Bradford on defense.
“We have a lot of things to work on,” Barga pointed out. “The defense
in transition was good. We never gave up easy baskets after a turnover.
I’m not happy with the defense overall, but we were getting back in
transition.”
On the night, Dalton Subler netted 14 points while yanking down 13
rebounds. In support, senior Dustin Berger had eight points with 10
boards.
It was foul shooting that Barga touched on as well with the Tigers
going 12 of 25 from the stripe.
We expect a lot from these guys,” said Barga. “We have to get better
from the line. We have to get closer to 70 percent from the line if
we’re going to win games.”
Going down 8-0 early, Bradford fought back to close the frame out
trailing 8-6 and 20-13 at the break.
Bradford played Ansonia even in the third with a seven-point deficit
looming, down 30-23.
The Roaders put on a surge in the final eight minutes, closing to
within a point at the 3:48 mark of the game, 32-31.
After that, the Roaders fell off the mark as the Tigers closed the game
out on a 12-5 run.
“It’s all about discipline,” said Bradford coach Jeff Case. “When you
are out-disciplined, the ones that are disciplined will always come out
ahead. The cream always rises to the top and we did not do things well
tonight. We are very disappointed.”
Case, like Barga, touched on foul shooting.
Bradford went four of 11 in the game, hitting on just one from the line
in the fourth quarter.
“We missed way too many from the line in the second half,” Case pointed
out. “If you’re going to win games, you have to hit foul shots
and we didn’t do it. I said before the game that we had to take care of
the ball and rebound and we did neither one of them.”
Bradford (0-3) will host Tri-Village Friday while the Tigers will look
to make it two straight with a home win over Arcanum.
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