BARKLEY SHOWCASE: Following tight battle in 1st half, Dundee/Bradford rips band-aid off for massive 2nd half to even Showcase for Steuben County with 66-43 victory over Andover/Whitesville

WELLSVILLE — Following the victory by the Rebels of Cuba-Rushford, the overall advantage was granted to Allegany County entering the last two games of the afternoon, with the opportunity to claim the Saturday Showcase sweepstakes all for themselves with at least one more victory in the last two games of the docket.

The battle was on between Dundee/Bradford, Class C2’s current No. 1 seed, and Andover/Whitesville — winners of six of their last seven games entering the afternoon in Wellsville.

In similar fashion to the previous three contests, a very close and competitive conflict brewed right from the beginning, with Andover/Whitesville surviving an early exchange with the Bravescots with their largest frame of offense in the heat of battle. But from the second quarter on, the momentum began to shift hands.

After an Aidan Webster drive straight to the rim immediately before the descension of the first half, Dundee/Bradford came back out on the floor full steam ahead for the last 16 minute session, as they held Andover/Whitesville to just 14 combined points while finishing the game on a massive fourth quarter run to pull away towards victory and a Showcase-tying second win for Steuben County in a 66-43 final tally.

“It was tough coming in today, especially when we took one of the best teams in the State, South Seneca, to overtime just last night. The boys are dead tired, but they had enough in them to pull this one out today,” Bravescots coach Nick Bailey said. “It was definitely a little nerve-racking, but it definitely gives us a Sectional-like atmosphere. Andover/Whitesville’s a solid team, and they would be right in the mix with some of the other teams in our league. We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare beforehand, but I was really pleased with the outcome we produced.”

A speedy and physical battle erupted across the opening stages of battle between the foes, with Andover/Whitesville (8-5) controlling the game off the glass against Dundee/Bradford, as the dynamic duo of Brody Vance and Colton Calladine took a hold of the offensive reins with 19 of the team’s 23 points within the frame to outlast a fiery three-point presence early on from the Bravescots, led by Brody Ryan and Kaiser Kiklowicz and their three combined triples from downtown.

Another narrow exchange helped commence the second quarter. But it was a frame that aided the Bravescots (10-3) monumentally, cashing in on multiple opportunities inside the paint to narrow the Andover/Whitesville lead down to a single possession before tying the game at 29 at halftime off a clutch wide-open drive to the rim by Webster with five seconds left.

“We came out strong, and we’ve been coming out strong for the last several games now,” Andover/Whitesville coach Jimmy Joyce said. “The second quarter was a little bit slower, but it was tied at halftime. We moved the ball extremely well, forced some turnovers, the guys got hot off of that. We attacked and that’s what we wanted to do going into today, to attack the rim and get some shots at the foul line along the way too. We needed to do it for two more quarters, but unfortunately that was the end of that.”

The momentum in the second half would continue to ride with Dundee/Bradford, as the Bravescots went on to hold Andover/Whitesville frozen in their tracks, beginning in a third quarter that Chris Clancey captained from the inside, while Webster and Brody Ryan knocked down another triple from the outer perimeter.

In all, the Bravescots established a tide-turning 16-6 run that gave them a 45-35 lead going into the last eight minutes.

Dundee/Bradford ultimately remained in the driver’s seat for the entire fourth quarter, as the defense forced many more turnovers against Andover/Whitesville along with a plethora of contributions from all over the floor inside and out, and from the charity stripe in what was their largest stand of offense — a 21-8 game-closing run to grant Steuben County their second victory of the weekend.

“Their a big, strong and tough team. They’re very active defensively and we couldn’t counter it. We got lazy at times on defenses and gave them some easy scores, but good teams like that will do that to you. It will bite, and we can’t let it happen.” Joyce said. “Games like this do nothing but help us, but when you’re battling a strong C school like Dundee/Bradford, it lets you know what you have to work on better. Now just over the halfway point, it’s what we needed, especially with Fillmore coming up on Friday. They look unstoppable. Hopefully from there on out, we can cruise into Sectionals while we keep fixing what we need to fix.”

Ryan led the way for the Bravescots, recording four of the team’s six three-pointers to put towards a game-high 22 points in what was a Player of the Game performance. Webster finished with 15 points, while Clancey had 14 points to add in. Dundee/Bradford will hit the road for a 7 p.m. visit to Red Jacket on Friday.

“It’s a great thing to be a part of, having been in this before when I played. Coming in, there’s a ton of people here and it looks like a Sectional game. Brody had to brag a little bit, saying that he scored more than me when I played in it. They just came in and were just ready to go and compete.” Bailey said.

For Andover/Whitesville, Brody Vance led all scorers with a team-high 14 points. Vinny Joyce pitched in with 13 points, while Colton Calladine had eight points.

Up next for Andover/Whitesville is a 7:30 p.m. visit to the red hot Fillmore Eagles on Friday.

Dundee/Bradford 17 12 16 21 – 66

Andover/Whitesville 23 6 6 8 – 43

DUNDEE/BRADFORD: Aidan Webster 5 4-6 15, Noah Sorce 2 0-0 4, Brody Ryan 5 8-9 22, Kaiser Kiklowicz 1 0-0 3, Jeremy Stiles 1 0-2 2, Chris Clancey 4 6-8 14, Alex Goltry 2 0-0 4, Jakob Black 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 18-25 66.

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Gage Putnam 0 1-2 1, Jake Mattison 1 0-0 2, Vinny Joyce 6 0-0 13, Brody Vance 3 6-7 14, Jon Vallieres 1 3-5 5, Colton Calladine 4 0-2 8. Totals: 15 10-16 43.

3-point goals: D/B 6 (Ryan 4, Webster, Kiklowicz), A/W 3 (Vance 2, Joyce).
Total Fouls: D/B 13, A/W 21. Fouled out: Joyce (A/W), Calladine (A/W).