BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Bradford High School led by as many as 10 points in the first half and outscored Hawthorne 14-5 in the third quarter en route to a 53-35 win in the Class 1A boys basketball state semifinals on March 2 in Lakeland.
Shayne Davis scored a game-high 17 points for the Tornadoes, who are in the championship game for the first time in program history. Bradford (15-10) will play Paxton on Friday, March 4, at 7 p.m. at Lakeland’s RP Funding Center. Paxton (24-4) advanced off its 51-49 semifinal win over Malone (24-6).
Following the game, when he was asked how he’d be able to sleep knowing his team had to wait until Friday night to play for the title, Davis said, “I’m going to sleep good, but I’m going to be anxious. Today, I was so nervous, but once I got on the court, after that first minute, it just came natural. I just played my game.”
His game helped the Tornadoes win their seventh straight. Things have been clicking for a team that began the season with 15 players and now has 10 for various reasons. Plus, it wasn’t until the District 6 tournament that Bradford had its main core intact as players missed time throughout the season due to various reasons, including injuries and college recruiting trips in regard to football.
“There was all kind of adversity that we saw this year when it came to just the overall health and numbers on our team,” Head Coach Sampson Jackson said. “To see it come now and to be sitting here with this opportunity is kind of surreal, but I’m telling you, we know that we’ve worked for this.”
Leading up to the game, the Tornadoes worked on being the better rebounding team. It paid off, as Bradford held a 43-25 advantage over Hawthorne.
“We put an emphasis on that all week, since Monday,” Jackson said. “We just stuck to what we wanted to do. We came out and executed what we worked on.”
The Hornets’ Allen Ruth scored the first points on a dunk. It was the only time Bradford trailed.
It was a 4-4 game when the Tornadoes went on a 10-0 run. Amari Jones drove to the basket and dished the ball off to Torin Brazell for a score before Davis knocked down a three-pointer. After Robbie Simmons-Godwin scored off an offensive rebound, Dae’Jon Shanks made a three-pointer.
Hawthorne (11-5) got consecutive baskets from D.J. Slater during a 6-0 run that made the score 17-14 in the second quarter. Bradford scored eight of the next nine points. Hunter Crawford knocked down a jumper at the foul line, followed by three-pointers from Jones and Chalil Cummings.
Cummings later rebounded a missed three-pointer by Jones and scored to make the score 27-20. Jones then put the ball through the net on a pull-up jumper with 19 seconds left to send the Tornadoes into halftime leading by nine.
Bradford had a fast start when play resumed. A Jontez Williams basket was the first of three consecutive scores for the Tornadoes. Simmons-Godwin scored off Jones’ penetration, while Davis hit a three-pointer following a Hawthorne turnover. Davis was later fouled on a drive to the basket, making 1 of 2 free throws to make the score 37-20.
A Shanks three-pointer helped Bradford build a 40-25 lead going into the fourth quarter, which began with Cummings scoring off his own steal. A pair of Jones free throws and a Davis basket made the score 47-25.
Cummings and Jones each finished with eight points, while Shanks had seven. Bradford also got five points from Simmons-Godwin, four points from Williams and two points each from Brazell and Crawford.
Shanks pulled down five defensive rebounds and led the team with eight overall. Davis had seven boards, while Cummings and Williams each had six.
Cummings and Jones each had three assists.
This year’s Bradford team became just the second in school history to reach the Final Four. It’s now the only team in program history to reach the championship game.
“It’s rewarding to be here,” Jackson said. “That’s been our thing from the beginning. It was to get to Lakeland and do something special.
“We’ve done that, but something special isn’t over.”
