BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Steven Carter and K.J. Taylor combined for 25 points as part of a 33-point first quarter in the Bradford High School boys basketball team’s 76-56 win over visiting Baker County on Jan. 17.
It was a game between teams with a combined three losses, but the Tornadoes were dominant at the start to improve to 12-2.
Baker (19-2) scored the game’s first basket, but Bradford then went on a 13-0 run that began with a Carter three-pointer. Breion Johnson added a basket off an offensive rebound before Taylor scored five straight points, getting a basket off a steal and then draining a three-point shot. Maliki Cobarris had a three-point basket also to give the Tornadoes a 13-2 lead.
The Tornadoes also had an 11-1 run in the first quarter. It, too, began with a Carter three-pointer. Johnson scored following a turnover before Carter was fouled on a three-point shot. Carter made 2 of 3 free throws to put Bradford up 20-6.
Carter went to the foul line again, making both of his free-throw attempts. A Baker free throw was then followed by a score from Taylor, who drove to the basket for two points and a 23-7 Bradford lead.
Bradford’s Kemontae Nixon had a big second quarter, scoring three baskets off offensive rebounds and scoring eight total points in the quarter to help send the Tornadoes into halftime leading 45-28.
The Tornadoes opened the second half with an 8-2 run. Cobarris and Baker’s Jacoby Blake traded baskets before Taylor and Jy’Quez Cason both had layups off Jordan Cason assists to give Bradford a 21-point lead. Cobarris then added a basket to make it a 53-30 game.
Baker narrowed Bradford’s lead to 15, closing out the third quarter with a 12-4 run. The Tornadoes went 2 of 17 from the field during that span, which also consisted of four turnovers.
The Wildcats’ run began and ended with three-pointers by Joel Carver, with the second basket coming from way beyond the arc and beating the buzzer.
Carter scored six points in the fourth quarter, ending his night with a game-high 19.
Taylor and Cobarris finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively, while the Tornadoes also got eight from Nixon, six each from Johnson and Dylan Ruise, four from Jy’Quez Cason and three from Bryston Williams.
The win capped a 2-1 week for Bradford.
On Jan. 13, the Tornadoes defeated visiting Westside 49-37, getting 19 points from Cobarris. Bradford also got seven points from Taylor, six each from Ruise and Jordan Cason, five from Johnson and three each from Carter and Nixon.
Nixon grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, while Jordan Cason led the team in steals with three.
Bradford hosted Columbia on Jan. 15, losing 67-55. Cobarris led the team with 23 points, while Taylor had 12. The Tornadoes also got six points from Nixon, five from Jy’Quez Cason, four from Jordan Cason, three from Carter and two from Johnson.
