BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Steven Carter made four three-pointers as part of a 27-point first quarter as the Bradford High School boys basketball team built a huge lead and went on to defeat visiting Baldwin 69-48 in a District 3-3A semifinal game on Feb. 5.
The second seed Tornadoes (17-4) will now play top seed Newberry (18-3) for the championship on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. at Newberry.
It was a fast start, to say the least against Baldwin. Carter started the scoring with his first three-pointer, followed by a two-point basket from teammate Jy’Quez Cason. It was 7-5 in favor of Bradford when the Tornadoes went on a 13-0 run. It began with a Carter three-pointer, followed by Maliki Cobarris scoring off a steal. Cobarris then scored in transition and added his own three-point basket to make it 17-5. Carter knocked down his third three-point shot to make the margin 15 points.
Bradford scored the final seven points of the quarter. After baskets from Cason and Jordan Cason, Carter made another trey following a turnover, giving the Tornadoes a 27-7 lead.
The scoring screeched to a halt in the second quarter. A free throw by Bradford’s Dylan Ruise was the only point in the first five minutes. Baldwin got a three-point play at the three-minute mark, with Nikeese Doss going 1 of 2 from the foul line and the Indians rebounding the missed free throw and putting it back in for a bucket, making the score 28-10.
Cobarris sank a jump shot to finally give Bradford a field goal with 2:48 to play in the half.
Bradford got three-pointers from Cobarris and Jordan Cason to help them go into halftime leading 38-17.
The Indians opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run, getting two baskets from Demontre Allen as well as scores by Jordan Goodrich and Doss.
Cobarris and Jy’Quez Cason were the only players to score for Bradford in the third quarter as the Tornadoes were outscored 19-8, making it a 10-point game.
Bradford quickly extended its lead to 19 points to start the fourth quarter. Bryston Williams had the first points of the quarter, followed by consecutive baskets by Jy’Quez Cason — one of which was a three-pointer. Cobarris then added two free throws to put the Tornadoes up 55-36.
It was a big quarter for Cobarris, who scored nine points and finished with a game-high 27.
Carter added his fifth three-pointer of the game in the final quarter, giving him 15 points total.
The Tornadoes also got 13 points from Jy’Quez Cason, seven from Jordan Cason, two each from Williams, Ja’Kaveon Nixon and Kemontae Nixon and one from Ruise.
