BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Third seed Bradford High School was able to bring a 16-point deficit down to single digits, but the Tornadoes watched host Trinity Catholic pull away in the end in a 60-46 loss in the semifinals of the District 2-3A girls basketball tournament on Feb. 1.
Jada Hankerson was a huge part of the rally, scoring 17 second-half points and going 11 of 14 from the foul line. Two made free throws on one trip pulled Bradford to within six points in the third quarter, while another 2-of-2 trip in the fourth quarter made it a five-point game.
Hankerson led all scorers with 24 points.
The second seed Celtics (16-9) play top seed P.K. Yonge (13-3) for the District 2 championship on Friday, Feb. 3, with the winner automatically qualifying for the Region 1 playoffs.
Bradford will wait and see if it’ll receive an at-large bid based on the state’s power rankings.
The Tornadoes (10-11) were in a tie game in the first quarter after two free throws by Nichelle Brown, but they committed turnovers on seven straight possessions as Trinity closed the quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 14-4 lead.
A Hankerson three-pointer made it a seven-point game in the second quarter, but the Celtics responded by outscoring Bradford 11-2. Trinity went into halftime leading 29-13.
Leanna Pabst made a three-pointer to start the second half, giving Trinity a 32-13 lead before the Tornadoes went on a 15-4 run. After a free throw by Hankerson, a Ar’Nayshia Griffin scored off a Brown steal. The teams then each exchanged one free throw before Griffin scored off an offensive rebound. Griffin then grabbed a rebound on the defensive end and went the length of the court, drawing a foul on a drive to the basket. She made 1 of 2 free throws to make the score 33-20.
Following her trip to the foul line, Griffin made a backcourt steal, which led to Hankerson getting fouled on a shot. Hankerson made both free throws, which was the start of a stretch in which she made eight in a row.
Brown and Crum scored baskets off their own steals to make the score 33-26. After a free throw by the Celtics’ Heaven Sanders, Hankerson was fouled on a drive to the basket. She made both free throws to make it a 34-28 game in the final minute of the third quarter.
That was the good news. The bad news was that the quarter’s final minute also saw three Bradford players pick up their fourth foul: Brown, Griffin and Ajiyah Jackson.
It was 39-30 going into the fourth quarter, which began with Griffin scoring on a drive to the basket and Hankerson sinking two more free throws to make it a five-point game. Trinity then reeled off six straight points. The Celtics’ Alessa Washington scored off a scoop shot in the lane and then added another basket off a steal by teammate Rose Gravel-Holtzclaw. A steal by Delaney Baker led to a turnaround jumper from Gravel-Holtzclaw as Trinity extended its lead to 11.
Bradford made it a single-digit game again after a basket by Hankerson and a free throw by Jackson. A steal by Hankerson led to her getting fouled on a drive to the basket. Both of her free-throw attempts went in, but each was disqualified due to a lane violation.
After a made basket by each team, the Celtics went on an 11-1 run to put the game out of reach for Bradford.
Griffin finished with 12 points, while the Tornadoes also got five points from Brown, two points each from Crum and Gemma Rodriguez and one point from Jackson.
