Sara Reid — Special to the Weakley County Pres
Posted: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 9:31 am

Trapped — Bradford's Molly Wallsmith (right) finds herself in trouble thanks to a defensive trap by Lady Bulldogs (from left) Taylor Stout and Ashley Coble during the visiting Lady Red Devils exciting 32-30 win over Gleason last Tuesday night.

The Lady Bulldogs nearly quadrupled their first-half point total in the second half yet came up a basket short of the Bradford Lady Red Devils this past Tuesday night.
Gleason put up just seven points in the low-scoring first half, but Bradford fared only slightly better with 11. Both teams picked up the pace in the second half, but Kim Edenfield's last-second jumpshot to tie the contest just missed off the back iron and the Lady Red Devils squeezed out the 32-30 win.
The host Bulldogs made it a split by earning a 49-45 win over the Bradford boys.
Bradford's Kelsey Bratton opened the girls game with an offensive board and putback. Taylor Stout did the same for Gleason and Sara Hensley, hacked on a drive to the hoop, knocked down one of two free throws and gave the Lady Bulldogs an early 3-2 lead. Molly Wallsmith hit two from the line, however, and put the visitors up, 4-3, in the first of two low-scoring quarters.
Jenna Frazier hit a shot inside for GHS to start the second, but Amanda Evans put three on the board for Bradford and gave the Lady Red Devils a 7-5 lead. Stout tied the game at seven with 2:30 on the clock, but Wallsmith scored the last four points and Bradford enjoyed an 11-7 halftime lead.
Frazier caught fire in the third and led a 6-0 run for Gleason to put the Lady Bulldogs up 13-11. Jackilann Street scored the next five for Bradford to make it a 16-13 lead for the visitors, but Frazier knocked down a three to tie the score. Wallsmith and Frazier played dueling baskets and with 1:05 left, Frazier owned 11 of Gleason's 13 points and the Lady Bulldogs had already nearly doubled their point production of the first half. Bradford, however, held a 22-20 edge at the end of three.
A trifecta from Wallsmith and a layup from Sarah Combs raced the Lady Red Devils out to a 27-20 lead to start the final quarter. Stout knocked down a pair from the line, Ashley Coble nailed a 3-pointer and Frazier hit two freebies to tie the contest at 27 with 1:39 left, however. Wallsmith completed a 3-point play, but Coble answered with another three to tie the contest again. With just under 10 seconds remaining, Combs tipped in a shot to give Bradford a two-point lead and Edenfield dribbled the length of the court, pulled up at the free-throw line and just missed on a jumper that would have tied the score, allowing Bradford to escape with the two-point victory.
Wallsmith led Bradford with 16 points — half of her team's total. Frazier scored 15 for Gleason — also half of her team's total.
In the second game, the Gleason Bulldogs saw a large lead nearly erased in a very physical fourth quarter, but took a 49-45 win over Bradford.
Led by five points each from Ben Rollins and Cody Ezell, Gleason held the Red Devils scoreless and took a 14-0 advantage after one.
Jordan Schoonover ended the drought at the 7:35 mark of the second frame. Both teams put up 12 points and the Bulldogs led 26-12 at the half.
The Red Devils scored just eight points and Rollins knocked down two threes for Gleason to increase the lead, 37-30, after three. The momentum was about to shift in the fourth, however.
As both teams entered the bonus and Bradford began to hack away at the lead, the aggression level reached a new high. With both squads picking up intentional fouls, Ben Sumner exited the game with his second technical foul at the 4:11 mark. Eight straight points from Bradford cut the lead to six, 47-41, with 1:28 remaining. Thomas Clay cut the lead to five, 47-42, but with the clock winding down, the visitors resorted to fouling and Gleason ended the battle with a 49-45 win.
Rollins led Gleason with 16 points. Cody Ezell scored a dozen points. Schoonover had 13 for Bradford.

Nov. 24 at Gleason
GIRLS
Bradford (32) — Molly Wallsmith 16, Jackilann Street 5, Sarah Combs 4, Kelsey Bratton 4, Amanda Evans 3.
Gleason (30) — Jenna Frazier 15, Taylor Stout 8, Ashley Coble 6, Sara Hensley 1.
3-pointers: Bradford — Street, Evans, Wallsmith; Gleason — Coble (2), Frazier.
Records: Gleason 2-1.

BOYS
Bradford (45) — Jordan Schoonover 13, Brandon Armstrong 8, Crockett Walter 8, Jesse Childress 6, Jamel Williams 5, Matt Bryan 2, Tyler McCartney 2, Thomas Clay 1.
Gleason (49) — Ben Rollins 16, Cody Ezell 12, Austin Perry 8, Ben Sumner 8, Blake Taylor 3, Gabe Lowrance 2.
3-pointers: Bradford — Armstrong (2), Childress; Gleason — Rollins (3), Ezell.
Records: Gleason 1-2.