Most of the day Friday, nobody was really sure if Bradford was going to make the trip to play their Cross County Conference basketball game at Bethel.  A Level Three snow emergency covered Darke County most of the week.
As the final buzzer sounded, most of those fans from Bradford were probably thinking that maybe they should have postponed the game.
Bethel jumped out to a 22-3 lead after one period, and coasted to a 58-32 league win over the Railroaders.
“We needed to get back into the flow tonight after all of this weather,” Bethel coach Rick Hickman said.  “We were off so long, it is tough to take the court and play well.”
“As a first year coach, it’s not like things have been in place for a long time and the kids can just come back and pick things up.”
The Bees scored five points quickly in the game, before Bradford knew what hit them.  After the Railroaders hit a free throw, the Bees started a run.
Daniel Yates started an 8-0 run, as four different Bees scored.  Bethel led 13-1 before Bradford scored their first field goal.
For the rest of the 3:36 of the first quarter, the Bees defense held Bradford scoreless, while running off night straight points.  Jon Sutton scored four to lead the way for the Bees.
Bradford put together a 6-1 run to open the second period, and cut the Bees lead to 23-9.  Michael James hit a floater for the Bees, as the two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half.  The Bees led 31-14 at the intermission.
“We tried to play the bench early, and mix things up,” Hickman said.  “We wanted to get everyone involved.  We started allowing penetration and they got some baskets on us.”
Bradford cut the lead to 16 points midway through the third period, but the Bees used a 7-2 run to push their lead back out to 43-22.
In the fourth, the Bees defense tightened up, allowing only eight points in those eight minutes. 
“We were going pretty well before all this snow hit,” Hickman said. “We need to use the next four games to get ready for the tournament.”
Scott Masin led Bethel with 16 points, while Kyle Seale added 11 and Michael James 10.
- On Saturday night, the Bees lost a non-league contest against Lehman Catholic 65-58 at the Beehive.  Lehman used a 18-12 third quarter advantage as the difference in the game.
Masin led the Bees with 24 points, while Yates added 19 points in the loss.


Bradford (32)- Jones 10, Shafer 7, Canan 6, Williams 5, Sell 2, Yount 2. Total 32.
Bethel (58)- Masin 16, Seale 11, James 10, Yates 8, Sutton 4, Samuel 4, Moore 4, Schweiterman 1.  Total 58.

Brad-   3  11  10   8 - 32
Beth-22    9   12  15- 58