Wood County Christian’s Asher Fenton, right, tried to dribble away from Fort Frye defender Grady Hesson during Friday’s OVAC consolation game at Fort Frye High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

BEVERLY – With rotations constantly changing because of early-season injuries to several starters, Fort Frye senior Kainan Bradford has taken on more of a scoring role to complement his work on the boards.

Friday night at Fort Frye High School in the first-ever meeting between the Cadets and Wood County Christian, Bradford scored a game-high 22 points as Fort Frye pulled away for a 63-42 win in an OVAC consolation game.

Fort Frye improved to 11-9 with its third straight win – limiting all three opponents to exactly 42 points.

“Our lineup seems like it is always changing every game – I think we are starting to find a mesh with the guys that we have to play,” Bradford said. “I’ve had to pick up the amount of shots I take and take on a role as more of a scorer. At the start of the season, I was more of the big man who was to get rebounds and putbacks, and get the ball to my other guys who were shooters.

“I am starting to figure it out and get better meshing with my team in my new role. And that’s fine. But don’t get me wrong. I sure miss playing with all my friends.”

Fort Frye’s Kainan Bradford (24) gets trapped along the baseline by Wood County Christian’s Jadon Blackwell during Friday’s OVAC consolation game at Fort Frye High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Bradford accounted for 10 first-half points and teammate Caden Henniger added another seven as the Cadets built a 32-21 lead by halftime.

In the opening moments of the third quarter, Wood County Christian’s Peyton Russell knocked down a 3-pointer as part of team-high 17 points to cut the deficit to single digits at 32-24. Russell’s bucket marked the last until the two-minute mark of the period as Fort Frye extended the lead to as many as 16 points at 41-25.

Consecutive two-point makes from Cameron Coppernoll and Russell gave the Wildcats new life in time for the fourth quarter with Fort Frye maintaining a double-digit lead at 43-31.

The Cadets asserted themselves in the post during the final eight minutes as Bradford scored eight points during a 14-7 spurt which expanded the gap to 57-38 with three minutes remaining in regulation.

In addition to keeping the Cadets composed, point guard Grady Hesson also chipped in three crucial points during that span – including a layup off a steal.

Fort Frye’s Ty Worthington (5) and Wood County Christian’s Peyton Russell battle for a rebound during Friday’s OVAC consolation game at Fort Frye High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“It feels like every week we have a different lineup out there,” Fort Frye coach Eric Henneger said. “The guys have been really good at adjusting on the fly and playing well together. They are all good kids, so they have figured out a way to play together.

“One guy that doesn’t get mentioned a lot is Grady Hesson. He does a good job running the offense and a lot of times he has to guard the other team’s best guard. We put a lot on his shoulders. I was pretty proud of the way he played tonight.”

Also contributing to the Fort Frye scoring column were Nate Adams with 11 points and Caden Henniger with nine points.

“Wood County Christian, their first five are solid,” Henniger said. “Defense has been a big, big key for us and I thought we did a good job stopping their penetration.”

Joining Russell in double figures for WCCS (8-6) was Asher Fenton knocking down a pair of 3-pointers as part of his 14 points.

Fort Frye’s Caden Henniger (4) shoots while being guarded by Wood County Christian’s Angelus Palata (2) during Friday’s OVAC consolation game at Fort Frye High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“We played hard, we always play hard,” WCCS coach Trey Barcus said.”Fort Frye is good. They are a hard matchup for us. They’re a lot bigger than us.

“We don’t lose anything playing this game. To me, it’s about getting the kids the best competition that we can face right now.”

WCCS had a quick turnaround with a Saturday afternoon game scheduled with Paw Paw in Cumberland, Md.

“We missed too many shots tonight,” Barcus said. “Defensively, we usually move our feet decent but rotations are sometimes hard depending what the matchup is for us.

“As for the season so far, I’m happy where we started and where we are at.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com