There wasn’t a lot of mystery surrounding the Gaithersburg High boys’ basketball team this past season. Senior guard Ben Bradford was going to have the ball in his hands often. Good luck trying to stop him.
“He faced a box-and-one defense most nights,” Trojans Coach Jeff Holda said.
Bradford, who is 6 feet 3 and plays both guard positions, still found ways to carve up opponents. Whether it was shooting from three-point range or slashing to the basket, he kept on scoring, averaging a remarkable 27 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists as Gaithersburg finished 15-7 and advanced to the Maryland 4A semifinals.
For his efforts, Bradford was named the Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame High School Athlete of the Week.
Each week throughout the school year, the Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame is partnering with Montgomery Community Media to honor an Athlete of the Week from the county’s more than 40 public and private high schools.
The fall Athletes of the Week were presented with a commemorative hat and certificate at the Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2022 induction ceremony in December.
Bradford’s sophomore season was canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, so he only played two seasons on the Gaithersburg varsity. But Bradford was a prolific scorer throughout, totaling 1,109 points in two seasons.
“That’s pretty unique, we don’t get a lot of 1,000-point scorers in Montgomery County,” Holda said. “He was the Montgomery County Player of the Year and first-team All-Met in The Washington Post. He’s had a special year”
Bradford became the first Montgomery County Public Schools player to make the All-Met boys basketball first team since Austin Cooley of Bethesda-Chevy Chase in 2008.
“He’s a scorer, flat out,” Bradford said. “He’s a bigger guard and shoots the ball very well. He’s kind of undeniable on the offensive end. He gets to his spots and does all the things good offensive players do. And he probably has the best basketball IQ I’ve ever been around as a coach.”
