Wednesday Roundup: Lady Lions overcome 1st half struggles to deliver gritty, resilient 2nd half finish to squeeze past Olean; Belfast outduels Walsh in 3-point bonanza
WELLSVILLE — The Lady Lions of Wellsville have been on an absolute tear to begin their journey back to where their season left off last year, and even perhaps further beyond that point. With a 5-0 start in hand, they were presented with their biggest first half challenge of the season — the Olean Lady Huskies.
Whenever you think of teams like Olean, Allegany-Limestone or any school hailing from the West of Allegany County, one thing is for certain: Section VI is a completely different animal.
That was proven right away on Wednesday in the Lion’s Den. For the majority of the first half, the Lady Huskies pushed the Lady Lions to their limits. Forcing turnovers, forcing unwarranted passes to the inside, the defense from Olean did everything they possibly could to make Wellsville feel as uncomfortable as humanly possible.
But then, the Lady Lions overcame some slow beginnings against a scorching hot Olean defense, and as a response, punched down on the gas with the offense syphoning energy from some defensive prowess of their own as a response for the second half.
After it was all said and done, it would wind up being one of the more gritty and resilient finishes to a game this season.
Olean gathered a lead by as much as nine during the second half, but Wellsville settled in and fought back with everything they had left in the tank, coming up with a massive third quarter-ending run to tie the game against the Lady Huskies, and later, a massive scoreless run that gave them the lead back for good in the fourth quarter, as the defense held up their end of the bargain to contain the Lady Huskies with a 52-47 comeback win, their sixth in a row to remain unbeaten.
“It’s the first time that we’ve seen pressure all season, as far as being the press,” said Lady Lions coach Michelle Alvord. “We know Olean is quick, and they created some tough mismatches for us. The (Leah) Williams girl is incredibly tough, and she made it difficult for us to match up with her. She’s quick, she can take it off the dribble, shoot the three. Once we calmed down and settled, we were able to take advantage of their press for some open buckets inside.”
The Lady Lions (6-0) and Lady Huskies went back-and-forth to start out the opening eight minute period, with the first basket being scored nearly three minutes in off an Emily Costello pass to Marley Adams on the run to break it open for the hosts in white and orange. Not long after, Olean would find their way onto the board with their game-long threat — Leah Williams, who despite the loss, provided an outstanding effort to keep the Lady Huskies on the move.
Her valiant efforts from downtown pushed Wellsville close to the edge on multiple occasions, after the defense came away with multiple stops on the transition, forcing passes inside for them to intercept, and cash in on the way back down the court. Williams would finish with six of the team’s nine threes, en route toward a game-high 23 point performance.
Olean’s 8-7 first quarter lead would grow instantaneously in the next session, unloading with seven of the first nine points of the second quarter to branch it out of reach, for the moment.
The Olean lead would reach has high as five at one point during their run, but trailing behind were the Lady Lions, led by Jaelyn Knapp and her form of resiliency to keep the distance between the two foes tightly knit together when halftime approached. Knapp would collect two separate three-point plays at the line while capitalizing on multiple second chance baskets along the way to pull the hosts within two after the first half.
Knapp went on to score 10 of the team’s 12 points in the quarter to end the first half, totaling for a team-high 17 points when it was all said and done.
“There was a great, collective team effort behind Jaelyn to get her the ball,” Alvord said. “I can’t say enough about that. She gets out on that break, and she knows how to finish up the play. We were getting the looks we wanted, but we could not really find a way to finish it. That’s when Jaelyn stepped up, and finished. Olean couldn’t handle us down inside, and when we were able to finally slow it down and get it to the inside, we had some nice finishes. It was what I expected.”
In the third quarter, Olean would shake off Wellsville’s first half-ending rally that saw them close the gap to 22-20, as they went on a run that saw them score seven of the first nine points of the new half, led by three-pointers by both Williams and Jez Fayson, to continue gaining distance on the Lady Lions. At the top, the Lady Huskies would hold a nine-point edge with under three minutes left.
After an Emily Costello dish over toward Marley Adams to end Olean’s run, it was the beginning of the end for the Lady Huskies.
A massive third quarter finish brewed for the Lady Lions, and ultimately reached its boiling point, as they went on to score 11 of the next 13 points to close out the quarter with their 11-2 game-tying run, paced with some help downtown by Emily Robbins, and underneath by Makenna Dunbar and Kaylee Coleman, the latter having the game-tying bucket right before the quarter ended to force the 35-35 tie.
Now, there was even playing ground to decide the rest of the game in the fourth quarter.
In the last eight minutes of play, both Olean and Wellsville would trade a couple of baskets in the opening stages of the frame, but with a 40-38 lead in hand, the Lady Lions started to run off.
They would ultimately garner their biggest lead of the night, giving the Lady Huskies a taste of their own medicine on defense themselves, forcing multiple turnovers back the other way for baskets to start a 7-0 run that soon saw an extension to 11 at one point — the night’s largest lead.
“We never hung our heads. There was some grit, and they were commanding the entire time. They wanted this,” said Alvord. “It was really knowing how to make those runs, and push the tempo ourselves. It speaks to senior leadership more than anything, plain and simple. They’ve played together for such a long time, and we had some good reads against what their defense gave us. We had some huge defensive rebounds in the fourth, right after Olean made a couple threes to cut it down. That was huge.”
Olean would not go away however, making the game even more interesting coming down the homestretch with back-to-back threes from both Williams and Fayson to cut their deficit down to five with 41 seconds left to play. But after some brief discussions during a pair of timeouts on the floor, the Lady Lions were able to pick up possession and let the clock run out on the Lady Huskies to complete their incredible second half comeback to remain undefeated on the season.
Finishing behind Knapp in the Wellsville scorebook was Marley Adams, who had 11 points to pair with her six rebounds. Makenna Dunbar then followed with a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double. Continuing to further the team’s cause on special teams was Costello, who dished out seven assists. Kaylee Coleman grabbed seven additional rebounds off the glass.
In the JV contest leading up to the close battle between both Varsity squads, the Lady Lions were able to start the night strong with a 44-19 win over the Lady Huskies. Lindsay Stuck led the way with 15 points, while Jaden Dunbar and Maddy Parks followed with 14, and nine points respectively.
Wellsville will now head into the brief holiday break before hopping back onto the court next week, as they get set to defend their Coaches v. Cancer Tournament championship from two seasons ago beginning on Tuesday, battling with Newark Valley in opening round action. The winner will face either Penn Yan or host Bath-Haverling in the title game the next day, next Wednesday.
At the same time, the Lady Lions will go for seven straight wins to start the season — a streak based off execution, which is a certain aspect that the team has performed masterfully well thus far.
“This 6-0 start and the way the girls have executed along the way, they made this happen,” Alvord said. “I’m glad we saw this pressure, because from what I’ve seen of Newark Valley, they know how to pressure and that’s dependent on their personnel that they have on the floor. I’m glad we had a tight game to grit out, it definitely helps going into the break, and the timing is tough with the holiday too with this tournament. My kids have been really respondent, even after some lulls, the kids come back and work hard.”
The goal for Tuesday and Wednesday is simple: “We won the tournament for the first time ever two years ago, and it would be nice to repeat again.”
Tip-off for the Lady Lions against Newark Valley is set for 3:45 p.m. in Bath.
Olean 7 15 13 12 – 47
Wellsville 8 12 15 17 – 52
OLEAN: Jojo Gibbons 1 0-2 2, Anayah Parks-Parker 1 0-0 2, Jez Fayson 5 3-4 15, Olivia Kratts 2 0-3 5, Leah Williams 8 1-6 23. Totals: 17 4-14 47.
WELLSVILLE: Marley Adams 5 1-2 11, Jaylynn Mess 0 0-2 0, Emily Costello 3 0-0 6, Jaelyn Knapp 6 5-5 17, Emily Robbins 2 0-0 6, Kaylee Coleman 1 0-1 2, Makenna Dunbar 4 2-3 10. Totals: 21 8-13 52.
3-point goals: Olean 9 (Williams 6, Fayson 2, Kratts), Wellsville 2 (Robbins).
Total Fouls: Olean 17, Wellsville 13. Fouled out: None.
Bolivar-Richburg 50, Archbishop Walsh 33
BOLIVAR — The first quarter from the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg struck many chords, led by a magnificent performance from Senior, Jessica Majot, who had the best game of her career on the floor by recording 28 of the team’s 50 points to put toward a 50-33 win over Archbishop Walsh to pick up the win heading into the holiday break on Wednesday.
The Lady Wolverines (2-5) provided an excellent start to their game in the first eight minutes that they never managed to give up, racing toward a 16-2 lead of the Lady Eagles to help set up shop.
After the visitors chipped away at the deficit toward the end of the half, Bolivar-Richburg branched it back out one last time with a 16-7 run through the third quarter to ultimately pull away.
Finishing behind Majot, was Carmen Crowley who had her best game of the season for the hosts in white and red, scoring 11 points, with eight of them coming from within the team’s third quarter to jumpstart their second half-starting run. Kayli Giardini added in six points of her own.
The Lady Wolverines are now off until January 4 when they take their first road trip of the season down the road to Portville for a 7:30 p.m. contest with the Lady Panthers.
Archbishop Walsh 2 12 7 12 – 33
Bolivar-Richburg 16 11 16 7 – 50
WALSH: Bobbi Kirkwood 4 0-2 8, Payton Howard 4 2-2 11, Noelle Policastro 4 1-2 11, Abby Bailey 1 1-2 3. Totals: 13 4-8 33.
BOLIVAR-RICHBURG: Emma Sisson 0 1-2 1, Raegan Giardini 2 0-0 4, Kayli Giardini 2 1-2 6, Carmen Crowley 4 3-7 11, Jessica Majot 14 0-0 28. Totals: 22 5-11 50.
3-point goals: Walsh 3 (Policastro 2, Howard), B-R 1 (K. Giardini).
Total Fouls: Walsh 8, B-R 11. Fouled out: None.
Jasper-Troupsburg 63, Friendship/Scio 26
GREENWOOD — Friendship/Scio was in reach of Jasper-Troupsburg to begin the evening in Greenwood, Wednesday night. Despite being outscored by 10, it was a margin that they hoped to make up for in the second half.
But upon coming back out for the last 16 minutes of play, the Lady Wildcats provided an offensive explosion, as they scored a 25-point third quarter while continuing to hold Friendship/Scio in check on defense along the way, rolling their way toward a 63-26 victory to bounce back from Monday’s loss against Genesee Valley/Belfast.
“We struggled from the floor to make shots.” said Friendship/Scio coach Ashleigh Lewis. “Their gym threw the girls through a loop, and it definitely serves as an advantage for them. We couldn’t adjust to it, and we couldn’t find a rhythm. We haven’t had our whole team for the last two games, and we’re struggling to put together a complete game. We came out down 10, and the deficit grew bigger as it went on in the second half. Hopefully we can take the time during this break to fix up some things, and get back into a groove like we were in at Mount Morris.”
The Lady Wildcats acted quickly to start the evening with a 12-4 lead over Friendship/Scio (2-4) to work with. In the second quarter, some of the deficit was made up to help close the gap to 10 when the half reached its conclusion.
Looking to continue building on their strongest quarter of the night, Jasper-Troupsburg extinguished the flame right away with a massive 25-7 run that allowed them to pull away for good towards victory.
Leading Friendship/Scio on the attack was Nevaeh Ross, who had a team-high nine points. Melana Davenport added in six points of her own, while Kadence Donohue had five.
Friendship/Scio is now off until the new year, as they return home to Friendship to play host to Cuba-Rushford in a 7:30 p.m. contest on January 4.
Friendship/Scio 4 9 7 6 – 26
Jasper-Troupsburg 12 11 25 15 – 63
FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Nevaeh Ross 2 5-11 9, Claire Calhoun 1 0-0 2, Sophie Bolzan 1 0-0 2, Kadence Donohue 1 3-4 5, Melana Davenport 3 0-0 6, Grace Drumm 1 0-0 2. Totals: 9 8-17 26.
JASPER-TROUPSBURG: Kahley Stewart 2 0-0 4, Kayla Atherton 4 5-8 15, Lauren Ross 5 0-0 12, Zoe Cornell 4 1-1 9, Natalie Cornell 5 1-2 11, Alexis Potter 1 0-0 2, Savannah Freeman 2 0-0 4, Reagan Miles 3 0-0 6. Totals: 26 7-11 63.
3-point goals: J-T 4 (Atherton 2, Ross 2).
Total Fouls: F/S 11, J-T 17. Fouled out: None.
Canisteo-Greenwood 69, Campbell-Savona 17
CAMPBELL — The Lady Redskins of Canisteo-Greenwood were all over the floor, all night long over the road Wednesday night, scoring double-digit tenures of offense across all four quarters while holding the host Lady Panthers to under 10 points on defense along the way, as they coasted toward their fourth straight win by a 69-17 count.
A 20-point opening quarter kicked off Canisteo-Greenwood’s (7-2) night, setting the tone almost immediately against Campbell-Savona with a 20-5 lead they would continue to hold for the remainder of the game. A big reason behind their success — another stellar game from Lillian Mullen, who could not be stopped underneath, as she recorded a season-high 30 points to lead the Lady Redskins, pairing them with seven steals.
Mullen was one of three different Lady Redskins scorers to eclipse double figures, as Peyton Peters helped the cause along the way with a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Brooke Byrd had 10 points to chip in.
Both Campbell-Savona and Canisteo-Greenwood will wrap up their home-at-home series after the Christmas break, meeting one final time in Canisteo for a 6 p.m. contest on January 5.
Canisteo-Greenwood 20 13 17 19 – 69
Campbell-Savona 5 3 6 3 – 17
CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Bailey Mullen 1 4-6 7, Hailey Davis 0 2-3 2, Lillian Mullen 15 0-0 30, Peyton Peters 5 2-4 12, Brooke Byrd 4 2-7 10, McKenna Ferris 3 0-0 6. Totals: 28 10-20 69.
CAMPBELL-SAVONA: Hollie DeMong 1 0-0 3, Ashland Stratton 2 0-0 5, Braxton Elliot 4 1-6 9. Totals: 7 1-6 17.
3-point goals: C-G 1 (B. Mullen), C-S 2 (DeMong, Stratton).
Total Fouls: C-G 5, C-S 14. Fouled out: None.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Allegany-Limestone 45, Wellsville 44
ALLEGANY — After their last head-to-head meeting with Allegany-Limestone a couple of weeks ago, Wellsville head coach Raymie Auman said that they are a program of such magnitude in Section VI, holding a pedigree that allows them to contend for Sectional titles year in, and year out.
His team showed that they were more than capable with hanging right alongside the most powerful of the powers, despite a nine-point loss on their home floor. Wednesday night came the final meeting of the season for both clubs, this time in the Gators’ swamp.
Since that 51-42 loss, Wellsville has won three straight, having kept their gas pedal down on both ends of the floor to pick up wins over Bath-Haverling, and then IAABO Tournament victories over Cuba-Rushford and Fillmore to put towards their series-ending clash.
Unlike the previous meeting, the Lions had to work their way back out of a deep hole in the first quarter. After being held down in check, they regrouped and had a brief discussion about their game going forward. The advice given was simple: Go back to what they know best.
Translating defense as your best offense.
Wellsville would go on to outscore Allegany-Limestone in the last three quarters of play, which ultimately set up shop for some late stage dramatics in the fourth quarter. During that point, the Lions would grab a lead with a minute remaining, but Allegany-Limestone made sure by game’s end that it would not slip through their fingers, as they regained the lead and held on for dear life until the buzzer rang out to end the game on what was a slim 45-44 home win to sweep the season series.
“We had a very sluggish start that we would eventually find a way to overcome, and take a one-point lead with a minute left from. But ultimately, they made more plays than we did coming down the stretch,” Auman said. “We have continued to get better, and now we are at the point where we need to develop the confidence and championship mindset to go and win these kinds of close games.”
Despite the one-point defeat to the Gators, it was a game that the Lions (4-3) worked incredibly hard all game to fight back from, as they fell behind rather quickly in what was a 16-3 first quarter run for the hosts, led by Anthony DeCapua’s three-point game, hitting all three of his triples in the quarter to kickstart the jaunt.
But the bounce back for Wellsville was imminent. They would go back to doing what they were doing best with their game, as they held Allegany-Limestone to just 14 points across the next two quarters while they continued to eat away at their deficit along the way. As a result, the Lions remained down but just by a 32-25 count heading into the fourth quarter.
Then, the visitors in black and orange would kick the tires on their largest stand of offense in the game — a 19-point fourth quarter led by the likes of Eli Schmidt, who scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the last eight minutes after being shut off from the scoreboard entirely in the first half.
Auman said the resilience his team showed to continue fighting back, was outstanding.
“It was a complete shift to focusing on our defense rather than continuing our misfortunes on offense,” he said. “We let easy, missed opportunities on offense effect our mindset while we were defending. We shifted that focus right after we fell behind in the first quarter, and we managed to hold strong until our offense really started to get going in the second half.”
As a result, the Lions would find a way to claim their first lead of the game over Allegany-Limestone with under a minute to go in regulation. But just as quick as they did that, the Gators found the response in return to go back on top, and ultimately for good, hanging on until the very end to take the series-sweeping victory away from Wellsville.
Finishing behind Schmidt for the Lions was Logan Dunbar and Alex Perkins, as they added 12 and 11 points, respectively, with Perkins grabbing five rebounds along the way. Cody Costello rounded off the scoring with a three-point basket.
The Lions are now off until after Christmas, as they look to shake the loss off back on their home floor when the return to action comes January 3, when they welcome in Canisteo-Greenwood for a 7:30 p.m. visit.
Auman says despite the loss to Allegany-Limestone, his team is beginning to find their identity, which he hopes will continue to build a great deal of confidence.
“We’re starting to figure out who we are, even as coaches. I’m happy to get some time off to make some adjustments,” he said. “We need to adjust to what has been working and fits our kids to simply do more of that. I feel confident in the direction we’re going to do in the next week, which will hopefully help our offense get going earlier, and become more consistent in games. C-G is one of the best Class C teams in Section V, and we’ll need to put this game in the rearview mirror quickly if we want to have a chance at them.”
Wellsville 3 10 12 19 – 44
Allegany-Limestone 16 6 8 15 – 45
WELLSVILLE: Cody Costello 1 0-0 3, Alex Perkins 4 2-2 11, Eli Schmidt 9 0-1 18, Logan Dunbar 4 3-5 12. Totals: 18 5-8 44.
ALLEGANY-LIMESTONE: Gabe Ramadhan 2 0-0 6, Anthony DeCapua 5 2-5 15, Maddox Delong 1 0-0 3, Huddy Kwiatkowski 2 3-5 7, Jacob Brockel 1 0-0 2, Andrew Giardini 4 4-6 12. Totals: 15 9-16 45.
3-point goals: Wellsville 3 (Costello, Perkins, Dunbar), A-L 6 (DeCapua 3, Ramadhan 2, Delong).
Total Fouls: Wellsville 15, A-L 10. Fouled out: None.
Belfast 52, Archbishop Walsh 34
BELFAST — A three-point bonanza set the scene on the hardwood on Wednesday in the Dog Pound. Between both Archbishop Walsh and host Belfast, 19 three-pointers rained down from left and right until there was no more left to go down.
Despite the Eagles dropping 10 of them altogether on the Bulldogs, the hosts in white and red had the bigger of the sparks to ignite. With the lead already in hand, Belfast leaned on a trio of scorers to get the job done not only on the outside, but from within as well, coasting their way toward a big fourth quarter run that pulled them away from Archbishop Walsh’s grasp with a 52-34 home win.
After the Bulldogs (5-1) got off to a first quarter start they wanted, leading by nine over their opposition, both teams would go on to maintain that buffer zone through the second quarter to end the half, and later on into the third quarter with the narrowest of runs against the Eagles.
When it came to crunch time in the last eight minutes of play, Belfast would manage to deliver with one last punch, holding Archbishop Walsh to just four points while running away with a 15-4 outscoring to branch their 10-point lead out insurmountably, collecting their fifth win in the first six games along the way to head into the Christmas break hot.
Anthony Logue was one of the team’s three double-figure scorers, leading the Bulldogs with a game-high 25 points. Following up was Matt Weaver, who had his best game of the season with a campaign-high 15 points. Kadin Logue chipped in with 10 points of his own.
Belfast is now off until Tuesday, when they begin to partake in Christmas Tournament action in Scio, taking on host Friendship/Scio in a 7:30 p.m. first round battle.
Archbishop Walsh 6 9 12 4 – 34
Belfast 15 9 13 15 – 52
WALSH: Kellen Brady 1 1-2 3, Luca Quinn 2 0-0 6, Russell Maine 4 1-2 13, Kai Przybyla 1 0-0 3, Jake Pecen 3 0-0 9. Totals: 11 2-4 34.
BELFAST: Kadin Logue 4 0-0 10, Max Miller 0 1-2 1, Anthony Logue 8 5-7 25, Matt Weaver 5 2-4 15, Connor Stork 0 1-2 1. Totals: 17 9-15 52.
3-point goals: Walsh 10 (Maine 4, Pecen 3, Quinn 2, Przybyla), Belfast 9 (A. Logue 4, Weaver 3, K. Logue 2).
Total Fouls: Walsh 10, Belfast 8. Fouled out: None.
Andover/Whitesville 55, Hammondsport 43
HAMMONDSPORT — Although CJ Estep provided a remarkable career night for Andover/Whitesville on Wednesday, it was the team’s complete effort all over the floor that powered up a victory right before the Christmas break, as they fought back from an early first quarter deficit to spring forward with a lead that was never given back, using a pair of runs against host Hammondsport to score a 55-43 victory.
“CJ was a stand out tonight, but overall, the whole team played really, really well,” said Andover/Whitesville coach John Dougherty. “We had great defensive rotations, and it came after we had a shaky start in the first quarter. We made some adjustments after that, and we ended up playing really well for the next three quarters. Kohler (Niedermaier) had a great game off the boards, but the whole team had a fantastic team win for us.”
The slow start came in the first quarter when the host Lakers narrowly outslugged Andover/Whitesville (3-5) with a four-point lead to control, spreading the floor with baskets to help power it up. In the next two quarters however, the visitors began to run off.
Starting right before the end of the half, Andover/Whitesville would make sure they grabbed the lead heading back into the locker room, as Estep’s heroic efforts began to come to life with 11 of the team’s 15 points coming from within their 15-9 run of the Lakers to take a two-point lead into the break.
When the third quarter around, Andover/Whitesville made sure their stay at the top remained in tact, as the defense in turn held the hosts in black and purple to just four points across the eight minute stand while Estep continued to find the basket from all angles of the floor to assist in powering up a massive 14-4 run to run away with the lead for good.
In all, Estep led Andover/Whitesville with a career-high 33 points. Luke Erdmann contributed eight points of his own, while Will Kent chipped in with four.
Andover/Whitesville is back home for their next contest after the holiday break, as they play host to the Addison Knights in a 6 p.m. tip-off on January 4 in Andover.
Andover/Whitesville 13 15 14 13 – 55
Hammondsport 17 9 4 13 – 43
ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Jayden Dix 1 0-0 2, CJ Estep 13 4-8 33, Gavin Cutler 1 1-4 3, Brody Carlin 0 1-2 1, Luke Erdmann 3 2-3 8, Richie York 1 0-0 2, Kohler Niedermaier 1 0-0 2, Will Kent 1 2-2 4. Totals: 21 10-19 55.
HAMMONDSPORT: Liam Kressly 7 1-2 16, Preston McConnell 2 2-3 7, Alex Brown 1 1-1 3, Ty Ritter 4 0-2 10, Isaiyah Ali 1 0-0 2, Stephen Veley 1 0-0 2, Logan Zimmerman 1 0-0 3. Totals: 17 4-8 43.
3-point goals: A/W 3 (Estep), Hammondsport 5 (Ritter 2, Kressly, McConnell, Zimmerman).
Total Fouls: A/W 10, Hammondsport 17. Fouled out: Ali (HAM).