Lions suffer 1st home loss of the season as Marcus Whitman assembles 3rd quarter push to assist in going ahead, pulling away toward a 51-42 victory

Written By Chris Brooks

WELLSVILLE — There has been one thing all season that no other team has done over the road in Wellsville — win.

Entering the last home game of the season, the Wellsville Lions looked to finish the regular season with a perfect record inside the Den with a Saturday afternoon matinee. But they also looked to avoid a season-series sweep to the hands of their opponent in town, in the Marcus Whitman Wildcats.

It all panned out just as the Lions wanted through the first half of play, holding Marcus Whitman down to a double digit deficit after the first half. Then, a change of pace in the second half, as the Wildcats put together a run that ultimately shape-shifted the fourth quarter picture, using their run to pull within two and then, finding their way ahead with a 21-10 conclusion to hand Wellsville their first loss of the season on their home turf by a 51-42 count.

“We got off focus, that’s what really happened,” Lions coach Raymie Auman said. “We were never able to quite get back to our game plan, which was collectively on us. I thought we started the third quarter okay, neither team really scored a little bit. We got an early bucket, and then that slow pace kind of grinding actually played into our favor. We were just off focus with a few plays and calls not really going our way, rather than focusing on guarding our man and not getting hung up on the drama of the game. That’s something that you have to get stronger from mentally, and skill-wise.”

Even though the Lions (10-9) fell behind in the first quarter of play, they made up for lost time rather quickly by scoring the last eight points of the quarter after the Wildcats collected a 9-3 initial lead, as Max Jusianiec and Liam McKinley both gathered back-to-back threes to help that cause. Jusianiec added a two-put runner to the basket by splitting the Whitman defense in half to extend their lead out to six, but it was quickly closed to two after the opposition netted the last four points.

A fair exchange of buckets were tallied in the opening parts of the second quarter, but it would allow Wellsville to remain in the driver’s seat. Shortly after, the lead grew back out to six for the hosts in white and orange behind six straight points, four of them coming on back-to-back drives to the hoop by Noah Chaffee and Aidan Hart.

With the Wildcats closing in once more by weaving through their defense, the Lions would finish the half with an 11-point lead by scoring the final six points with a long Jusianiec three, and a near buzzer-beating basket by Eli Schmidt.

“They scored in the single digits in the first quarter, and that was one of our big goals coming into this game,” said Auman. “We actually started off the game great, and we managed to finish the half with some great energy. Eli had a nice hustle play to get us up, and our defensive focus was on point. You let that push your offense, and that proved to be a success.”

In the second half, a bit of a game-changer. After an Aidan Hart basket saw Wellsville’s lead grow to the largest advantage by either side, to 13, Whitman began to turn the heat up on the Lions offense, forcing them into multiple turnovers, and cashing in on a plethora of missed opportunities inside and outside.

It would account for a 10-3 run through nearly half of the third quarter for Whitman to shrink the Lions lead down to four before it all quickly evaporated a short time later in the early parts of the fourth. After a 13-4 Wildcats run was completed to come within a stone’s throw, the game would find a pair of ties at 32, and 35 respectively after both clubs traded four straight baskets, including a deep three by Logan Dunbar for the Lions, to reach that point in time.

After yet another tie was reached by Wellsville off a reverse pinwheel lay-up by Jusianiec, the Wildcats took it upon themselves to unbuckle the Lions from the driver’s seat, as they went on to score 11 of the last 13 points in a run that included a daggering, breakaway lay-in off a turnover deep in their defensive zone with under a minute left to play to take the victory away for good.

“It was mostly them turning up the heat on us, and they started pressuring us,” Auman said. “They got us away from our game plan. We didn’t get the ball inside as much anymore, and we were more concerned about maintaining possession instead of being confident by going through defenders. Ultimately, we needed to get our focus back, and it was really tough to do that.”

Jusianiec was held by Marcus Whitman’s defense to just 16 of the team’s 42 points, but it allowed a collective amount of Lions to make their presence known in the contest, with Hart finishing with seven points before being fouled out. McKinley and Brayden Delahunt each finished with five points. Logan Dunbar had a four-point effort, while Schmidt and Chaffee followed with the team’s final five points combined to round off for Wellsville.

Just one more game separates the Lions from the second season. That comes on Wednesday over the road, as they look to wrap up the regular season strong with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against the Allegany-Limestone Gators.


”Ultimately, every game we play, it’s the top seed of whatever class they’re in,” Auman said. “Marcus Whitman is going to make a push to win Class C2, Northstar is most likely going to win in the As, or at least play East in the Finals. Allegany-Limestone may end up winning in B2 over in Section VI. They’re all Sectional contenders, which is great. This will be no different, especially playing over there. They're going to be up for that game, and this is important for us too. We’ll be anywhere between the second and fourth seeds in B2. Potentially playing a one seed in the semifinals or the finals makes a big difference. We have to get there first, but we have to end the regular season on a high note in a tough environment.”

Marcus Whitman         9  8 13 21 – 51

Wellsville                   11 17   4 10 – 42

MARCUS WHITMAN: Ryan Herod 2 0-0 5, Aidan Royston 2 2-2 7, Noah Hildreth 4 2-2 11, Liam Prendergast 3 3-4 9, Carson Miller 1 0-0 2, Jordan Lahue 1 2-4 5, Seth Benedict 5 2-2 12. Totals: 18 11-14 51.
WELLSVILLE: Max Jusianiec 5 4-6 16, Eli Schmidt 1 1-1 3, Liam McKinley 2 0-0 5, Logan Dunbar 1 1-2 4, Noah Chaffee 1 0-0 2, Aidan Hart 1 5-8 7, Brayden Delahunt 2 1-2 5. Totals: 13 12-19 42.

3-point goals: Whitman 4 (Herod, Royston, Hildreth, Lahue), Wellsville 4 (Jusianiec 2, McKinley, Dunbar).

Total Fouls: Whitman 13, Wellsville 12. Fouled out: Hart (WLSV).

Chris Brooks
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