By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — After nearly falling victim to a full-fledged comeback attempt, the Salamanca girls basketball team responded when it needed to most and secured a 46-35 win over league rivals Allegany-Limestone.
Entering the Jan. 23 affair, both sides sat with a 3-1 record in the CCAA Div. I standings, the winner taking sole possession of second place behind unbeaten Southwestern. And, in true fashion for teams that sit on a relatively even playing field, they went back and forth, trading blows and scoring runs.
But with a 15-4 run in the fourth quarter, it was the Warriors that delivered the knockout punch in a stop-and-go game in which a combined 40 fouls were called.
“We never laid down, we knew that we had control, so we just stayed relaxed, besides the turnovers obviously,” Salamanca coach Joe Hinman said. “But that just comes with the game. There are things we got to clean up. … It’s just moving forward, trying to work at those things and work on our weaknesses.”
Of those weaknesses, Hinman pointed towards the lack of conviction his players had when moving the ball with the pass. Several times, lobbed up passes were tipped and taken the other way by the Gators for fast-break opportunities. Cutting the unforced mistakes out of his team’s diet remains a big goal as the season progresses.
“We got to focus more on our passing,” Hinman said. “The lob passes weren’t working for us. I think just putting more on our passes really will help us moving forward. Whether it’s using a fake just to get it to the next person instead of those lob passes that get intercepted and taken away from us. But overall, this league’s not easy this year, we’re finding that out pretty quick.”
A-L made its fair share of mistakes too, ones that coach Andrea Darrow noted were caused by trying to fit the metaphorical square peg in a round hole.
“We always tell them what our play is looking for, but sometimes we force it,” Darrow said. “It’s not always there. I think we got a lot of turnovers because we were trying to force a ball where they just defended what we wanted. We forced plays in there and that caused turnovers.”
However, not every turnover in the game was unforced. Some were the result of good defense. From the Gators perspective, that meant taking away the size disparity the Warriors had with Makenzie Crouse inside the paint.
Allegany-Limestone’s Addie Fisher (23) goes up for a layup. Fisher scored six points for the Gators against the Warriors. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
But while A-L successfully did that, they got bit as Salamanca’s offense adapted to the flow of the game and started hitting some shots.
“When we scouted a little bit, they weren’t shooting much from outside and they looked to drive a lot,” Darrow said. “So, we talked about taking away the paint. (But) they adjusted and they hit some shots from outside that we weren’t quick enough to get to.”
According to Hinman, it took the entire team contributing to have success against A-L’s defensive gameplan.
“Everyone stepped up, really, everyone that got into the game,” Hinman said. “Madisyn Lafferty, she’s really stepped up. … It’s a huge difference with her out there and (Makenzie) working low. We try to run a lot through Makenzie, so it does hurt when they take her away. But when we have other girls stepping up (it helps). … Everyone really stepped up for us today, whether they played for a few minutes or the whole game.”
And the proof of that can be seen on the scoresheet as six different players for the Warriors scored five points of more. Skyla Dowdy led the hosts with 11 points.
Meanwhile, the Gators had five different scorers on the night with three scoring upwards of that same standard.
Serena Frederick recorded a game-high 12 points and was supported by 11 points from Maddie Kahm.
Ultimately, the messages from both coaches after the game were incredibly similar with two main themes throughout: clean it up and put together a complete performance.
“We got to go into each game thinking it’s going to be a battle, and tonight was a battle,” Hinman said. “We just got to make sure we’re fighting whistle-to-whistle and working as a team too. That’s what it comes down to, that communication, working as a team and sticking together. I think we really stuck together today. When things could have got out of hand, we didn’t let them.”
Darrow shared similar thoughts.
“We just got to clean up what we can, we got to go out and play hard and we’ve also talked about how we’ve got to play a full four quarters,” Darrow said. “Not necessarily tonight, but in other games we’re having a scoreless quarter and we just can’t have that.”
Salamanca’s Makenzie Crouse (3) weaves through the Allegany-Limestone defense on her way to the basket. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
Next up for Salamanca is a trip to Pioneer on Jan. 25. Tip-off there is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
As for A-L, it will hit the road to face Dunkirk for its next game on Jan. 30. That game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
AT SALAMANCA
Allegany-Limestone (35)
Frederick 5 2-2 12, Kahm 3 3-7 11, Fisher 3 0-0 6, Hayes 0 3-8 3 Peck 1 0-2 3. Totals: 12 8-19 35
Salamanca (46)
Dowdy 4 2-4 11, Crouse 3 3-6 9, Lafferty 4 0-4 8, Foster 2 2-4 7, McComber 2 2-4 6, Wass 2 0-0 5. Totals: 17 9-22 46
A-L 8 17 26 35
Sala. 11 22 30 46Three-point goals: A-L 3 (Kahm 2, Peck), Sala. 3 (Dowdy, Wass, Foster); Total fouls: A-L 23, Sala. 17; fouled out: Peck (A-L), Hayes (A-L).
