By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — There was something familiar about the way the Salamanca boys basketball team completed its regular season sweep of Olean on Jan. 28.
Trailing for a good portion of the first half, losing at halftime, only to come back thanks to a staunch defensive effort in the second half and grab a dramatic come-from-behind win.
If that sounds familiar, that’s because all those same key events played out, albeit under different circumstances, in the first game between the sides this season: Salamanca’s first game of the year.
Now, about a month and a half removed from that league play-opening game, both teams have improved and are playing with a much higher level of understanding. But what remained the same from that first game was each team’s ability to produce a nailbiter, one in which Salamanca won this time around 61-50.
“Obviously, both teams have come a long way since that first game, which is to be expected,” Olean coach Tim Kolasinski said. “I mean, (with) solid programs that’s to be expected, that you’re going to improve throughout the year. And we expected no different. We knew that no matter what happened, it was going to be a battle.”
Salamanca coach Adam Bennett agreed.
“(We’ve come) very far, and you take a look at a team like Olean, on a six-game win streak, they’re well coached, and we have to understand that as we continue to try to get better every day, we’re going to get every team’s best effort, every night,” Bennett said. “There’s no off-night in this league.”
Olean’s Mykel Rivera (33) looks to put up a floater while Salamanca’s Jacob Herrick (1) attempts to draw a charge. Rivera recorded a game-high 23 points for the Huskies in their loss to the Warriors. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
That was evident right from the tip as the Huskies looked hungry to avenge their early-season loss to the Warriors.
The guests jumped ahead to a 6-0 lead and only compounded on that through the first quarter thanks, mainly, to the efforts of Mykel Rivera, who hit three consecutive 3-pointers to put his team up 10 at the end of the first frame.
But even though Rivera, who finished with a game-high 23 points, was the one that saw the ball through the hoop, Olean’s hot start was far from a solo act. According to Kolasinski, the key to unlocking the different defensive schemes that Salamanca presented was to just play.
“When you play Salamanca, first of all, you know you’re going to get some really tough defense no matter what they play,” Kolasinski said. “But they also switch their defenses up a lot. … I thought one of the things that was big for our guys was, instead of always trying to slow down and guess what defense they’re in and get into the offense, we had guys who just kind of played. … I was a lot happier with that than, I think the counter is they want us to slow down and have us get confused. I think that was really important in the first half, that we were able to do that.”
Rivera continued his excellent scoring streak into the second quarter, in which he scored seven of his team’s 10 points. This, Kolasinski noted, provided some relief to the team which had managed to rack up some fouls in that time as well.
“I thought Mykel did a great job keeping us afloat early on, because we, obviously, had early foul trouble,” Kolasinski said. “But we were able to battle through that and one of the things that really helps that is when you’re making some shots and you’re keeping a little bit of a lead.”
Salamanca’s Maddox Isaac (10) takes off towards the basket while under heavy pressure from Olean’s Mykel Rivera (33) and Dominic Giovine (22). Isaac recorded a team-high 22 points for the Warriors in their win over the Huskies. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
And while Rivera’s offensive performance was stellar in the first half, the value of his buckets only increased as Salamanca was unable to find a response, missing easy layups and numerous second-chance opportunities which had the ability to swing the game in its favor sooner than it did. Frankly, Bennett admitted he was energized by the fact that his team was still in the game despite their offensive struggles
“The one thing that I saw is we were kind of inside,” Bennett said. “Instead of our momentum carrying us toward the basket, we were fading away a little bit, and a lot of our misses were short. But, we pad drill every day, we play through contact inside, and I told the guys, all those layups that were missing, and we’re still in the game. … I said, ‘you just got to keep plugging away.’ And for the layups that we missed, we hit some big perimeter shots. Jake Herrick, Maddox Isaac hit four threes that were all big. So, sometimes that happens, and honestly, you learn more about your team when stuff like that happens.”
The Warriors truly took full control of the game between the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters where it amalgamated a 19-4 run — spurred on by Isaac, who finished with a team-high 22 points for Salamanca — that took a five-point deficit and flipped it into a 10-point advantage. The run extended long enough to where the Huskies had little opportunity to respond and resorted to the foul game in the dying minutes, which did not go in their favor.
The big second-half answers that the Warriors came up with say a lot about this year’s team, Bennett admitted. He pointed to how his players don’t run from the challenge, but instead they embrace it each and every time they take the court.
“We play bigger schools a lot, and these guys want the big game, they want to play the best opponents.” Bennett said. “I give a lot of credit to Olean, they had won six in-a-row coming in here, they were very comfortable, they’re missing (Caedyn) Tingley right now, but I think Luca Quinn and (Joe) Mest and Rivera played very well through one another. … So we were looking forward to this game.”
Despite seeing his team’s six-game win streak come to an end, Kolasinski acknowledged the continued growth he has seen from his players and how their buying-in to the process has allowed for big leaps in development.
“One of the things is, it doesn’t matter how many games you play in the season, you’re always going to see room for improvement, and obviously we see that,” Kolasinski said. “But one of the things that goes with the buy-in is our players are recognizing things and they’re almost talking about it before we even talk about it. That’s huge, because otherwise we’re always just trying to teach.”
Olean’s Sullivan Hoffman (10) looks for a pass while Salamanca’s Avery Brown (20) looks to take away his options. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
Olean will have the chance to bounce back and return to winning ways on Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. when they host Falconer.
Meanwhile, Salamanca will hit the road on Jan. 31 for its next game, at Fredonia, which will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
AT SALAMANCA
Olean (50)
Rivera 9 0-0 23, Giovine 4 1-3 9, Mest 2 0-0 5, Hoffman 2 1-2 5, Quinn 2 0-0 4, Teachman 2 0-0 4. Totals: 21 2-5 50
Salamanca (61)
Isaac 8 2-2 22, Herrick 4 2-3 17, Brown 3 4-6 10, Bradley 4 0-0 8, Crouse 2 2-4 7, Holleran 1 0-2 3. Totals: 22 10-17 61
OL 19 29 42 50
Sala. 9 24 43 61Three-point goals: OL 6 (Rivera 5, Mest), Sala. 7 (Isaac 4, Holleran, Herrick, Crouse); Total fouls: OL 21, Sala. 9; fouled out: Mest (OL).
