By SPENCER BATES
BUFFALO — Following a heavy defeat to Section 5 Class B Champions Hornell, the Salamanca girls basketball team saw its season reach its conclusion in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Far-West Regional.
The Warriors faced the full might of a devastatingly efficient offense from the Red Raiders, with its own struggles seeing the ball through the hoop allowing the Section 5 champs to run up the score and grab a 68-32 win at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.
From the jump, Hornell took control of the game through the use of its sharp and speedy ball movement, which broke the defensive press that Salamanca had been so successful in utilizing throughout the postseason, and its ability to get downhill for easy layups.
Compounding the issue for the Warriors was the fact that their offense struggled mightily off the blocks as well, scoring just three points in the first quarter, their lowest tally in an opening quarter all season. Too many open shots were tossed up wildly without direction or rifled off the backboard, which gave the Red Raiders easy transitions down the court.
“I would hate to see the teams that can beat them, because that’s one of the more put together teams that I’ve seen in Class B and they’re still young too,” Salamanca coach Joe Hinman said of Hornell. “It’s a powerhouse that we saw. They were just so disruptive on both sides. I don’t know what their 3-point percentage was … but it seemed like they couldn’t miss. Defensively, they were quick. Offensively, they have a very good first step in driving and finding and locating their open shooters. They were, all around, just very disruptive. … We would chip away at the lead at times, but every time we would make a 2, they would just fire back with a 3, another blow that we couldn’t really recover, fully, from.”
Salamanca’s Madisyn Lafferty (14) fights through contact from a Hornell defender while on her way up for a layup. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
Hornell took a 21-3 lead into the second quarter where Salamanca did manage to find its legs a bit, mainly thanks to Leilene McComber and Kynleigh Wass who managed to find and exploit some lanes to the basket. But despite seeing some shots fall, Hornell matched that success, with Jordyn Dyring (32 points) leading the Red Raiders in what became a 3-point barrage.
“They were firing on all cylinders,” Hinman said. “We would put different players on their sharpshooter (Dyring) and (we would be) throwing different defenses at them, but their point guard (Selena Maldonado), she’s kind of the brains of their operation. She’s good at getting inside, driving and kicking, just finding someone down low or around the perimeter. She’s a very crafty guard that we didn’t have an answer for.”
Hornell drained eight 3-pointers between the second and third quarters, putting Salamanca in a deep hole. The Warriors only managed to score nine points in the third frame — seven of which came from McComber, who finished with a team-high 11 points — to the Red Raiders’ 28 points.
And as the second half dragged on for Salamanca, the deficit it faced reached a tally as high as 44 points, which allowed Hornell to coast across the finish line.
The benches were emptied by both sides early in the fourth quarter and with the final horn, came the conclusion to the Warriors’ season.
And while it may not have ended in the fashion they would have wanted, the team not only saw their initial goals for the season come to fruition, but also came to the realization that they were capable of much more than just a Section 6 title game appearance, and staked their claim at the top of the Section 6 Class B mountain.
“It’s hard to put into words, this season was so special,” Hinman said. “Now, we’re part of the culture of sports success here at Salamanca and we can’t thank everyone enough that was with us on the ride. Last year’s team laid that foundation for us and I think we added a lot more bricks, a lot more layers (on top of that) with this special season. (Our players) have nothing to hang their heads about, they should be so proud that they’re champions.”
Salamanca’s Leilene McComber (5) puts up a layup while driving through the lane. McComber finished with a team-high 11 points for the Warriors. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
Salamanca will lose three seniors from this year’s team, including Mikaela Tennity, Skyla Dowdy and Madisyn Lafferty. Three players that Hinman acknowledged have left a significant imprint on the program.
“I can’t thank (the seniors) enough,” Hinman said. “Their contributions, whether at practice or at games, just meant so much to us. We only had them for two years, Mikaela just one year, but they have meant so much and have helped us get back on the map here.”
But where there is loss, there are moments in the future that Hinman and his staff will be looking forward to. Throughout this season, a number of the key players that helped the Warriors reach Section 6 glory were juniors and underclassmen. McComber, Wass, Makenzie Crouse and Maliyah Foster all made a name for themselves this season and each have the ability to make a return to the roster next year, a prospect that Hinman is optimistic about.
“We got a great group coming back,” Hinman said. “Obviously, Madi, Mikaela and Skyla are huge pieces of the puzzle, but we got some underclassmen ready to step up, and they’ll plug back into those roles. It’s tough looking at it now, but we got the freshmen stepping up, Leilene and Makenzie coming back is huge for us, they’re going to be the main components. We’re still young, so it’s just about building brick-by-brick and reloading each year.”
Salamanca finished the season with a final record of 18-7.
AT BUFFALO
Hornell (68)
Drying 10 4-5 32, Maldonado 8 0-2 17, Bentley 3 1-2 8, Nasca 2 0-0 6, Evingham 1 0-0 2, Smith 1 0-0 2, Eveland 0 1-2 1. Totals: 25 6-11 68
Salamanca (32)
McComber 5 0-0 11, Foster 2 0-0 6, Wass 2 1-2 5, Dowdy 1 3-4 5, Crouse 1 1-2 3, Lafferty 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 5-8 32
Horn. 21 37 65 68
Sala. 3 17 26 32Three-point goals: Horn. 10 (Dyring 6, Nasca 2, Bentley, Maldonado), Sala. 3 (Foster 2, McComber); Total fouls: Horn. 9, Sala. 15; fouled out: McComber (Sala.).
