By HUNTER O. LYLE
DUKE CENTER, PA – For any young team with a lack of game-time experience, there’s a learning curve. When the rubber first hits the road, it can be bumpy and for the Otto-Eldred boy’s basketball team, their 41-20 win over Smethport in the first day of the Randy Stebbins Memorial Tournament was far from smooth.
Two days prior, the Terrors had christened the Terror Dome with a home-opening win over Port Allegany where their offense carried them to the finish line and in the opening minutes against the Hubbers, their momentum seemed to carry over. Mason Schenfield kick-started O-E’s offense, scoring on their first possession with a drive to the hoop before coming away with a steal and score not long after.
Although Smethport was quick to respond, with Cole Burdick and Colin Riekofsky combining for seven quick points to knot the game, both teams quickly stalled out. For the Hubbers, it was their frequent give-aways. Between poor passes, offensive fouls and pesky hands in the passing lanes, Smethport turned the ball over six times as they went scoreless for the remainder of the quarter.
“Some of my guards are still young. We’re coming along but I think sometimes we lack a little bit of confidence,” said Smethport head coach Paul Pecolli. “They don’t trust what they can do and go by people so they stop. We stop and come back a little bit instead of making (opposing teams) have to guard us more.”
O-E, on the other hand, just couldn’t seem to take the lid off of the basket, as their shots both inside and out routinely missed their mark. Cashing in on one final shot, a 3-pointer from Michael Sheeler with seven seconds left, the Terrors took a 10-7 lead going into the second, however, the offensive woes continued.
After a few flashes from the O-E offense, they again struggled to draw iron while Smethport, now focusing on dishing the ball to the post and drawing contact, made their way to the free throw line but constantly came up empty – the Hubbers shot 2-for-8 at the free charity stripe in the second quarter. While the Terrors tacked on a few late scores once again, they were unable to draw separation on the scoreboard and entered the halftime intermission up by only 10.
Finally, after the break, the Terrors found their answer. Shying away from any and all jumpers, O-E turned their attention solely to the paint. While Jack Sherry was the option on the block, coming away with fadeaway or hooks in close, Wyatt Blendinger cleaned up the offensive glass, scoring successive second chance points to lead O-E’s offense.
“Against Port A we came out and hit six of our first eight threes or something like that and I think tonight we hit one in the whole first half so we had to make an adjustment,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Rob Wight. “We wanted to use Jack and Wyatt since we had a little bit of size on Smethport inside. We wanted to work the ball inside and knock down a couple and get the confidence going.”
With the duo operating in tandem, the Terrors sparked a 9-3 run while the Hubbers remained cold, going scoreless for three straight minutes once again. Despite ending the quarter with four points from Mason Swanson and Ethan Walker, the lead was already out of hand. With one quarter remaining, Smethport looked up at a 33-18 deficit.
While there was still time on the clock for a potential comeback, the Hubbers’ final quarter aspirations were dashed as turnovers reappeared in bunches. As they failed to get their offense into position, the Terrors added one last scoring streak to the scoreboard, building a 20-point advantage before both teams swapped in their reserves to close out the all-but-decided contest.
Through his work under the boards, Blendinger ended with a double-double, scoring a team-high 11 points alongside 12 rebounds. Sherry pulled down 11 boards, scoring nine points while Schenfield came away with five points and six assists. For Smethport, Riekofsky led the Hubbers with nine points.
The Stebbins Tournament continues on Saturday, starting with the boy’s consolation game at 1:30. There, Smethport takes on Kane before O-E sees Bradford at 5 p.m.
“Bradford is tough. We saw them tonight and they’ll be ready to play. The thing is, our guys are facing a little fatigue but this tournament means a lot to them,” said Wight. “A lot of these guys have won it the years before and I think they’ll be ready to play. They want to win the trophy and keep it right in town.”
AT DUKE CENTER
Smethport (20)
Riekofsky 4 1-6 9, Okerlund 2 0-0 5, Burdick 1 0-0 3, Walker 0 2-2 2, Smith 0 1-4 1. Totals: 7 4-12 20
Otto-Eldred (41)
Blendinger 5 1-2 11, Sherry 3 3-8 9, Sheeler 3 0-0 8, Schenfield 2 1-2 5, Rees 2 0-0 4, Coon 1 0-1 2, Collins 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 5-11 41
Smethport 7 9 18 20
Otto-Eldred 10 19 33 41
Three-point goals: SM (2) Burdick, Okerlund, O-E (2) Sheeler 2; Total fouls: SM 11, O-E 14; fouled out: Sherry (O-E).
