By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — For the grand majority of its game against CCAA Div. I leaders Dunkirk, the Salamanca boys basketball team had done everything right.
The Warriors, who had suffered a four-point loss to the one-loss Marauders earlier this season, were seeking revenge and its third consecutive win. And through three quarters of action, their fate was in their own hands.
Everything was going swimmingly for Salamanca, as head coach Adam Bennett noted his team was hitting on every goal he and his staff set for their players. But all it takes is one loose brick to send the tower crashing down.
“We had three keys to the game: watch (Tell), especially in transition, we had to value the basketball and we wanted to rebound,” Bennett said. “And for 26 minutes, we did all three of those things well. For the other six minutes, all three of them broke down. … We were trying to play in transition with them, which we can’t. We were doing such a great job in the half court, but now we’re trying to get out and run. Then down the stretch we didn’t rebound the ball. (Dunkirk is) a good team, but we have to play consistent for 32 minutes. We’re getting there, we weren’t quite there tonight, and unfortunately it cost us the game.”
Everything that the Warriors had done right over the course of the affair suddenly went out the window and the Marauders wasted no time taking advantage as they flipped a seven-point deficit into a five-point win, handing the hosts a 54-49 defeat.
Dunkirk was able to get some shots early in the fourth quarter and, as Bennett noted, that little bit of momentum was all that it took to shake his team. On the bright side, this is something he believes can be fixed.
“We talk about not playing to the result,” Bennett said. “Especially when (Dunkirk) had a little bit of momentum, it’s about playing to what we need to play to, specifically against them. I thought we did that the entire first half. We weren’t perfect. We made mistakes. But, we played to our keys, and we played well, and we had a good result out of that. We’re just seeing a lapse in that when we lose momentum a little bit. The good news is it’s fixable. These are all games that help us in the playoffs. We got to fix it before then.”
One of the aspects of the game that acted as a late gut punch to the Warriors was the battle of the boards being suddenly flipped against them. Through three quarters, Salamanca was solid in defense and on the shots it did concede, it did not allow for second chance opportunities. But as the Marauders gained momentum, they started to have a bigger presence on the glass and suddenly, what had been 30-second defensive possessions all game long, became upwards of one-minute long stands that, when scores came as a result, provided a blow to the confidence of the hosts.
“For 26 minutes I loved it,” Bennett said. “We work so hard to get stops, and our guys give everything that they got, but a stop doesn’t occur if we don’t get the rebound. And it’s deflating when you’re working as hard as you can for 30 seconds, you get the stop, but then they rebound, kick it out and now you got to go do it again. So we put a big emphasis on rebounding, and I thought we did probably our best job of the year for three quarters and then in the fourth quarter, obviously, it just wasn’t good enough.”
Salamanca’s Calum Farnum (5) gets set up on defense against Dunkirk. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
One significant positive for Salamanca in the loss was the performance of Payton Maybee. Recording a team-high 17 points, Maybee constantly took advantage of the attention teammate Payton Bradley received all night, getting in good positions under the basket and making the easy buckets.
“He was sick tonight, he wasn’t feeling well at all, and he was outstanding,” Bennett said. “He gave us everything that he possibly had. He rebounded the ball, he was great inside, I thought (Dunkirk) really put an emphasis on Payton Bradley, and on the weak side Payton Maybee was active, and Payton Bradley found him. Our guards found him. He got some second chance opportunities, some put backs. He played really, really tough tonight.”
Maybee’s performance was indicative of the development that has gone on within the Salamanca program this season. Especially after losing the quality of seniors his team did after the last two seasons, games like Maybee’s against Dunkirk give Bennett hope that the best is very much still to come with this group.
“In terms of situational basketball, we’ve gotten much better throughout the year,” Bennett said. “It sucks to lose. We felt like we put ourselves in a position to win but we couldn’t finish,” Bennett said. “But these are the games that you learn from, and we want to be playing our best ball at the end of February. … I think at the beginning of the year, our guys were playing roles. Now, we’ve got five guys that are playing basketball. They’re playing outside of just doing one or two things. They’re playing the entire game. And as that (development) happens, we can trust them more, and there’s more that we can do.”
Salamanca will look to get back to winning ways on the road at Southwestern on Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
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AT SALAMANCA
Dunkirk (54)
Tell 8 0-0 19, McCall 6 3-5 15, Cheverez 5 0-0 11, Krystofiak 3 1-4 7, Kenner 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 4-9 54
Salamanca (49)
Maybee 8 1-3 17, Farmer 4 2-2 13, Hill 3 2-3 9, Bradley 3 2-4 8, Farnum 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 7-12 49
Dunk. 11 22 35 54
Sala. 16 28 42 49
Three-point goals: Dunk. 4 (Tell 3, Cheverez), Sala. 4 (Farmer 3, Hill); Total fouls: Dunk. 14, Sala. 13; Fouled out: None.
