By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — As the old adage goes, it is always hardest to beat a team for a third time in one season.
The No. 3 seed Salamanca girls basketball team found that to be exactly the case as it squared off against league rival No. 6 seed Allegany-Limestone in the Section 6 Class B Quarterfinal.
The Warriors had defeated the Gators twice during the regular season in CCAA Div. I play, but those losses meant nothing going into round three this season. Both had made it to the same point and all would be decided by 32 minutes of action.
But, leading wire-to-wire, it was Salamanca that emerged victorious on the night, shaking off a number of A-L scoring runs that put their control over the game at risk and ultimately nabbing a 66-49 win.
“It was a game of runs,” Salamanca head coach Joe Hinman said. “We punched them in the mouth early on, but they came right back with another few haymakers themselves. It was a great atmosphere, this is the most packed I’ve seen this gym in a while. But it was just about making sure we were finishing each possession, each quarter. We knew it was going to be back-and-forth from early on.”
What this game meant to both sides was evident just based on the physicality both operated with. There were virtually no easy rebounds or second-chance opportunities as tie-ups, loose balls and bodies hitting the floor occurred on nearly every possession both ways.
But ultimately, it was the Warriors who had the physical edge as their speed and height advantage made life difficult for the Gators’ defense.
“Allegany’s always been scrappy,” Hinman said. “I think we have maybe the speed factor a little bit on them and the fight here and there, but it’s a good matchup for both teams. It was good basketball, especially for this time of the year, in the playoffs. That was just two good teams coming out ready to battle.”
That being said, too much of a good thing can be bad. And for as solid as the physicality was from the Warriors, there were plenty of times where they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar, trying too hard to get a steal or to pick off a pass, and thus foul trouble became a concern.
This is where the depth of the team came in. For example, Makenzie Crouse, who had 13 points and nine rebounds on the night, had picked up her fourth foul with seven minutes still left to play. A massive source of points and rebounds, she was forced to go to the bench for some critical minutes. But in her place was eighth-grader Arabelle Reynolds, who filled the role well, scoring two points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing an assist.
“We’re a physical team, so we know we’re going to get caught here and there but Arabelle coming in as an eighth grader, she’s tough,” Hinman said. “We could put her almost anywhere on the court. We know what we’re going to get out of her. But it was really everyone, that’s what I told them after the game. It took all 11 players tonight to seal the deal.”
Allegany-Limestone head coach Andrea Darrow admitted her team has struggled all season in the physicality department. They put up a solid fight on the night but what ultimately condemned them was the loss they suffered in the battle of the boards and the number of fouls they committed on second and third-chances.
“In the beginning, we were not rebounding, (Salamanca is) a physical team, and I would say that’s one area (we lack),” Darrow said. “We’re a little timid, a little less physical than a lot of teams. … Salamanca was getting two, three shots, and on that third shot we’d foul. So, even if they didn’t make it, they had those additional chances.”
Allegany-Limestone’s Emerson Ortego (25) pulls up for a jumper against Salamanca. Ortego scored a team-high 15 points for the Gators in their 66-49 loss to the Warriors on Feb. 25. (Spencer Bates)
Still, there were stretches of the game where A-L had Salamanca within striking distance. Notably, in the second quarter, it had shaved what was a 15-point deficit to just a couple possessions.
“I think we kind of settled in and ran our offense like we talked about it the past few days,” Darrow said. “We kind of rushed some things (early on), but during that time we got set into our offense and we attacked the basket a little. We got them in foul trouble in a few spots. Defense, that was the harder part.”
The Salamanca offense does its fair share of damage on the interior, but where a significant amount of it came against A-L was from the perimeter. Specifically, the freshman duo of Ella Crouse and Liana Jimerson.
Jimerson drained three 3-pointers and finished with nine points on the night. Meanwhile, Ella Crouse, on the biggest stage of her career thus far, netted a career-high 25 points to go along with six rebounds, four steals and two assists. A performance that gave her head coach “chills.”
“It seems like she just gets better every game,” Hinman said. “It’s hard for the other team to match her intensity. She’s diving on the floor, she’s running down in transition, hitting open 3s, with someone in her face she’s still knocking them down.”
For A-L, the loss marked the end of the road, as it finished the season with a 15-7 overall record. Darrow’s squad made a six-win improvement from last season’s 9-12 final record, and she is giving her senior leaders credit for playing a big part in that step in the right direction.
“This group of girls, they’ve been with me, and they’ve done it for several years, so we’ll just be looking back at the growth they’ve made over the years, the way they really work together, they see each other out there,” Darrow said. “With those seniors leaving, though, it’ll be a big part gone, so we’ll definitely have some reworking that we have to do for next year.”
As for Salamanca, the win set up another game against a league rival. The Warriors will head to Fredonia State on Feb. 28 to face No. 2 seed Southwestern, the team they split the CCAA Div. I title with. The sides split the regular season series between each other, both going down as the only losses each faced in league play this season.
“It’s one game at a time, we got past the Gators, now it’s onto Southwestern, a familiar team,” Hinman said. “We’re looking at this game as a tie breaker.”
Tip-off between Salamanca and Southwestern will be at 2 p.m. on Feb. 28 at Fredonia State.
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AT SALAMANCA
Allegany-Limestone (49)
Ortego 5 4-4 15, Kahm 3 5-7 13, Hayes 2 4-9 9, John 2 0-0 5, Giardini 2 0-0 4, Wojewoda-Ko 1 1-1 3. Totals: 15 14-21 49
Salamanca (66)
E. Crouse 7 7-9 25, M. Crouse 5 3-6 13, Wass 4 3-6 11, Jimerson 3 0-0 9, Foster 2 0-0 4, Galante 1 0-0 2, Reynolds 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 13-21 66
A-L 7 21 36 49
Sala. 16 28 48 66
Three-point goals: A-L 5 (Kahm 2, John, Hayes, Ortego), Sala. 7 (E. Crouse 4, Jimerson 3); Total fouls: A-L 16, Sala. 16; Fouled out: M. Crouse (Sala.).
