By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
Teams come in all shapes and sizes. While some are coming off of championship seasons and look to build off their success, like Portville, others are looking to get over the hump and turn into contenders, such as Salamanca. Either way, come December, all eyes will be on the hardwood.
At the top of the standings last year was Portville. After finishing the season at 13-7, the Lady Panthers entered the Class B2 tournament as the seventh seed. However, they were able to clean house with wins over No. 10 Falconer, No. 2 MST and No. 3 Salamanca to earn their place in the championship game. Meeting top-seeded Wilson, Portville dominated, winning by 20 to claim the Section VI title.
“I think we played a really tough schedule but I don’t think anyone looked at us as an underdog,” said Portville head coach Inga Wetly. “Of course, the season was fun. Anytime you can win a Sectional title it’s exciting for your kids, yourself, your community. It was just a fun year.”
That feat was made possible by their star-studded senior cast, headlined by the reigning Big 30 Player of the Year, Lillian Bentley. Bentley led the Lady Panthers in scoring with 19.8 points a game alongside 12 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.5 steals a game, also becoming the only athlete in program history – boys or girls – to end their career with over 1,000 points and rebounds. Besides Bentley was Jackie Scanlon, another Big 30 All-Star who averaged 9.4 points, 2.8 assists, four rebounds and two steals a game and Ava Haynes, who contributed close to seven points a a game, as well as five rebounds and 2.4 steals a contest.
“Replacing a five year starter is going to be really difficult. She was a great player and a great leader,” said Welty. “Ava was one of my most gifted athletes that I’ve ever coached and she was the defensive specialist. She took pride in defending the opposing team’s best player, whether it was post or guard, it didn’t matter.
“Jackie was a really great shooter. Deadly from 3-point range and a great leader,” said Welty. “They’re all going to be hard to replace.”
Losing a total of six seniors and four starters, Portville will have some work to do building their identity. However, they do return five letterwinners to help foster the much-needed growth amongst their swath of newcomers.
“Some of (our returning players) did get significant minutes and the group that they were with was a good group to learn from. Obviously they competed hard with them, which is why we were successful in the end when it came down to playoffs,” said Welty. “Those kids pushed the others so I feel like even though they’re not the ones that score all the time, they do have potential.”
While it might not be a complete rebuild by any means, the Lady Panthers have put an emphasis on growing the program and skill development over defending their Section VI title.
“It’s going to be a work in progress. I think it’s going to be one of those situations where we’re going to be learning things day by day. It’s going to be a lot of learning on the fly,” said Welty. “I’ll tell you one thing, they’re chemistry is going to be great because they all get along. All they’re going to be concerned about is that we’re going to be growing as a team and that the team’s success is going to rank over any other success.”
Moving a step down the ladder, Salamanca is also looking to replace some key players from their 2023 campaign.
A season ago, the Lady Warriors finished their season at 17-5, good enough for the third seed in the Class B2 postseason. Once there, Salamanca picked up a win against No. 6 JFK in the quarterfinals before running into the eventual-champion Lady Panthers. Losing 47-35, the Lady Warriors’ season came to a close.
“I think last year really showed how successful we can be in the way that we play,” said Hinman. “Looking forward to this year, we really have an opportunity to pick up where we left off. We want to get back on the floor and keep proving why we belong.”
Carrying the brunt of the load was the senior duo of Karina Crouse and Lezly McComber. Along with each scoring 12 points per game, the pair also contributed key minutes on defense, where Crouse averaged 3.9 steals a night and McComber averaged 2.8 as well as one block per game and nine rebounds a night. Crouse grabbed four boards a game and could be counted on for 3.5 assists per game.
“We’re definitely going to miss them,” said Salamanca head coach Joe Hinman. “Obviously with Karina and Lezly, that’s about 20 or 30 points on the scoreboard so that’s going to leave an opportunity for the girls to earn their spot and we’ll see who can kind of take charge in that category.”
While they might have lost their star players, the Lady Warriors have five returning letterwinners to fall back on – two that even share the same name as their former stars. Last year, Leilene McComber, sister of Lezly, earned varsity minutes as she averaged just under seven points, two assists, four rebounds and nearly three steals a game. Makenzie Crouse, cousin of Karina, was a part of the Lady Warriors reserves a season ago, contributing six points, six rebounds, 1.4 blocks and two steals a night. Looking to the immediate future, the junior pair may be the next Lady Warriors up.
“Kenzie is our top forward right now and she worked coming off the bench last year. We’re hoping she takes that starting position this year and is a force down low for us on both ends,” said Hinman. “Leilene is a workhorse, just like her sister was. She’s more of a guard but with her physical nature, she can kind of play wherever. She’s a pretty solid defender, slasher, attacker so we’re really looking to get a lot out of those two this year.”
In A2, the Olean girls’ team finished 1-18 in their regular season. Making the playoffs as the ninth seed, they were sent home in the quarterfinals with a loss to top-seed Iroquois. Returning to the team are Anna Bates, Alaina Hirliman, Ava Finch, AJ Easton, Lakya Maull and Viktoria Lozynska.
Stepping into Class C, Ellicottville managed to post a 12-8 regular season record, earning a spot in the playoffs as the fourth seed. Beating No. 5 Franklinville and No. 1 Holleran, the Lady Eagles made their way to their first championship game in 23 years. However, they were ultimately defeated by third-seeded Franklinville.
The Lady Eagles lost three to graduation and return seven letterwinners in seniors Addison John, Natalee Leiper and Courtney Marsh, juniors Ande Northrup, Drew Ficek, Teaghan Finn and Kayln Crowley.
