By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
OLEAN, NY – In their second appearance at home, the Olean girls’ basketball team notched their first win of the season, suppressing Hinsdale with staunch defense on their way to a 35-9 victory.
Before the matchup with the Lady Bobcats, Olean had already faced two opponents. The Lady Huskies opened their season with a 59-31 loss to JFK on Tuesday, Nov. 26 before dropping their home opener to Cuba-Rushford 48-24 this past Monday.
“JFK was really aggressive and we didn’t handle that well. We don’t have deep scoring threats so we need to work it through our offense and play really good defense,” said Olean head coach Chelsea Bowker. “We’re still trying to work out the kinks. I have two returners that didn’t play last year so I’m really starting over with a whole new team. There’s a lot of basic skills that we need to work on.”
At the start of the game against Hinsdale, the Lady Huskies put their defensive foot forward. After Alaina Hirliman cashed in a mid-range jumpshot to get things going, Olean’s man-to-man defense stalled the Lady Bobcats. Pushed to the perimeter, Hinsdale was forced to chuck up contested jumpers as the shot clock wound down. At the five-minute mark, however, they took the lead with a made 3-pointer.
From there, Olean’s defense began to produce steals in the bunches, starting with Hirliman who tipped a pass, gained control and turned it into two points on the other end. Between guarding the passing lane and double teaming the Lady Bobcats in the corners, the Lady Huskies earned extra possessions from their pestering defense and ended the quarter up 8-3.
“As soon as the game started it was kind of slow and the best way to pick up a slow game is to pick up full court,” said Bowker. “Any chance I can get my team to move a little faster, the better.”
This trend would continue going into the second, including two Olean steals on Hinsdale’s first three possessions. While the Lady Huskies would stretch their lead with a 3-pointer from Victoriia Lazynska, both teams would go on a dry spell as they each struggled with turnovers. Closing out the half, however, Olean would widen the gap to double-digits with baskets from Ja’breyah Brown and Hirliman, putting the Lady Huskies up 17-5.
Whereas Olean’s defensive efforts bled into the second quarter, their offensive success carried over into the third. Opening the period with a block from Annalisse Easton, Jourdin Battle would cash in a 3-pointer to go up 15. From there, the Lady Huskies began to speed up the pace. As Ava Finch collected the possession in the backcourt, she tossed long outlet passes to Hirliman, who was able to beat the defender to the basket for consecutive layups.
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“I really expect a lot from Hirliman and Finch and in the first two games they really didn’t give it to me,” said Bowker. “Today they did so I hope this game gives them confidence.”
Between the offense finding their rhythm and the defense as strong as ever, the Lady Huskies were rolling, finding their largest scoring quarter of the game and entering the final quarter up 21.
Already in full control of the outcome, Olean played out the last eight minutes with a mixed rotation of starters and reserves. Still, the Lady Huskies smoothly outplayed Hinsdale, outsourcing them 7-2 and christening their season with a victory at home.
Hirliman led Olean with 14 points while six other Lady Huskies ended in the scorebook. Jourdin Battle finished with six points, followed by AJ Easton and Brown who both tallied four points.
“We need to learn how to score points,” said Bowker. “We need to focus on how to score points and work on our defense because if we’re not scoring points we need to play good defense.”
AT OLEAN
Hinsdale (xx)
Bushnell 2 0-2 4, Buckles 1 0-2 3, Saunders 0 1-2 1, Easterly 0 1-8 1 Totals: 3 2-14 9
Olean (35)
Hirliman 6 2-2 14, Bettle 2 0-2 6, Easton 2 0-2 4, Brown 2 0-0 4, Finch 0 3-4 3, Rowand 0 2-2 2, Homann 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 7-14 35
Hinsdale 3 5 7 9
Olean 8 17 28 35
Three-point goals: HN (1) Buckles, OL (2) Battle 2; Total fouls: HN 14, OL 18; fouled out: Easterly (HN)
