By SPENCER BATES
batesoleanstar@gmail.com
OLEAN — While the Olean girls basketball team may have suffered its heaviest defeat of the season at the hands of Cuba-Rushford, coach Chelsea Bowker stressed that it is still early.
Just five games into the schedule, the Huskies (1-4) found themselves pitted against the Rebels for the second time in a week. Unfortunately for the former, with their 57-19 loss on Dec. 9, both early-season meetings have gone into the books as a hefty loss.
But for Bowker, her disappointment does not come from a place of needing more skill within her ranks necessarily. Instead, it comes from a desire to see her team compete no matter the scenario.
“I just think (other) teams come out harder and more ready,” Bowker said. “I have some girls that come out and they’re ready, but I don’t have a solid five that come out ready to hustle (and) play hard, and that’s really all I’m looking for, hustle. We are just getting outworked every game. I could care less about skill, we really just need to pick up our hustle and our energy and our aggressiveness and our want to play well.”
Olean’s Alaina Hirliman (4) dishes a pass after coming around a screen set by Viktoriia Lazynska (24). Hirliman finished with a team-high five points for the Huskies in their loss to Cuba-Rushford on Dec. 9. (Spencer Bates/Olean Star)
It was that lack of hustle that led to problems arising quickly for the Huskies as they struggled to reel in rebounds and find their way out of the Rebel’s full-court pressure which led to numerous early turnovers and fast-break points.
The closest Olean came to its visitors on the scoreboard was when it trailed 5-3 in the opening minutes of the game on the back of an Alaina Hirliman 3-pointer. But from that moment, C-R went on a 17-0 run to close out the first quarter and a 32-4 run to end the first half of play.
Again, Bowker made it known that the occasional mistakes do not bother her. She knows they are inevitable. What matters more, and what she hopes to see from her team moving forward, is a heightened sense of composure and an ability to take the mistakes and learn from them.
“We’re going to make mistakes,” Bowker said. “We have a young team, and when we make those mistakes, we just got to stay settled and make smarter plays. That’s something we got to work towards. I mean, we’re only four games in, hopefully we’ll get there.”
What throws a wrench into the works for a team that is looking to come together as one in the early goings of the campaign is the fact that they will need to adjust to a new dynamic with the return of Annalisse Easton to the lineup after missing last season and the inclusion of freshman Jourdin Battle. Both provide the Huskies with size under the rim and while they were unable to record any points against the Rebels, Bowker is hopeful their presence will open things up on the floor later in the year.
“It’s a whole new five trying to play together than what we had last year,” Bowker said. “So, I mean, it is tough, but I’m hoping, down the stretch, the more we play together, the more we practice together, it’ll open up more things for us.”
The second half was not much better than the first for Olean in terms of points on the board, but a change was evident in the energy of certain players. Specifically, the trio of Ava Finch, Alaina Hirliman and Anna Bates. Their numbers in the scorebook, one, five and four points respectively, may not say much but their renewed effort was exactly what Bowker was looking for.
“Ava does have a big role, and she’s handling herself,” Bowker said. “She’s going to make mistakes, but she can’t get frustrated when she makes mistakes. But the thing about Ava, she’s going 100% all the time, even if she’s making mistakes or not, she’s going 100% all the time. And that’s all I can ask for right now.”
“When Ava, Anna and Alaina learn to play with each other, we will be a force to be reckoned with. But right now, it’s just not clicking. So, hopefully, the more we practice, the more we play games, hopefully the better they’ll start clicking.”
Olean’s Ava Finch (1) holds up play as the offense gets set up. (Spencer Bates/Olean Star)
Next up for the Huskies is another home matchup against a Section 5 opponent, this time in the form of Bolivar-Richburg. That game will be on Dec. 20 with tip-off slated for 6 p.m.
AT OLEAN
Cuba-Rushford (57)
Larabee 6 0-1 13, Tompkins 5 1-4 11, Lavery 3 1-2 9, Williams 3 2-2 9, Truax 2 0-2 5, Farwell 1 3-6 5, Rutkowski 1 0-0 2, Shaffer 1 0-2 2, Eddy 0 1-2 1 Totals: 22 8-21 57
Olean (19)
Hirliman 2 0-2 5, Brown 2 0-0 4, Bates 0 4-8 4, Mannings 1 0-0 3, Lazyska 0 2-4 2, Finch 0 1-2 1, Maull 0 0-2 0. Totals: 5 7-18 19
C-R 22 37 48 57
Olean 3 9 12 19
Three-point goals: C-R (5; Lavery 2, Truax, Larabee, Williams), Olean (2; Hirliman, Mannings); Total fouls: C-R 16, Olean 18; fouled out: Finch (O)
JV: C-R won.
