By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — The Allegany-Limestone girls basketball team can breathe a little easier now after it secured its first win of the season at the expense of cross-town opponents Portville.
After dropping its first five competitions of the season, the Gators were able to put a tally in the win column with a 36-27 result against the first Section 6 opponent they have faced in the early goings of the season. And according to the coach Andrea Darrow it took her team committing to doing all the little things right in order to pull out the win.
“It’s just definitely good to get that first win,” Darrow said. “I told them it wasn’t an easy game by any means, we had to do the little things to be able to get that win. And I thought we did that.”
“I (told my team) Portville is going to want to come and win. We’ve got to come and we have to have that intensity to do it too, we know they’re always going to give us a good game. I thought we did that. So, it was a little bit of a motivator. We always want to beat those Portvilles, those Oleans.”
Luckily for Darrow, she saw her team follow through on her defensive-minded game plan. Right from the jump, A-L was disruptive, recording steals, intercepting passes and making life inside the paint for Portville’s bigs as difficult as can be.
“We talked about how, number one, we had to protect the paint,” Darrow said. “So, we looked to do that. We came out in our 3-2 because we thought we could pressure those passes to the wings. We had a couple of those, but then they were getting us down low, so we didn’t really like how that was looking for us. So we came out, we said we had to pressure the ball in certain areas. And I just thought we did a great job of doing that tonight.”
Allegany-Limestone’s Abby Peck (20) looks to drive against a Portville defender. (Derek Gumtow)
But not only was the interior defense a key to the game for the Gators out of a need to prevent Portville’s taller players from having a field day under the hoop, it was also in an attempt to stop Portville’s Emma Rhinehart and her ability to drive the ball to the basket.
“We knew Rhinehart really likes to drive that paint, so that’s what we talked about,” Darrow said. “We had to help in those other areas, because early on, she was getting it. She’ll just go in there and she’s gonna pull up and shoot. So we kept talking, we have to protect that paint, get those other girls (to play) help defense in the paint to stop her.”
The A-L defense had itself a night, it was turning those turnovers into points on the other end that proved a little more difficult. Portville was able to get back in transition on a number of occasions and disrupt the fast breaks, but there were times when easy A-L points were left falling off the rim. But Darrow hopes that when this problem eventually irons itself out, they will be even more of a force to be reckoned with.
“Looking back on a few of our own games, we just aren’t getting things to fall,” Darrow said. “It seems like it’s taking us a while to settle in and just play our game, but I think, hopefully with time (it will get better).”
One member of the Gators that did not have a problem seeing the ball through the net was first-year varsity player Emerson Ortego. The junior scored a game-high 18 points and earned a mountain of praise from her coach.
Portville and Allegany-Limestone players fight for possession of the ball under the rim. (Derek Gumtow)
“She came up from JV, and from Day 1, she hit the floor running,” Darrow said. “She’s been super strong, she works really hard, and she just gives it 100% out there. I have to give it to her, she had a great game.”
As for Portville, coach Inga Welty noted that it was not the best night for her team, but also that they have the capability of playing much better.
“Do I think we’re playing like we’re capable of? No. Do I think we could play better? Absolutely,” Welty said. “Our decision making is still poor, and we don’t take care of the ball. And if you can’t do those things, then you have a hard time winning games. I felt like our defensive effort in the first half was pretty solid. The third quarter was still pretty solid for the most part. We’re gassed (with) back-to-back games, but that’s not an excuse. … (Allegany-Limestone) played well. They hit some 3s, that made a difference. Allegany played really hard, they deserved to win and we did not.”
And on nights such as the one the Panthers had against the Gators, in which Emma Rhinehart struggled to get to her spot and the interior was taken away, Welty said that is the time for the other players to step up and draw some attention. With that in mind, she gave a good amount of praise to Ashley Carls who did her best to play that role against A-L.
“When other people aren’t scoring, when Emma’s not scoring, other people need to step up,” Welty said. “And the thing is, I felt like Ashley played a really hard game. She had a few buckets right the very beginning, which is big, because that’ll help build her confidence. … She started to figure out, ‘I have to score too, so that it draws attention away from Emma.’”
Portville’s Emma Rhinehart (14) rises up for a 3-point attempt. (Derek Gumtow)
But ultimately it was the stifling defense of the Gators, that allowed just six points combined between the second and fourth quarters, that saw the hosts emerge victorious.
AT ALLEGANY
Portville (27)
Carls 5 1-3 11, Rhinehart 3 0-2 7, Edwards 2 0-0 5, Isaman 2 0-0 4. Totals: 12 1-7 27
Allegany-Limestone (36)
Ortego 7 2-3 18, Frederick 3 0-2 6, Hayes 1 2-2 5, Fisher 2 0-0 4, Peck 1 1-2 3. Totals: 14 5-9 36
Port. 15 19 25 27
A-L 11 21 32 36
Three-point goals: Port. 2 (Edwards, Rhinehart), A-L 3 (Ortego 2, Hayes); Total fouls: Port. 7, A-L 12; Fouled out: None
JV: A-L won 29-28.