By SPENCER BATES
OLEAN — With both teams dealing with bites from the injury bug, the Olean and Allegany-Limestone boys basketball teams went into battle without their respective got-to players.
And after a game in which both sides were sloppy in similar areas, it was the Huskies that managed to drag themselves over the finish line first with a 45-38 win. They also simultaneously delivered the Gators their second consecutive loss after a perfect 8-0 start to the campaign.
So, with Olean missing Caedyn Tingley and Luca Quinn and A-L without Carson Kwiatkowski, the cliché of “next man up” was on the minds of both team’s coaches.
“We tell the guys all the time, of course, we want everybody there, but it can’t be that way sometimes,” Olean coach Tim Kolasinski said. “And when it’s not that way, it sounds really cliché, but ‘next man up.’ So, when we have a game like tonight, you have guys playing extended minutes, you have guys maybe playing a little bit out of position, things like that. But they just have to figure it out. There’s no other choice.”
A-L coach Glenn Anderson echoed that sentiment.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys doing stuff they haven’t been asked to do yet,” Anderson said. “So, there’s going to be a learning curve. … It’s going to take a little bit. We’ve had two practices since we lost Carson. We’re still trying to figure stuff out here. But, yeah, (it was a) battle of two undermanned teams from what they usually have, but it was a good game.”
Allegany-Limestone’s Gavin Straub (21) looks to put up a shot after reeling in an offensive rebound. (Spencer Bates)
Despite the atypical rosters, both sides wasted no time slamming down on the gas pedal and had no issue keeping it there the rest of the night.
It was a fast-paced up-and-down-the-court affair, but what each team brought in pace, they lacked in efficiency, leading to the lower final scoreline.
Several times, both teams found themselves watching layups, of the fast-break and put-back type, careen off the backboard or the rim. Chances went begging after numerous turnovers and when a team did have some momentum they were unable to sustain it for too long.
“In the first half, especially, I thought we had a lot of wasted opportunities,” Kolasinski said. “I thought we did a decent job, at times, turning them over, but then we’d give it right back. That’s the sloppiness … and that is something that we talk about all the time. … They have to learn to value the ball a little bit better, especially if you’re going to play pressing defense like we do. We’re going to force those turnovers, we can’t just give it right back.”
The Gators had their fair share of sloppy possessions as well, a number of which came from the aforementioned ball pressure their hosts imposed. And for the second-consecutive game they struggled to get past it. This is something Anderson said needs to be cleaned up if they want to get back into the win column, but he also understands that the younger or more inexperienced players on the team need this type of experience if they are to step up in big ways as the season progresses.
“We definitely got to figure that (ball pressure) out,” Anderson said. “We had 19 turnovers for the game, and a lot of them were there late when we had opportunities to make it a single possession game. But, I mean, there was a lot of growing up those guys did tonight. Ryan (Callen) is running around out there as a freshman. We were asking a lot of him. (Cooper Wilczewski) hasn’t played in a couple years. So, we were asking a lot of guys to do a lot of things that they haven’t done before.”
Allegany-Limestone’s Caleb Strade (35) looks for the offense to get set. (Spencer Bates)
The combined chaos the Huskies and Gators produced early on led to a knotted up scoreline of 17-17 at the half.
But the break did not slow down the teams. If anything, the second half was quicker than the first and both teams continued to see opportunities go untaken. Which, in a narrow game such as the one Olean and A-L found themselves in, Kolasinski and Anderson agreed again, can kill momentum.
“I think we get hurried up, … and we don’t go up strong and we leave those layups out there,” Kolasinski said. “That’s huge. And on the flip side, I felt like we dodged some bullets. They missed a few layups that could have got them either right back in the game or given them the lead.”
Anderson noted that while satisfied with some possessions, walking away from them with nothing to show for it shifts the momentum into the opposition’s hands.
“You have something going, you get a drive downhill, and you get a drop-off for a layup,” Anderson said. “I mean, those are ones we got to finish. You feel good about the possession, but if you miss it, it kind of sends the momentum back the other way.”
It was those missed chances from both sides that gave the cross-town rivalry game a grandstand finish.
The Gators had cut the deficit to just one point late on, but as the Huskies reimplemented their heavy ball pressure, they managed to convert on a number of chances off steals and trips to the free throw line and put the game just out of reach — sending the Olean gym into a frenzy.
But for Kolasinski, the result came with more than just a tally in the win column, the team’s third in a row after a five-game losing skid. He was able to see his players embrace resilience when, in moments earlier in the year, he saw them fold, only emboldening the faith he has in his roster.
“I think what’s good is there were moments tonight where we made plays that weren’t ‘winning plays,’” Kolasinski said. “The difference is, when we made those plays in games earlier, we couldn’t get out from under them. (Tonight,) we moved on, we left those plays behind. … I think guys are now just realizing that the stuff that we’re doing at practice every day pays off as they gut out a win like that.”
The Huskies were led on the scoresheet by Mykel Rivera, who finished with a game-high 23 points. The Gators were spurred on offensively by 16 and 14-point nights from Collin Forrest and Caleb Strade.
Olean’s Dominic Giovine (22) and Allegany-Limestone’s Collin Forrest (5) jump for the game’s opening tip-off. (Spencer Bates)
Olean will have a chance to see its win streak extended when they host Dunkirk on Jan. 18 with tip-off slated for 1:30 p.m.
As for Allegany-Limestone, it will look to get back on track at Fredonia on Jan. 16. Tip-off there is set for 7:30 p.m.
AT OLEAN
Allegany-Limestone (38)
Forrest 7 0-0 16, Strade 5 2-2 14, Straub 1 1-2 3, Wilczewski 1 0-0 3, Callen 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 3-4 38
Olean (45)
Rivera 9 4-4 23, Hoffman 2 5-10 9, Mest 2 1-1 6, Bohdanowycz 2 0-0 4, Giovine 1 1-2 3. Totals: 16 11-17 45
A-L 6 17 24 38
OL 12 17 30 45Three-point goals: A-L 5 (Forrest 2, Strade 2, Wilczewski), OL 2 (Rivera, Mest); Total fouls: A-L 15, OL 9; fouled out: None.
