By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — The Salamanca girls basketball team gave itself a chance late on against Southwestern, but it was the mistakes it made early on that bogged down a chance at a late-game comeback.
Right from the jump, the Warriors slammed their foot down on the gas pedal, playing at such a high speed that it caused a plethora of issues for the visiting Trojans when trying to find shots or passes. Unfortunately, that chaos carried through into their offensive possessions as well.
Turnovers came at a premium for the hosts, and with the disarray, came no shortage of fouls either, mostly affecting Salamanca’s bigger players on the court.
Entering the game, the size disparity between the sides favored Salamanca with Makenzie Crouse and Charli Ross providing it with a solid interior presence. But as the chaos continued, Crouse found herself with two fouls in the first quarter, and from that moment on, a wrench was thrown in coach Joe Hinman’s game plan.
“Foul trouble hurt us and the turnovers hurt us too,” Hinman said. “We were trying to get it inside as much as we could. We were having a little bit of a hard time breaking the press.”
The early struggles came to a head in the second quarter as Southwestern, led by Gianna Sirianni who scored 11 of her game-high 26 points in the frame, established a 15-point buffer going into the half.
Salamanca’s Kynleigh Wass (2) looks for a pass as she brings the ball up the court. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
During the intermission, Hinman acknowledged there were a number of things on his mind. One of which was the discipline he needed to see from his players. He wanted them to continue to suppress the Trojans’ shooters and snuff out their passes — an area in which he saw no lack of effort — but do so without committing fouls.
“It was about being disciplined and being smart with the ball,” Hinman said. “Overall, it was a really physical game. … We just ended up on the higher side of the fouls. (We’re) just trying to stay out of foul trouble. If we can stay out of foul trouble, we can get back in the games more.”
But it was not just the occasional mistimed physicality that Hinman noted his players needed to fix, turnovers were an issue as well. He pointed to the fact that the turnovers the Warriors had in the first half, and throughout the remainder of the game, came from his players being too casual with their passes. Meaning, all Southwestern needed was to get a fingertip on a pass and it was in the open court — a phenomenon that happened more times than he would have liked.
“We had to use our fakes more and we got to put more on our passes,” Hinman said. “I think we didn’t zip the ball around (enough). The passes were kind of soft on our end, or it was a second too late, a half second too late. So, it’s really just a matter of putting some more on our passes and being sure of it rather than assuming it’s going to reach the target.”
As the game progressed, Salamanca saw both Leilene McComber and Skyla Dowdy, the latter sharing a team-high 14 points with Crouse, foul out. But their chances were not null and void still. The Warriors managed to put a seven-point dent into Southwestern’s advantage when all was said and done as they outscored their visitors 17-10 in the final frame.
This had Hinman holding his team in high regard after the fact.
“We never gave up and that’s what I was proud of the most,” Hinman said. “We were down based on the score, but our effort wasn’t down. We played. We played as hard as we could. Southwestern’s a good team, they got a lot of firepower, 3-point shooters and all that, but we’ll get another crack at them. I’m really proud of our effort, even though we didn’t win.”
Salamanca’s Makenzie Crouse (3) gets set on defense. Crouse shared in a team-high 14 points for the Warriors against Southwestern. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
The loss puts Salamanca’s overall record on the season at 5-4, going 2-2 in its last four games. The team’s next chance to get back in the win column will come on Jan. 17 when it travels to Dunkirk. Tip-off for that game is set at 7:30 p.m.
AT SALAMANCA
Southwestern (56)
G. Sirianni 9 4-7 26, Cresanti 4 2-2 10, B. Sirianni 3 0-0 8, Pearson 2 1-4 5, C. Beaver 2 0-2 4, Genareo 0 2-4 2, B. Beaver 0 1-4 1. Totals: 20 10-23 56
Salamanca (43)
Crouse 5 4-8 14, Dowdy 5 1-2 14, McComber 2 3-6 7, Lafferty 1 2-2 4, Ross 1 2-2 4. Totals: 14 12-20 43
SW 13 31 46 56
Sala. 8 16 26 43Three-point goals: SW 6 (G. Sirianni 4, B Sirianni 2), Sala. 3 (Dowdy 3); Total fouls: SW 22, Sala. 20; fouled out: McComber (Sala.), Dowdy (Sala.).
