By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — At the end of the day, a win is a win in the CCAA Div. I according Salamanca girls basketball coach Joe Hinman.
His team was not necessarily at its best against Fredonia on Jan. 30 with its defense flat from the jump and its offense once again missing some easy opportunities. But nevertheless, the Warriors persisted, flexed their muscle when necessary and pulled out a 50-39 win over the visiting Hillbillies.
“I honestly think we came out a little flat,” Hinman said. “I don’t know if the energy level was totally there, but we picked it up in the second half. We made a few adjustments on defense just to get us going more. But, we still picked up the win. That’s the biggest thing at the end of the day, a big league win is huge.”
Despite the slow start energy-wise, the inherent skill of the Salamanca players shined through early on as they jumped on Fredonia 15-7 after the first quarter. They continued to put their offensive prowess on display through the second quarter and took a 23-13 lead into the intermission.
Skyla Dowdy finished with a game-high 17 points for the hosts and was assisted by a 12-point output from Makenzie Crouse.
But still, while the advantage the Warriors held never waned, holding a lead from whistle-to-whistle, Hinman knew there was plenty more to desire.
“We were too flat, too loose with the ball, whether it was our passes or just taking not the best shots,” Hinman said. “With fundamental basketball, we should have jump shots and we didn’t. There was times where we could just make a fundamental play, but we just kind of let the ball get too careless. But we still stepped it up to make sure that we were in control. … We’ll take a lot from this game.”
Salamanca’s Makenzie Crouse (3) goes up for a layup. Crouse finished with 12 points against Fredonia. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
The Warriors were able to see to its defensive duties successfully for the majority of the time as well, keeping the Hillbillies at a double-figure deficit for the grand majority of the second half. But, much like how they had breakdowns on offense, the defense had their moments as well, specifically when the visitors moved the ball with the pass.
“They moved the ball well and they hit some shots when they were open too,” Hinman said of Fredonia’s offense. “They were never really out of it. We had to make sure we kept our foot on the gas pedal and stayed aggressive. They were physical. I’ve come to accept all of our games are going to be physical and chippy. But they’re a good team, so it’s just good to win.”
When Fredonia did get a shot off, what didn’t help the hosts was that they also struggled in the rebounding department, conceding a number of offensive boards. Another area in which Hinman is hoping to see a higher level of effort.
“We work on boxing out every single day of practice,” Hinman said. “Rebounding, weak side rebounding, just finding a box, putting a butt in the gut, clearing out and going to get it. There was times where we should have done that more today.”
Salamanca’s Skyla Dowdy (4) gets up for a hook shot. Dowdy finished with a game-high 17 points against Fredonia. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
Come the fourth quarter, the game was all but squared away as a second consecutive win for Salamanca as the benches from both teams were emptied. But with a big test in the form of an away fixture against Southwestern, the CCAA Div. I leaders, on Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m., Hinman is not taking his focus off the need to shore up the small mistakes.
“We’ve got to really buckle down on those fundamental things if we want to compete,” Hinman said.
AT SALAMANCA
Fredonia (39)
Walnicki 4 1-1 9, Buckley 3 0-0 7, Burrows 2 0-0 5, Muck 2 0-0 5, Polhamus 1 2-2 4, E. Creeley 2 0-2 4, DiPalma 0 3-4 3, Snyder 1 0-0 3, Delcamp 0 0-2 0, A. Creeley 0 0-2 0. Totals: 15 6-13 39
Salamanca (50)
Dowdy 6 2-2 17, Crouse 5 2-4 12, McComber 4 1-2 9, Foster 3 1-2 8, Lafferty 1 0-0 2, Wass 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 6-10 50
Fred. 7 13 25 39
Sala. 15 23 39 50Three-point goals: Fred. 3 (Burrows, Muck, Buckley), Sala. 4 (Dowdy 3, Foster); Total fouls: Fred. 9, Sala. 12; fouled out: None.
