By SPENCER BATES
PORTVILLE — Behind a high level of execution, the No. 8 seed Portville girls basketball team scored itself a comfortable 57-15 Section 6 Class B2 first round win over No. 9 seed Cleveland Hill.
The Panthers entered the game with eight more wins on the season than their visitors, but as coach Inga Welty knows, if the preparation is not right, first round playoff games can become trap games. Luckily, she noted that in the practices leading up to the affair, her girls were all business, and it showed on both ends of the floor for her side.
“I think part of it is the mentality you have to go in with, the mentality that we’re starting fresh today,” Welty said. “I felt like, defensively, we worked really hard, which was the complete focus the last few days of practice, actually, the whole last week. … And, you know, you make a couple nice shots to get you going, and then you start to feel good about yourself. I feel like that’s probably what happened, the girls were just feeling pretty confident.”
Portville jumped ahead early, leading 21-5 after the first quarter and 34-7 heading into halftime. A major factor in the construction of that lead was points in transition. As Welty said, her team’s focus in practice had been defense, and they had no issue coming up with stops. It was the buckets they got on the run immediately after a stop that piled up points on the board.
“We had a great week of practice defensively, and offensively, once your defense is doing well, you just get that confidence,” Welty said.
Portville’s Ali Haynes (22) goes up for a layup after avoiding three Cleveland Hill defenders. (Spencer Bates)
In the second half, the Panthers went deep into their roster, getting rotation and even some call-up junior varsity players some time on the court, learning the system in real time. And while the rate at which they were getting points in transition slowed, passing and off-ball movement were key in dicing up the Cleveland Hill defense for easy buckets.
“They left the upper third of the paint open,” Welty said. “We focused this week on making sure we’re getting our touches to the high post area to look for the reverse for the 3s, or the low-block pass, and that was wide open nearly the whole game.”
The big advantage on the scoreboard was also crucial to Welty because she was able to get some players experience in different positions. Not just bench and JV players, but starters, who she may need to fill different roles, situationally, in future games.
“I don’t sub a ton usually, so I think it was good for the confidence of those other girls getting in there,” Welty said. “I kept mixing who I was putting in so that other kids could make sure they understand all five spots. … I think that’s important for us to be successful, because there’s times where I need to have another big come in (because) we’re going to be undersized. So that was a little bit of the focus today.”
The Panthers cruised through the final two quarters of play and are now moving on to the B2 quarterfinals after grabbing a victory in its final game at home on the season. They will face No. 1 seed Riverside on March 1 at 12 p.m.
AT PORTVILLE
Cleveland Hill (15)
Moreland 2 2-2 7, Gluszak 2 0-0 5, Sanders 1 0-0 2, Barnes 0 1-2 1. Totals: 5 3-4 15
Portville (57)
Rhinehart 5 0-0 12, A. Isaman 4 0-0 11, Edwards 4 1-2 11, Haynes 3 2-4 8, Carls 3 0-0 6, Reynolds 2 0-0 4, N. Isaman 1 0-0 3, Lyle 1 0-0 2, Zeigler 0 0-3 0. Totals: 23 3-9 57
CH 5 7 14 15
Port. 21 34 49 57Three-point goals: CH 2 (Moreland, Gluszak), Port. 8 (A. Isaman 3, Edwards 2, Rhinehart 2, N. Isaman); Total fouls: CH 9, Port. 8; fouled out: None.
