By HUNTER O. LYLE
CHEEKTOWAGA, NY – A night where the Portville girls’ basketball team surrendered 40 turnovers would prove to be their last of their season, resulting in a 38-37 loss to Wilson in the Section VI Class B2 semifinals.
“We succumbed to their pressure. We dug ourselves a hole. We would start to come out of it and then what would we do? We’d turn it over again,” said Portville head coach Inga Welty. “At this point in the game, you get to the semifinals, you can’t have those things happen.”
Before meeting the Lakewomen, the Lady Panthers were on a hot streak. Not only did they end the regular season with back-to-back wins against Falconer and Ellicottville, earning the No. 8 seed in the B2 bracket, but Portville cruised through the first two rounds of the postseason with wins over No. 9 Cleveland Hills and No. 1 Riverside.
“I’d been looking and figuring that (Cleveland Hills and Riverside) were probably going to be our matchups ahead of time so we were prepared for that,” said Welty. “We were on a nice run there so I think our confidence level was good. We talked about how, skill-wise, we could play with them. They might have been a little more athletic than us, but skill-wise we could make it work if we played tough defense.”
However, despite coming away with an above .500 record at 13-9, the Lady Panthers had a consistent issue with turnovers, a problem springing from their youth and inexperience. The challenge of holding on to possessions would come to a head just one game away from what would have been a repeat trip to the finals.
Out of the gates, Portville faced aggressive pressure from Wilson. Starting with a full-court-press, the Lakewomen would continue to force the Lady Panthers into double-teams and high corner traps. Although Portville would weather the storm initially, scoring three times on outlet passes to Ashley Carls and Emma Rhinehart, their luck would soon run out.
Midway through the period, the Lady Panthers would go cold as they surrendered four turnovers, allowing Wilson to catch up on transition scores. Their giveaways would total to nine in the first eight minutes of play, however, two made free throws from Carls late in the period would knot the game at eight heading into the second period.
The next quarter would be one to forget for the Lady Panthers. Facing the same intense pressure, Portville would sacrifice eight consecutive turnovers to begin the second quarter. Bad passes and loose ball handling plagued them as they wouldn’t be able to get their first shot up until the three-minute mark. Meanwhile, Wilson would begin to solidify their lead with eight unanswered points, leading 16-8 with just under two and a half minutes left.
Yet once again, Portville would find a burst late. In the final minute, the Lady Panthers would score four quick points sparked by a steal from Ava Jo Edwards and score by Carls, followed by a layup from Addison Isaman. Heading into the halftime intermission, Portville had cut the deficit to just four.
“To be honest, I didn’t say anything special at halftime. I did make an adjustment and Emma come up the middle and we saw that,” said Welty. “Our issue was, we weren’t moving forward on the press. You have to be moving forward to be successful and we just weren’t doing that.”
Starting the second half, Portville would give up their 21st turnover, leading to a triple from the Lakewomen that pushed the deficit to seven. While Rhinehart would break the seal early with a pair of makes from the charity stripe, the Lady Panthers wouldn’t find another score for close to three and a half minutes, giving up five more turnovers in the process.
With three minutes left in the third, Ali Haynes would post up before scoring and drawing a foul. After converting the three-point-play, Portville would lean into their physicality. Driving into contact, they would find themselves in the bonus where they would get several chances to chip away at the seven-point Lakewomen lead. A 3-pointer from Isaman would narrow the lead to just three before Wilson stretched it back to five right before the buzzer. Heading into the final quarter, Wilson led 27-22.
Ashley Carls converts a fastbreak layup during the Lady Panthers’ season-ending loss to the Lakewomen in the Section VI semis. Carls would end with nine points. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Although they inevitably gave up back-to-back turnovers on their first two possessions, Portville would grab a hold of the momentum in the opening minutes of the fourth. Forcing two Wilson turnovers, Haynes would score on a backdoor cut and offensive rebound before Isaman would hit her second triple of the game to tie the game at 27 with six minutes left. From there, both teams would score tick-for-tack with the Lady Panthers constantly chasing Wilson.
“I think, first of all, we talked about how this was the last eight minutes and they had to make it count. That was number one,” said Welty. “The girls were of course all positive but then if you hit a shot or two, you get a little confidence. That gives you momentum and then you work harder on defense and it’s kind of like that snowball effect.”
At 31-31 with around three and half minutes left, their struggles would resurface. Reimplementing their pressure which stretched the entire length of the floor, Wilson once again forced turnover after turnover, including three consecutively. In the matter of just a few possessions, Portville had lost all of their momentum and while they only faced a two-point deficit, their offense couldn’t produce shots as they gave up six consecutive turnovers.
Still down just two as the final minute broke, the Lady Panthers were forced to intentionally foul. However, they would get some lucky breaks with poor Lakewomen free throw shooting – Wilson would hit 3-for-6 at the line in the final 60 seconds. Behind by six, Isaman would come up clutch with a quick 3-pointer, bringing the game back to a one-possession game.
Head coach Inga Welty gives the Lady Panthers one final pep talk during the final seconds of their semifinals matchup with Wilson in the Class B2 semifinals. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Wilson would then go 1-for-2 at the line with 18 seconds still on the clock before Rhinehart would come up with a steal, giving Portville hope in a desperate situation. They would give the ball back to Isaman, who would ultimately miss on another 3-pointer, leaving the Lady Panthers with no other choice than to send the Lakewomen back to the line.
Splitting their trip at the charity stripe, Portville would have one last chance, a Hail Mary 3-pointer that needed contact to keep their season alive. Rhinehart would take the shot, burying a banked-in triple, but she would not get the foul. As the shot went in, the buzzer sounded and Portville’s season had come to an end.
“I’m bummed. I love this group. They’re all upset because they love each other like sisters,” said Welty. “You know, you never want it to end but it’s got to end sometime.”
Hitting three triples throughout the night, Isaman would end with a team-high 11 points while Carls and Rhinehart would both end with nine. Carls would also record five rebounds and three steals in the loss while Jo Edwards would end with three steals as well. Haynes came close to a double-double, tallying eight points and 12 rebounds alongside three blocks and two steals.
“I have a lot of girls back (next year) and we talked about that in the locker room. Our JV team was very successful so we’ll have some kids who know how to win coming back. The camaraderie will stay the same,” said Welty. “I tried not to talk too much about that but what was nice was that the older girls told the kids not to take for granted all the time that they have from now until they graduate.
“You kind of look back and have regrets. You want certain things to go certain ways and when you’re a senior and it’s over, then you figure it out,” said Welty. “So they kind of gave them a little talk about thinking about it beforehand, which I thought was a nice reflection from the older girls to the younger girls.”
AT CHEEKTOWAGA
Portville (37)
Isaman 4 0-0 11, Carls 2 5-6 9, Rhinehart 3 2-2 9, Haynes 3 2-3 8. Totals: 12 9-11 37
Wilson (38)
Phillips 4 2-2 12, Elia 4 1-4 9, Beck 4 1-2 9, Thrush 2 4-6 8. Totals: 14 8-14 38
Portville 8 12 22 37
Wilson 8 16 27 38
Three-point goals: PV (4) Isaman 3, Rhinehart, WL (2) Phillips 2; Total fouls: PV 15, WL 13; fouled out: None.
