By HUNTER O. LYLE
DUKE CENTER, PA – With less than three minutes remaining in their home opener, the Terrors were in trouble. Their lead, which had held strong through the previous three quarters, had vanished under a rising Port Allegany wave of momentum that, in turn, had rendered them scoreless.
However, in a glimpse of years past, a timely Otto-Eldred 3-pointer turned the tide. Retaking the lead late and solidifying it with clutch work down the line, the Terrors survived their first test of the season, defeating the Gators 50-42. As the final buzzer sounded, the Terror Dome erupted in another similar moment of deja vu.
“This is why you love high school sports. The crowd, the energy, I mean, just walking from the locker room I met six different community members that come to every game,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Rob Wight. “That’s what you love about high school sports. Community. Terror pride.”
The Terrors entered Wednesday’s North Tier League matchup fresh off their season opening win over Northern Potter, but they knew Port would be a taller task to handle. For years, the Gators had been eyeing O-E from a spot or two down in the league standings, unable to summit the Blue and Gold hump, but finally were poised to cross the threshold.
Through the opening few minutes, there was no clear favorite, with each team equally trading blows. When O-E’s Ryan Schenfield came away with a steal on Port’s very first play, ultimately feeding Wyatt Blendinger for a fastbreak layup, the Gators responded with a Liam Hawyer and-one, albeit, missing the converting free throw. When Michael Sheeler knocked down the first triple of the game soon after, Port’s Chase Boyd retaliated with one of his own. But then the Terrors began to pull away.
Facing a Gators’ 3-2 zone, O-E carefully slowed down the game. Sticking to the perimeter and quickly running give-and-go passes, the Terrors managed to create space for their shooters, who wasted no time getting into the scoring column. Following a second-chance score from Jack Sherry in the paint, Mason Rees knocked down back-to-back threes to give O-E a 13-5 lead with two minutes to go. Holding Port scoreless for the remainder of the quarter and connecting on a third triple, this time from Mason Schenfield, the Terrors had amassed a 11-0 run to go up 16-5.
“That’s been our M.O., if you’re open, shoot the ball. No one’s going to get the red light,” said Wight. “Last night in NoPo, we struggled in the first quarter and tonight we came out hot. If you’re going to come out hot at home and shoot the ball well, you’re going to push a lot of teams out of that zone.”
Unable to score for over five and a half minutes, settling for contested looks at the rim throughout the first quarter, the Gators’ offense found a spark in the second. However, it came from their defense.
After Jarrod Funk broke the drought with a successful three-point-play at the line, Port swapped their zone defense for man-to-man, a change that all but stalled the Terrors dead in the tracks. With no open spaces to cut backdoor or passing lanes left open, O-E’s offense ground to halt. Leaning into the pressure with a full-court-assault, Port managed to come away with back-to-back steals and a 9-0 run that was capped off by a triple from Hawyer and a put back from Funk, cutting the deficit to just four.
“I think we just underestimated (O-E) a little bit early. They’re a little bit quicker than we anticipated,” said Port Allegany head coach Kyle Babcock, “so we just tried to get out and pressure them a little bit, which worked at times.”
However, using the clock to their advantage and coming away with tick-for-tack scores down the line, O-E maintained the upper hand, entering the break with a 25-19 lead.
In the second half, both squads leaned into their natural advantages. Having size on their side, the Gators continuously threw the ball down to the low block, where Funk looked to score from the post. Meanwhile, the Terrors, utilizing their foot speed and ball handling, returned to the fast player and ball movement that had built their early lead. Again, it worked.
Finding ways around the opposing man defense with screens and speed, O-E came away with five quick points before Port finally retaliated. The Gators’ scoring, however, was scattered as they just couldn’t find a way to take the lid off the rim consistantly. Meanwhile, a steal and score from Mason Schenfield followed by a triple from Sheeler built the lead to 37-23.
Needing to find a stop by any means, Port then returned to their full-court-press, an effort that, again, worked sooner rather than later. To end the third, the Gators came away with three Terror turnovers and eight points of their own.
“We had to challenge them. We had to come out and get some turnovers,” said Babcock. “Time was running out and we responded well.”
Having their defense holding O-E in place, Funk took the reins of the offense to start the fourth. Opening the quarter with a second-chance score, the senior single-handedly poured in seven unanswered points, the final three coming from a go-ahead triple for the Gators’ first lead of the night.
Suddenly backed into a corner and scoreless for five minutes, the Terrors looked up at a one-point deficit with just over two minutes to go. However, they kept their composure. Running a backdoor screen for Sherry, O-E found daylight in the corner, feeding the junior for a wide open jumper from long range that swished through the net. Immediately after, they found a much needed stop, forcing a Port miss to regain possession.
Forced between a rock and hard place and with the Terrors using the clock to their advantage, Port had no other option to foul and hope for some misses at the charity stripe. But they never came. Closing out the game with 6-for-6 shooting, O-E cemented their now insurmountable lead, surviving a late comeback and earning their second win of the season.
“We’ve got Smethport on Friday so there’s no rest for us. This is a great start to the year, 2-0, but it’s just one step at a time from here,” said Wight. “We’ll focus on Smethport at practice tomorrow and just keep grinding one game at a time and see how it goes.”
Mason Schenfield finished with a team-high 16 points alongside his seven assists and five rebounds. In his first game as a Terror, Sherry posted a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds while Sheeler’s three 3-pointers put him in double digits with 11 points as well. For the Gators, Funk led all scorers with 20 points, collecting seven rebounds and one steal, while Hawyer finished with 11 points and four rebounds.
While the Terrors remain at home for the upcoming weekend, hosting the annual Randy Stebbins Memorial Tournament which begins on Friday, Port’s road trip continues with a trip down to Clarion for their own tournament experience.
“We definitely have to get better and it starts at practice. We had too many guys just standing around on defense. If you’re out there, you have to be playing 100 percent,” said Babcock. “Hopefully we buy in and start the work at practice and then head down to North Clarion this weekend with the right mindset.”
AT DUKE CENTER
Port Allegany (42)
Funk 9 1-1 20, Hawyer 4 2-3 11, Boyd 2 0-0 5, Amell 1 1-1 3, Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 4-5 42
Otto-Eldred (50)
M. Schenfield 4 6-8 16, Sheeler 4 0-0 11, Sherry 4 1-2 11, Rees 2 2-2 8, Blendinger 1 0-0 2, R. Schenfield 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 9-12 50
Port Allegany 5 19 33 42
Otto-Eldred 16 25 40 50
Three-point goals: PA (3) Funk, Hawyer, Boyd, O-E (9) Sheeler 3, Rees 2, Sherry 2, M. Schenfield 2; Total fouls: PA 13, O-E 13; fouled out: None.
JV: Otto-Eldred 34, Port Allegany 28
