By HUNTER O. LYLE
ALLEGANY, NY – Opening the second day of the 50th annual Joe DeCerbo Holiday Showcase, the Olean girl’s basketball team struggled to keep out of their own way, losing 39-31 to Ellicottville.
The Huskies’ biggest problem would surface sooner rather than later. Starting on their first touch of the game, turnovers became frequent. Fending off defenders in both half-court and in the full-court sets, Olean struggled to hold onto the ball. However, despite coming away with several fastbreak opportunities, the Eagles couldn’t find a way to finish at the rim, building their early 4-2 lead off of head-down drives through the lane.
Needing to put their thus far clunky offense in gear, Alaina Hirliman stepped up. Coming off a pin-down screen, Hirliman netted her first basket of the game from long range, giving Olean their first lead at the four-minute mark. She kept the Huskies in front by nailing two more triples as Olean finished the first quarter on a 12-2 run.
“Our offense definitely runs through (Hirliman) and when we don’t have her it’s hard to find points. We just need more kids to be aggressive. Alaina’s aggressive and that’s why she scores,” said Olean head coach Chelsea Bowker. “We just need to be more aggressive.”
Any new-found momentum the Huskies had gathered was quickly clipped as turnovers once again became a constant. As Ellicottville defenders swarmed to ballhandlers, forcing high-court traps and held balls, the Huskies surrendered four consecutive giveaways on their first four touches. As Olean’s offense sputtered, the Eagles slowly chipped away at the deficit, ultimately retaking the lead at 17-14 with a triple from Ande Northrup.
Through the final three minutes, Olean were able to put themselves back out in front as they began forcing their way to the free throw line. Using their physicality inside, they entered halftime up by two, however, were still unable to assemble any sense of a rhythm and in the third, the process started all over again.
Both teams entered a dry spell out after coming out of halftime, each going scoreless for five complete minutes. While Ellicottville couldn’t seem to take the lid off the rim, with their shots routinely rimming or bouncing out, Olean still battled with their lasting turnover struggles.
“We always have a hard time when teams press us. There’s just no reason for it. We have good ballhandlers and we have some good basketball IQ,” said Bowker. “We just freak out when we see pressure. We know it’s coming but we just can’t control it.”
As both stumbled through the third quarter, the Eagles managed to take a 26-24 advantage with one period remaining.
Whereas they were missing intensity early, the Huskies broke out in the fourth with a renewed energy. Hustling up the floor and fighting under the boards, Olean found production from multiple Huskies. Lozynska and Amelia Jones came away with several second chance rebounds, while Ava Finch and Hirliman capped off possessions with scores both inside and out.
However, halfway through the fourth, their aggression evaporated. Grinding down against a relentless press and zone defense, the Huskies slowed and slogged to a halt. Meanwhile, Ellicottville chipped away, stringing seven unanswered points together to seal the victory late.
Hirliman ended with a team-high 12 points, followed by Finch who ended with nine and Jones tallied four points in the loss.
“I think the team just needs to be more aggressive overall,” said Bowker, whose team is now 2-4. “Whether it’s being more aggressive for loose balls, for rebounds, taking shots, we’re just very timid and shy.”
AT ALLEGANY
Ellicottville (39)
Whitmer 7 0-0 14, A. Northrup 3 0-4 9, Finn 3 1-4 7, Andrews 2 0-2 4, K. Northrup 1 1-2 3, Potter 0 2-2 2. Totals: 16 4-14 39
Olean (31)
Hirliman 4 0-2 12, Finch 2 5-8 9, Jones 2 0-2 4, Bohdanowyz 1 1-1 3, Lozynska 1 0-2 3. Totals: 10 6-15 31
Ellicottville 6 19 26 39
Olean 14 21 24 31Three-point goals: EC (3) A. Northrup 3, OL (5) Hirliman 4, Lozynska; Total fouls: EC 16, OL 12; Fouled out: None
