By HUNTER O. LYLE
SMETHPORT, PA – Keeping their New Year success rolling, the Port Allegany boy’s basketball team picked up their second win in a row, beating Smethport 65-34 with contributions coming via committee.
The first month of the season had not been kind to Port. Battling through health and injuries, the Gators kicked off their campaign with a lackluster 1-4 start. Throughout the losses, they continuously felt the void of their senior point guard and key ballhandler, Nick Wilfong, who was sidelined from play due to a broken collar bone sustained during Port’s football team’s playoff run back in November. However, this past week, Wilfong returned.
“(Having him back) has really just changed the whole atmosphere. At practice, at games, he brings the intensity. He gets these guys going when we get down a little bit,” said Port Allegany head coach Kyle Babcock of Wilfong, who helped lead Port to a 46-28 win over Kane on Friday. “He’s a great ballhandler and another scorer when we need it. Overall, just his attitude and just his hustle has really changed practices and games.”
Having a fully-stocked roster for the first time all season, Port was eager to make up for lost time, especially on the North Tier League stage. Smethport, however, was just as excited.
Forcing a turnover on Port’s first possession and battling through an aggressive Gator full-court-press, the Hubbers first points weren’t going to come easily. Yet, through a first possession that saw multiple passes almost picked off, Smethport still produced, with Cole Burdick knocking down a contested triple to open the scoring column. Immediately after, Colin Okerlund came away with a swat at the rim before cashing in on a mid-range jumper to take a swift 5-1 lead in the opening minutes.
Looking to snap the momentum early, Port went back to the basics. Relying on their overwhelming size, the spotlight naturally fell on their star: Jarrod Funk. Quickly changing the tide, Funk tallied the Gators’ first field goal of the night with a basket off an offensive rebound, then scoring again in the paint before coming away with a steal, subsequent split trip at the line and another second chance basket off his own miss. Sooner rather than later, Funk had built up a 8-5 lead with four and a half minutes remaining.
“What kills us is rebounding. You can see it, we just got killed on the boards,” said Smethport head coach Paul Piccoli. “We know. We know what we have to work on.”
Unlike the Gators, Smethport had no way to shut off the valve. As Port’s offense found its footing, especially on the offensive glass, the Hubbers began to stumble. Still battling the on-and-off press, as well as a size-oriented half-court defense that relegated them to the perimeter, Smethport couldn’t find an opening. Instead, they would go virtually scoreless for the remainder of the quarter as Port built up a 14-7 lead.
In the second, however, a window opened. After both squads traded baskets early, the Gators’ fluid system began to jam. Defensive rotations slowed, shots rimmed out and calls decidedly went against them. With a lull in the action, Smethport seized their opportunity. Okerlund and Burdick pushed the attack, combining for nine unanswered points that cut the deficit to just two points.
But just as quickly as they crested the summit, the Gators sent them back down the hill. Chase Boyd ended Port’s two-minute drought, connecting on a mid-range jumper, before coming away with a steal that fed Isac Amell for a post score. The Gators’ full-court-press then reappeared in full force, replacing all of the Hubbers’ rhythm with turnovers. Over the 45 seconds, Port reversed the momentum and tacked on eight unreciprocated points. Ultimately riding their hot streak into the half, the Gators managed to rebuild their lead to 13 heading into halftime.
“I was just telling the guys to play with more intensity, be more aggressive,” said Babcock. “We just kept after them defensively and I think (Smethport) just tired out and we got some easy ones in transition.”
Coming into the second half, Smethport looked to break through the press sooner rather than later with an emphasis on speed. Pushing the pace with long outlet passes and coast-to-coast fastbreaks, they broke through the defense to find open lanes and looks at the basket. However, although they created opportunities, their shots refused to fall.
Meanwhile, Port was primed to pull away. Replicating the same tempo, the Gators continued to speed up Smethport’s defense into uncomfortable positions and rotations in the open court and, while their first shots were equally as ineffective at times, Port relentlessly attacked the offensive glass for second chance scores.
As the third quarter wound on, the fast pace that initially helped the Hubbers began to hinder them. Frantically trying to keep ahead of the defense, Smethport began to hemorrhage turnovers which, in turn, gave way to constant fast break points for the Gators.
“We have four seniors but all the rest are really young who haven’t played a lot of varsity minutes. So a lot of it was our self-confidence. They don’t realize that they’re better than how they’re playing and that they can do better, so they get a little nervous,” said Piccoli. “Then we get passive. I always say I would rather have us make mistakes out of aggressiveness rather than passiveness.”
Forcing turnover after turnover, coupled with an offense that seemed to get everything they wanted, the Gators continued to insulate their lead, which ballooned to 30 with one quarter remaining.
Having all but won the contest already, Port decided to begin rotating in reserves at the beginning of the fourth, a move mirrored by the deflated Hubbers. As the final eight minutes drained off the clock, both teams accepted the outcome. Port definitely picked up a second consecutive win for the first time this season while the Hubbers, on the other hand, notched their eighth loss in as many games.
“I like how we played. I thought we played really well for us. It got out of hand in the third quarter but we played with them,” said Piccoli. “Port’s a really, really good team. They have five seniors on their team. We have four but not everyone has played a ton of varsity minutes. But I like where we’re going, we just have to clean some things up.”
“We’re getting there. We have good halves, good quarters. They’ve grown from last year and I’m happy to see it, it’s just not showing up on the board,” said Piccoli. “(The team) is happy with what they did even though we lost, I’m happy with their effort. It was a very good effort for us and that’s a good thing.”
In his second game back with the team, Wilfong ended with 10 points, being one of four to reach double-digit scoring numbers. Liam Hawver led the way with 14 points, followed by Funk with 13 and Amell with 11.
For Smethport, Okerlund scored a team-high 11 points while Burdick finished with seven and Vinnie Costa ended with six points.
With a pair of league games left on the docket for this week, the Gators are hoping to gain some traction with the real work still ahead of them. First, on Wednesday, they will return home for a contest with Oswayo Valley before traveling to Ulysses, PA on Friday to take on Northern Potter.
“We have two more big games this week. OV is good. They’re scrappy, quick and so is Northern Potter. We have to be ready for them and come out and play,” said Babcock. “If you get down on teams like that, it’s hard to come back.”
AT SMETHPORT
Port Allegany (65)
Hawver 6 2-4 14, Funk 5 2-4 13, Amell 5 1-2 11, Wilfong 5 0-0 10, Kaple 3 0-0 8, Boyd 3 0-0 7, Crum 1 0-0 2. Totals: 28 5-10 65
Smethport (34)
Okerlund 4 3-4 11, Burdick 2 2-3 7, Costa 2 2-3 6, Swanson 1 0-0 3, Walosewicz 1 0-0 3, Riekofsky 1 0-0 2, Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 7-10 34
Port Allegany 14 34 54 65
Smethport 7 21 24 34
Three-point goals: PA (4) Kaple 2, Funk, Boyd, SM (3) Swanson, Walosewicz, Burdick; Total fouls: PA 13, SM 13; Fouled out: Burdick, Riekofsky (SM).
JV: Port Allegany 41, Smethport 26
