By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — Through just over half of its game, it was smooth sailing for the Salamanca boys basketball team.
It controlled just about every aspect of its Reilly Center fixture against Frewsburg and looked sure to coast its way over the finish line with a victory in tow.
And while the Warriors did eventually win, topping the Bears 56-49, down the stretch the road was anything but smooth.
Salamanca’s offense hit its stride early. Carlton Farmer was hitting shots from range, Dominick Hill maneuvered his way through the paint and Payton Bradley went strong to the basket. The likes of Calum Farnum, Payton Maybee, Brendon Ghani and Adrian Taylor all had their moments as well and gained the praise of their head coach.
“Adrian, I was really proud of him. I thought he had his best game of the year today,” Salamanca head coach Adam Bennett said. “I thought he played free and fast. He wasn’t overthinking. Cal’s having a nice stretch of the season, and in the fourth quarter we put Cal in for his ability to rebound. He makes plays and he’s not scared with the ball. These are guys that are all new to our game, to these environments, to playing the minutes that they’re playing, and they’re doing it well. Payton Maybee often goes overlooked, but he plays big minutes for us. He rebounds the ball, he’s the glue guy, he does everything that you want as a coach. So we’re developing that kind of depth. We’ve got a long way to go with it, but it’s good to see them step up and make plays.”
Its defense was in top form as well, holding Frewsburg to just eight points in each of the first two quarters.
The start of the second half was all Salamanca too, but it was as soon as its lead had hit the 20-point margin, things started to fall apart.
The Bears managed to put together a 10-0 run towards the end of the third frame and while that still left the Warriors with a sizable advantage, far more damage was done to their mentality than their lead.
“I felt like that 10-0 run started affecting how we played in the fourth quarter,” Bennett said. “We started not pressuring the ball the way that we needed to. I thought we did a tremendous job up to that point on the defensive glass. Then all of a sudden, they’re starting to get some offensive rebounds, kick-outs and hit some 3s. We let the first run affect how we played and I think that’s been a microcosm of our season.”
Salamanca’s Dominick Hill (4) attempts a layup in transition against Frewsburg. Hill scored a team-high 13 points for the Warriors in their win over the Bears. (Spencer Bates)
The scoring ground to a near halt, the advantage they held on the glass had disappeared and turnovers started to mount. Meanwhile, behind that 10-0 run, Frewsburg began trending the other way.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Bears went on a 12-2 scoring run that catapulted them right back into contention.
The Warriors were out of sorts and according to Bennett, it was because they allowed their mindset to change at the sight of adversity.
“It was more hesitancy than comfort,” Bennett said of what caused his team’s struggles. “It was, ‘I don’t want to mess up. I want to make the right play.’ Frewsburg crashed four guys to the glass the entire fourth quarter. … All five guys have to block out. I thought we were trying to leak a little bit because they were crashing. So, what happened to us is we were giving up these offensive rebounds, they start scoring, and then offensively, we start to turn it over, because we want to get it all back at once instead of doing the things that we do in terms of our ball movement, motion offense, screens, curl cuts, trying to flip the floor and make them work. We were playing into their hands.”
Frewsburg brought itself within one point of Salamanca with plenty of time left on the clock. But just as the former closed the gap, the latter found it still had a bit left in the tank.
The Warriors hit some important shots late and got to the free throw line in droves. Granted, their poor showing at the stripe nearly cost them the game.
“It’s contagious, shooting comes and goes and that extends to the line,” Bennett said. “We were 6-for-22 (from the free throw line), that’s atrocious. … There was hesitancy and that extended to the foul line. I know how our guys shoot the ball, I know their routines at the foul line, and every single one of their routines was slower. … We’re a really good free throw shooting team. We got guys that can shoot the ball. We just don’t think about it. Just step up, go into your routine, shoot the ball and trust that, if you miss it, our guys are going to pick it up anyway.”
Salamanca’s Calum Farnum (5) goes up for a layup against Frewsburg. (Spencer Bates)
Ultimately, Bennett wants his team to understand the sentiment that no basketball game will ever be flawless. There are ebbs and flows — it’s called a game of runs for a reason. And he’s seen signs as to what his team is capable of when they play with that mindset. But when that goes out the window, the time scrambling to try and reconstruct that confidence has allowed other teams to swoop in and take advantage.
This time that was not the case. Bennett’s Warriors put themselves back together in the nick of time and saw the win through. For that, he is proud.
“If you take stretches from midway through the second quarter to midway through the third quarter, that shows how good we can be,” Bennett said. “I think that comes with experience. The other two times that happened to us this year, we lost those games. I was really proud of them because we took a punch but we punched back and we found a way to win.”
Salamanca will look to build on the win on Jan. 12 at home against Olean.
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AT ST. BONAVENTURE
Frewsburg (49)
Huttberg 6 3-4 15, Culver 5 3-4 13, Weaver 5 0-0 12, Signorino 2 1-1 5, Lewis 0 2-4 2, Beckstrum 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 9-13 49
Salamanca (56)
Hill 5 3-10 13, Farmer 4 0-0 12, Bradley 5 0-1 10, Ghani 4 1-5 9, Farnum 2 2-2 6, Maybee 3 0-4 6. Totals: 22 6-22 56
Frews. 8 16 28 49
Sala. 12 28 40 56
Three-point goals: Frews. 2 (Weaver 2), Sala. 4 (Farmer 4); Total fouls: Frews. 19, Sala. 16; Fouled out: Lewis (Frews.).
