By HUNTER O. LYLE
BRADFORD, PA – Coming out of what would be their last bit of rest, the Port Allegany boy’s basketball team’s fifth consecutive win hid behind a mere one-point deficit. After wiping away Bradford’s double-digit lead in the third quarter, and through a dog-fight fourth, the Gators had just 14.2 seconds to close the gap.
After burning over a minute off the clock, priming themselves for the last shot of the game, the Gators inbounded. As the seconds drained off the clock, they scrambled right, scrambled left, searching for their opening. Finally, Liam Hawver got the ball, putting up a floater from five feet and as time expired, it connected with the rim.
Bouncing once, as if still making up its mind, the ball rolled out, sealing the Gators’ 43-42 defeat to the Owls.
“I figured it would come down to a one possession game, said Port Allegany head coach Kyle Babcock, “it just didn’t fall our way.”
Coming into this game, both teams were primed to take home a win. While Port was in the midst of their turnaround win streak – after starting the season 1-4 they had successfully pulled back above 0.500 – the Owls entered having just snapped a two-game losing skid where both games had been decided by a combined six points. Needless to say, they were eager to keep trending in the right direction.
The Owls’ initial effort was led by their bigs, Carter Roulo and Danny Marasco. Their impact was felt immediately, as the duo defenders collapsed on Port’s Jarrod Funk in the post for a swift steal. Pulling down a subsequent offensive rebound and score, Marasco opened the score books before Roulo came up with another steal immediately after and fed him for two points in transition. With their help, along with Bradford’s relentless full-court-press and high-trap defense which produced three early turnovers, the Owls’ opened up the game with a 6-1 lead.
“I knew that we had a little bit of a mismatch (with Roulo and Marasco) and you definitely have to take advantage of those,” said Bradford head coach Andrew Terwilliger. “We talked about it prior to the game and we moved the ball well, got good looks inside and it was there.”
However, once the Gators saw the ball go through the hoop – Hawver connected on an open 3-pointer for Port’s first field goal around the four minute mark – their offense began to flow. Despite missing several shots in close, effort on the boards came away with several second chance scores, including another triple, this time from Funk. By the time the first eight minutes ended, the Gators had closed the gap to just one point.
Ports’ persistence continued to carry them in the early moments of the second quarter. Despite the Owls opening the period with a shot from long range from Marcus Terwilliger, the Gators remained steadfast in their focus on the offensive glass. A steal and offensive rebound from Julian Kaple produced two made shots at the free throw line while another offensive board from Nick Wilfong managed to knot the game at 13 with five minutes left.
“That was one of the key points. We had to rebound, we had to box out. I feel like we did a good job crashing the boards,” said Babcock. “Even our guards. They got blocked a couple times, stuck with it, got a layup or got fouled. That was just one of our points of emphasis, just getting after the rebounds.”
Facing a mounting wave, the Owls leaned on their tried and true playbook. Putting their foot on the pedal, Bradford quickly raised the tempo, both in the half-court and in transition. Constant off-ball player movement overwhelmed their opponents, ultimately finding cracks in the armor, while long outlet passes found recipients with clean looks at the basket.
After less than two minutes of the game being tied, Bradford had rebuilt a six-point lead. More importantly, they had stolen the momentum, which carried over through the halftime intermission.
Out of the gates of the third quarter, Bradford’s offense continued to execute. Once again, it was their double bigs who led the way, with Roulo and Marasco scoring their first four points. A steal from Evan Troisi and a layup from Tyler Simmons put the Owls up by 10 with a little over five minutes to go in the quarter.
Down by the largest deficit of the night, the Gators resorted to physicality. Continuing to probe inside the paint with drives and post plants, Port now searched for contact along the way. Making two of their next three shots at the line, followed by a triple from Funk, chipped the lead back down to single digits at six.
With their legs back under them, Port then switched their defense into a full-court-press and instantly found production. Despite being unable to come away with a strip or steal in the first four minutes of the third, the Gators’ defense suddenly snapped into action, finding five Bradford turnovers in the last four minutes, including a 10-second violation.
Creating a window for themselves, Port surged, ending the quarter on a 18-6 run and bringing the game back to even with one quarter remaining.
“I just told the guys to keep working and keep pushing. We’re talented enough that if we get down ten, that’s not a big deal to us,” said Babcock. “We just need to be confident. We looked nervous early on and I just told my seniors that they needed to be better. They responded well and we came out and had that little run.”
Back on a level playing field, both teams traded blows. Despite opening the final quarters’ scoring on a split trip to the line from Terwilliger, Bradford watched as Port took their first lead of the night from a Wilfong layup. The Owls snapped back with a made jumper and followed up another Gator score with a momentum making and-one opportunity from Marasco, but Port re-tied the game not long after with two more free throws from Chase Boyd. With just under two minutes remaining, neither team could gain an edge.
Coming down the stretch, Marasco would give the Owls one last chance to hold out, going 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to give Bradford a single-point lead. Looking to harness the pressure, Port burned clock, creating a do-or-die moment with just 14 seconds left. Despite getting the shot off, it refused to fall, cutting short their would-be comeback.
“We called a timeout and drew something up for Isaac (Amell.) Isaac had (Roulo) and I thought Isaac was a little quicker. I figured they’d be kind of keying in on Jarrod and Nick,” said Babcock. “We came out and kind of ran it to the wrong side of the floor, didn’t run it exactly how we drew it up, but we got a good look and it just didn’t fall.”
Marasco led all scorers on the night with a game-high 14 points alongside six rebounds and a steal. Marcus Terwilliger followed closely behind with 12 points three assists and a block while Simmons had four points and Roulo had four.
For Port, Wilfong led the Gators with 13 points and two steals while Funk had nine points, eight rebounds and two steals and Hawver had nine points, three assists, a steal and a block.
“I told those kids after the game, ‘you have to quit doing this to me,’” laughed Andrew Terwilliger after the game Andrew Terwilliger. “Defensive stops were the key. There’s things that we do in practice and we talked about it in the timeout. I said, ‘there’s a reason we do the shell drill every day in practice,’ and what we did tonight, getting the defensive stop, is the reason we do all that. They were all fired up about that.”
AT BRADFORD
Port Allegany (42)
Wilfong 5 2-2 13, Funk 2 4-4 9, Hawver 2 4-6 9, Amell 3 1-2 7, Kaple 0 2-2 2, Boyd 0 2-2 2. Totals: 12 15-18 42
Bradford (43)
Marasco 5 4-5 14, Terwilliger 5 1-2 12, Simmons 3 0-0 6, Roulo 2 0-0 4, Sherk 1 2-2 4, Austin 1 0-0 3. Totals: 17 7-9 43
Port Allegany 9 18 34 42
Bradford 10 22 34 43
Three-point goals: PA (3) Funk, Hawver, Wilfong , BD (2) Terwilliger, Austin; Total fouls: PA 11, BD 12; Fouled out: None.
