By SPENCER BATES
OLEAN — The No. 7 seed Olean boys basketball team was not without its struggles in its Section 6 Class A2 Pre-Quarterfinal game against No. 10 seed Albion.
But when it mattered most, the Huskies were able to execute, nabbing a 56-48 victory.
The Purple Eagles put seed numbers far in the rearview and brought the fight right to the Huskies on their home court. From the jump they hounded the hosts, forcing turnovers and a plethora of empty possessions. Something that head coach Tim Kolasinski was not shocked to see them do.
“We knew (Albion) was gonna come down here and give us their best,” Kolasinski said. “We saw them on film a couple times, and to be honest, one of the things we preached was that even if they got down double digits or more, they came back. We knew that they were gonna fight all the way to the end. We obviously saw that today. They really battled.”
As mistakes and fruitless trips up the floor continued to stack up, Kolasinski admitted the players’ confidence took a hit. It affected how they operated and executed and only built the belief within the Purple Eagles that they could steal a win on the road.
Olean’s largest lead of the first half was just three points and entering the intermission, it was down 21-19. Albion closed the half with a 7-3 burst, scoring on three consecutive turnovers from the hosts.
“We missed some shots early, things didn’t necessarily go our way, and when that happens, all of a sudden things start to get magnified,” Kolasinski said. “The rim starts to feel a little bit smaller. The moment starts to feel a little bit bigger. I think we played like that, for sure, early in the first half. We had the kind of turnovers that were contributing directly to their baskets. I think it took us a while to calm down and just get back to our fundamentals and play the way that we talk about all the time.”
The third quarter saw no difference in score differential as the Huskies remained down two points at 35-33. But there were some non-numerical improvements that ultimately paved the way for a dramatic fourth quarter. A handful of strong buckets, scored fighting through contact, reestablished the confidence that had taken a hit early in the game.
And behind some more baskets with the additional foul shot tacked on, the Huskies roared back into the lead.
“It seemed like we sort of started to shy away from going inside a little bit, and then all of a sudden, whether it was us getting turnovers, rebounds, or pushing the pace a little bit, we were finally getting the ball inside against their zone and getting to the rim,” Kolasinski said. “That was huge for us. Not only were we making baskets, but we were getting that foul as well. … Those And-1 type plays are huge momentum plays. We strung a few together and that was really big for our confidence.”
Olean’s Joe Mest (24) puts up a 3-pointer against Albion. Mest scored eight points for the Huskies in their win. (Spencer Bates)
Olean was led by Mykel Rivera, who netted a game-high 25 points. Kolasinski credited Rivera for his ability to refocus himself during the break and help lead the charge down the stretch.
“I think Mykel came in very focused today,” Kolasinski said. “He was a little upset with himself about a couple misses and things early in the game, but his confidence never wavered. He really came through for us. He scored some huge baskets and hit some free throws down the stretch that helped us.”
With the win, Kolasinski is hoping the playoff jitters are out of his team’s system. Games only get harder from here on out and if his team is to succeed in future rounds, it cannot afford to have stretches of minutes like the ones it had against Albion.
“Each team’s different,” Kolasinski said. “Even if they have experience, there is some time where it sets in ‘this could be our last game.’ I’m hoping that we got that out of our system today. So that’s going to be the first thing. The second thing is going to be, ‘hey, let’s clean up some of these mistakes.’ I really feel like we came through when we needed to, but we certainly could have been a lot more efficient today, and that’ll be something we’ll work on.”
Olean will now move on to play No. 2 seed Maryvale (13-6) in the A2 Quarterfinals. That game is set for Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. at Maryvale High School.
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AT OLEAN
Albion (48)
Doxey 7 1-3 17, Cody 5 0-0 12, Olles 3 1-1 7, Burgio 2 1-1 5, Gibsen 1 1-2 4, Trapiss 1 0-0 3. Totals: 19 4-7 48
Olean (56)
RIvera 8 9-16 25, Teachman 4 3-4 11, Mest 3 0-0 8, Hogle 3 1-2 7, Myers 1 0-0 3, B. Ruggles 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 13-22 56
ALB 8 21 35 48
OL 7 19 33 56
Three-point goals: ALB 6 (Doxey 2, Cody 2, Gibsen, Trapiss), OL 3 (Mest 2, Myers); Total fouls: ALB 19, OL 12; Fouled out: Hogle (OL), Doxey (ALB).
