PORT ALLEGANY — Should we stay or should we go?
After the Gators’ 73-30 drubbing at the hands of Smethport on Monday, the Port boys’ head basketball coach Jason Luther wanted to see a better effort versus North Tier League power Cameron County on Thursday before throwing the hat into the ring for the upcoming District 9 Class A tournament.
Luther and the rest of the school officials had to be pleased with the Gators’ performance in a nail-biting 46-43 loss to the Red Raiders at the Port gym.
So the playoff question was posed to Luther once again.
“I don’t know yet,” Luther said. “I want to go, but I want to make sure it’s the right decision for the school. I’ll talk to Mr. (Dan) Stavisky Friday morning. It will come down to health. How many kids are we going to have healthy?”
It seemed like the Red Raiders were going to take a healthy lead when layups by Nate Sestina, Tyler Wigfield and Dylan Clingan staked the visitors to a 6-0 advantage just 77 seconds into the contest.
Port countered with a 3-pointer by freshman Jordan Seefeldt and a free throw from Rickie Bova, but the 6-5 sophomore Sestina would score nine points in the quarter and the 6-4 senior Wigfield added four in a 15-6 cushion with 1:08 left.
“We established our presence underneath at the beginning of the game,” said Jon Songer, Cameron County second-year (27-15) head coach. “They (Sestina and Wigfield) are our two best scorers, they work well together and we’ll go as far as they take us.”
Matt Bodamer then drilled a trey from the right corner to cut Port’s deficit to 15-9 after one, and then the 6-foot senior dropped in four more points and Logan Stuckey swished a 16-footer as the hosts pulled within 17-15 with 3:39 remaining in the half.
“Matt (Bodamer) had the flu and now he’s healthy,” Luther noted. “He is such a great athlete.”
After Cameron County went on a 6-0 run, Seefeldt drained a triple from the top of the key and the Red Raiders answered with a Sestina-assisted layup by C.J. Markum to provide a 25-18 margin at the intermission.
Bova and Sestina traded buckets to commence the third period, and then Tre Garzel and Bova hit consecutive treys to pare the Port disparity to 27-26 with five minutes left in the third.
The inside prowess of Sestina and Wigfield got the lead back up to seven on two occasions before another trifecta by Seefeldt allowed a workable 36-31 margin after three.
The Gators came out in the final quarter with guns a blazin’ as Bodamer ripped a 3 from the right wing and Chris Lashway sank another from the same side, and then Port enjoyed its first lead at 39-38 with 5:05 showing on a steal and subsequent layup by Bodamer.
Sestina then fed Wigfield for a layin, but Bodamer responded with a spinner in the lane to send Port in front 41-40 with 4:04 left.
After the Red Raiders had regained a 42-41 lead on a putback by Sestina, Bodamer executed a great bounce pass to a streaking Seefeldt for a 43-42 advantage with 2:26 remaining.
Clingan banked home a 4-footer with 1:52 left for a 44-43 lead and then with just under a minute to play Sestina rejected a potential go-ahead shot in the paint.
Still trailing by one, Luther called timeout at the 30.3 juncture, but a Port player was whistled for a double dribble with 9.9 on the clock.
Going to the charity stripe for a crucial 1-and-1 with 8.2 left. Sestina glanced up at the scoreboard, took an extra bounce and calmly converted both free throws for a 46-43 count.
“That was a big block by Nate (Sestina) and he had a couple of clutch free throws at the end,” Songer recalled.
Bodamer then dribbled into right corner and launched a 3, but the ball struck the near side of the rim as the buzzer sounded. The Gators amassed eight 3-pointers on the night, but No. 9 just wouldn’t fall.
“On the last play we tried to attack off the dribble,” Luther explained. “We shoot so many 3s in practice eventually they’ve got to go in. We can compete with a lot of teams if we shoot them well.”
It was a classic confrontation of Cameron’s inside game and Port’s long-range bombing.
“Give credit to Port Allegany for shooting 3s like that,” Songer stated. “We knew this would be a tough test. Games like this will help us in the playoffs. I want to give credit to my guys. Port was making shots and had a couple of nice runs, and my guys kept their composure and didn’t panic.”
Bodamer had 16 points and Seefeldt contributed 13 points for the Gators (8-9, 5-7), who will host Oswayo Valley on Monday.
Sestina registered 19 points and 11 rebounds; and Wigfield pitched in with 12 points, nine boards and six assists. Despite winning 12 of its last 14, the Red Raiders (15-4, 10-2) have a slim chance of catching the Hubbers (18-1, 12-0) for the NTL crown when Cameron hosts Coudersport on Monday.
“Smethport is two games up on us and I don’t think we’ll get the league title,” Songer admitted. “Maybe we’ll see them in the playoffs.”
CAMERON COUNTY (46)
Clingan 3-3-4-9, Wigfield 5-2-5-12, Spehalski 0-0-1-0, Sestina 7-4-6-19, Armstrong 2-0-0-4, Markum 1-0-0-2, Totals 18-9-15-46
PORT ALLEGANY (43)
Stuckey 1-0-0-2, Bodamer 6-2-2-16, Garzel 1-0-0-3, Lashway 1-0-0-3, Seefeldt 4-2-2-13, Bova 2-1-2-6, Totals 15-5-9-43
By Quarters
Cameron County 15 10 11 10 — 46
Port Allegany 9 9 13 12 — 43h
Three-point FGs: Cameron — Sestina; Port — Seefeldt 3,Bodamer 2, Garzel, Lashway, Bova
No JV game
