ALLEGANY, N.Y. — After holding a 21-18 lead at halftime, the Port Allegany girls basketball team pulled away with a strong third quarter effort to beat Salamanca 59-47.
With multiple Gators playing well, Brynn Evens was chosen as player of the game in the opening contest of the Joe DeCerbo Memorial Holiday Showcase.
“The early start affected us in the first half,” Port Allegany coach Jamie Evens said about the 11 a.m. start. “We talked at halftime; it was just a matter of the girls waking up and doing what they needed to do.”
Ella Moses got going early for the Gators, scoring six points to help Port Allegany go ahead 9-6 at the end of the opening quarter. Salamanca star Leilene McComber had four points.
Moses usually is able to fill up the stat sheet, but it’s hard to beat the Gators when the rest of the team contributes as well. Without Moses scoring in the second quarter, Mady Errick contributed four points and Evens hit two three-pointers to keep the Gators ahead at halftime winning 21-18.
“Moses draws a lot of attention and that causes other players to be open for opportunities,” Salamanca coach Joe Hinman said.
Port Allegany really started clicking coming out of the half. They pushed their advantage to 35-28 with 2:20 left in the third quarter. The Gators then began to establish a strong advantage, closing the quarter with a 10-2 run making it 45-31.
“Ella got into some foul trouble in the first half,” Jamie Evens said. “We had several girls step up and make some big shots. Peyton Gordan and Mady Errick can score, but they normally aren’t big scorers for us. That was the key to us still being in the game at halftime quite frankly.”
The fourth quarter was about the Gators not giving up their large lead. Salamanca failed to generate much momentum early as they were down 49-31 with 6:41 left in the game. They did get a 10-2 run though soon after with help from Port Allegany turnovers.
Ultimately, the run only closed the gap to 51-41 and it was too late to make it interesting at the end. Port Allegany got back in control and coasted to the finish line winning 59-47.
Evens was named player of the game for Port Allegany, sinking four three-pointers en route to scoring 16 points. Moses was the game’s leading scorer with 17 points while Errick had 10 points. McComber was named player of the game for the Warriors as she led the team with 14 points. Mackenzie Crouse added 12.
Salamanca falls to 3-2 while the Gators are now 7-1 on the season with their only loss being against Bradford. “Honestly we expected to be 8-0,” Evens said. “That Bradford game was hopefully an aberration; we did not play well. We are now focused on the league; we only have one non-league game left.”
Port Allegany will next play Brockway at home on Saturday, January 4 at 12:30 p.m. Salamanca will host Jamestown Friday at 7:30 p.m.
“We lost four starters from last year, so we are still figuring things out,” Hinman said. “We really are just moving forward, and we will get ready for this new year.”
AT ALLEGANY
PORT ALLEGANY (59)
Renner 1 5-6 7, Moses 6 5-10 17, M. Errick 3 4-7 10, Gordon 2 2-2 7, Evens 5 2-4 16, E. Errick 1 0-2 2. Totals: 18 18-31 59.
SALAMANCA (47)
Wass 4 0-0 8, Crouse 6 0-1 12, Dowdy 1 1-2 3, McCumber 6 2-4 14, Stahlman 1 4-4 6, Ross 2 0-0 4. Totals: 20 7-11 47
Port 9 21 45 59
Sal 6 18 31 47
Three-point goals: Port 5 (Evens 4, Gordon), Salamanca (None). Total fouls: Port Allegany 10, Salamanca 20. Fouled out: Crouse (S)
