Gowanda Small Town Times

On Thursday, January 12, the Gowanda Varsity girls basketball team was at Salamanca. Right off the opening tip-off, Gowanda’s Gao:Wisa:S “Wassy” Stevens hit from long range to put the team up 3-0. That was quickly matched with Salamanca landing a 3-pointer of their own. From a 5-5 tie, Gowanda stalled allowing Salamanca to grab a 13-5 advantage. With a late 1st quarter rally. Gowanda managed to narrow the gap to 15-17 by the end of the period. In the 2nd period both teams slowed down after Gowanda moved into a quick 22-19 lead. Gowanda stalled again and Salamanca was able to pull back into a 28-22 advantage at halftime with a trio of questionable 3-pointers.

Things got a lot tighter in the 2nd half. Salamanca won the period 11-9 with a pair of 3rd quarter-ending free throws. In the hard fought 4th quarter, Gowanda was only able outscore Salamanca 11-10. That gave Salamanca a 49-42 win.

Wassy Stevens led Gowanda with four 3-pointers and a total of 15 points. Chloe Luther also had a three pointer and contributed 11 points. As has been the case for several games now, Lily Scanlan had a lone 3-pointer in the game.

In other sports news, on January 12 the Gowanda boys bowling team hosted Franklinville at K&L Lanes. Franklinville does not have a girls team.

With just five Franklinville bowlers, as opposed to six per game for Gowanda, the margin of victory was greater than it might have otherwise been. The 4-0 victory, 888-606, 853-513 and 886-539 plus total pins, move the Gowanda boy’s record to 8-2. Top bowlers for Gowanda were Drew Shull (129-224-223/576) and Nicholas Smuda (182-183-210/575). Also bowling in all three games were Aiden Gray (144-125-120/389) and Gavin Whitcher (117-99-101/317). Three Gowanda boys bowled in two of three games making the equivalent of two sets in a mix-and-match fashion. Those bowlers and their 2-game totals are Kory Degenfelder (313), Zachary Hojnacki (232) and Drezden Spire (225).