Gowanda Small Town Times

The Gowanda Varsity boys basketball team was at Portville on February 8. In the 1st quarter, Portville jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. Gowanda narrowed that to 8-7 before Portville hit on back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a rally that pushed their lead back out to 18-7. That margin held to the end of the period where the score stood at 21-11.

Gowanda fought their way back in the 2nd quarter. Outscoring Portville 11-2 Gowanda closed to within a point at 23-22. A pair of Quentin Centner 3-point baskets helped Gowanda pull ahead 30-29 by halftime.

A defense dominated 3rd quarter followed. Portville built a 4-point lead in the first half of the period and Gowanda countered that in the bottom half. After three quarters, the game was tied at 38.

In the crucial final period Portville opened up with a pair of 3-pointers as they went on a 12-point tear. With the score 50-38 at that point, Portville coasted to a win. Gowanda had only managed to reach 49 points when Blake Herman landed a 3-pointer from way outside at the buzzer. That left the final score at 57-52.

Leading the Gowanda offense was Quentin Centner with 18 points. Also in double digits for Gowanda were Blake Herman with 13 points and Tyler Smith with 10. Victor Rivera, Cole Herman, Tyler Smith and Andrew Barlow also scored for Gowanda.

February 8 also saw the Gowanda girls bowling team travel to Fredonia’s Lucky Lanes for a Rolloff involving 20 schools. Dunkirk finished in 1st Place with games of 1,219, 1,062 and 1,098 for a 3,379 series. Gowanda (1,031-1,079-1,004/3,114) was 4th and Randolph (918-956-1,007/2,881) was 18th. Cassadaga Valley (810-857-855-2,522) and Maple Grove (819-765-837-2,421) were there with less than 5 bowlers.