Gowanda Small Town Times

The Winter Sports season ended for Gowanda on February 21. Both the boys and girls Varsity basketball teams saw their seasons end in Class C pre-quarterfinal action. The Gowanda boys, seeded 13, were at 12-seed JFK while the 11-seed Gowanda girls traveled to #6 Frewsburg.

The boys game was quite close until the very end. As had been the case for the last few games of the regular season, Gowanda’s career 1000-point scorer, John Ondus, did not dress for the game. JFK went up 4-0 early. Gowanda tied it at 4 and things stayed tight for most of the period. Late in the 1st quarter, after JFK had taken a 15-14 lead with a pair of fouls shots, a Tyler Smith 3-pointer put Gowanda back in front. The Gowanda lead was 19-15 when Quentin Centner was fouled putting the ball up from long distance. The official put one second back on the clock and gave Centner three chances from the foul line. He hit on all three and Gowanda was up 22-15 going to the 2nd quarter. A slow down in Gowanda’s production allowed JFK to move a bit closer. By half time, Gowanda’s lead had slipped to 34-30.

JFK opened the scoring in the 3rd quarter making it a 2-point game. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Centner had Gowanda back in control 40-32. JFK again slowly worked their way back. With 43 seconds left in the quarter, JFK finally pulled into a tie at 45-45. There was a huge momentum shift at that point. JFK scored twice more before the end of the period, including a basket at the buzzer. Gowanda was in total disarray in a final quarter that was full of bad passes and off-target shots. That along with a pair of JFK 3-point baskets, put Gowanda in a 65-51 hole. Gowanda stopped the slide but couldn’t close the gap. Gowanda’s Cole Herman closed out the scoring with a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left, but the team was still handed a 68-57 loss.

Leading the Gowanda attack were Quentin Centner (25 points) and Tyler Smith (11 points). Alex Pachucinski had 7 points. Also scoring for Gowanda were Cole Herman, Ruben Rivera, Victor Rivera and Blake Herman. The Gowanda boys closed their season at 8-13.

The Gowanda girls faced Frewsburg, a team they had just hosted in the last regular season game. The lack of confidence that had plagued he team for most of the season was again on full display. Sloppy passing and a lack of willingness to take shots were costly. This was all further aggravated by several in-and-out shot in the early going. Gowanda was down 17-9 after one quarter and 36-17 at halftime. Gowanda was pounded 25-7 in the 3rd quarter putting them in a huge 61-24 hole going to the final quarter. Frewsburg coasted to a 65-31 win from that point. Gowanda’s effort was led by Aurora Stevens with 15 points. Crissa Scanlan had 8 points. The Gowanda girls closed their season at 6-13.