Gowanda Small Town Times

[photo] Pictured is Gowanda’s Autumn Pupo (#15) racing up court with the ball early in the January 2 home game against North Collins.

Now that 2024 has arrived and the school’s Winter Break is over it’s time to get back to Varsity sports. The first game in 2024 for Gowanda was played by the Gowanda Varsity girls basketball team. They hosted North Collins for a non-league game on January 2. Despite a blistering pace in the 1st Quarter, it turned out to be a low-scoring affair.

After giving up the first four points of the game to North Collins, Gowanda rallied back. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Layla Gamble and Corrina John separated by a single North Collins foul shot, saw Gowanda move in front 6-5. Things remained close with Gowanda still up by a point at 11-10 when John landed a second 3-point shot with 1:30 left in the quarter. A final North Collins score ended the opening quarter with Gowanda ahead 14-12.

Gamble and John would not land another 3-pointer the rest of the way and Gowanda’s scoring pace dropped to just over 7.5 points per quarter the rest of the way. Gowanda still kept North Collins under control for most of the 2nd quarter. Although the game was tied twice in the period, North Collins never saw a lead. It took a North Collins score with 0:32 left in the half to cut Gowanda’s lead back to 21-20 at halftime.

Gowanda came out strong in the 3rd Quarter outscoring North Collins 9-3. Gowanda had their biggest lead of the game, 30-23, going into the final period. Back-to-back North Collins 3-pointers to open the 4th Quarter dropped Gowanda’s lead back to a single point again, 30-29. At this point, there was a strange turn of events. Gowanda ended the North Collins burst as Devan Giambrone scored from the right side of the basket seemingly just outside of the 3-point ring. [see below] That score did not immediately appear on the scoreboard. A following quick North Collins score from under the basket saw the scoreboard showing 30-33. The game was stopped at that point and the score was adjusted to 32-31. A foul shot added to the North Collins basket had the game tied at 32. North Collins outscored Gowanda 17-7 in the final quarter to win the game 40-37.

Despite being held scoreless in the final period, Corrina John still led the scoring for Gowanda with 16 points. Right behind were Lauren Kelly (7 points) and Layla Gamble (5 points). Also scoring for Gowanda were Karice John (3 points), Jules Hageman (3 points), Devan Giambrone 2 points (should have been 3?) and Christina Wilder (1 point)

Pictured above is Devan Giambrone scoring from what appears to be 3-point range. She was only credited 2 points for the 4th Quarter shot. Screenshot from the Gowanda live stream of the game.