Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Softball Champions Honored
[photo] During halftime of the January 22 home basketball game versus Cassadaga Valley, members of the 2023 Gowanda Varsity softball team were recognized as New York State Champions. Members of the team and coaches were presented with championship rings and, later, posed with them. Photo courtesy of the GCS Athletic Department.
Monday, January 22, was a very special day for Gowanda sports. The Gowanda Varsity boys basketball team and the Gowanda wrestling team both got wins. Additionally, Gowanda’s Champion 2023 Varsity Softball team was recognized and presented with championship rings.
The Gowanda Varsity boys basketball team got off to a fast start. After playing to an early 4-4 tie score, a Trelin Warrior 3-pointer ignited a Gowanda spurt that put them up 11-4. Quentin Centner and Blake Herman also hit from 3-point range in the period as Gowanda ran up a 23-9 advantage in the 1st Quarter.
The Gowanda offense cooled down in a 2nd Quarter effort that produced only 12 points. Meanwhile, Cassadaga Valley went on the attack. With four 3-pointers in the quarter, Cassadaga Valley matched Gowanda’s 1st quarter production of 23 points. That tightened the game to 35-32 by halftime.
Most of the intermission was taken up by the softball ceremony. Members of the 2023 Championship team were called onto the court and individually named and presented with rings to mark their achievement. The coaches also received championship rings before the group was gathered for a photo.
Back to basketball. the 3rd Quarter was the tightest of the game. Cassadaga Valley came out fast and quickly grabbed a brief 38-37 lead. Seth Geiger stepped up to answer for Gowanda. He landed back-to-back 3-pointers taking the lead back for Gowanda. A Centner basket upped the Gowanda advantage to 45-38. Cassadaga Valley rallied again cutting Gowanda’s lead to 46-45. The period ended with both teams accumulating 15 points taking the score to 50-47.
Trelin Warrior was the hero of the final quarter for Gowanda. For the first half of the period, he was the only player to score for Gowanda preventing Cassadaga Valley from getting the lead back. Warrior ran up 9 points, including a 3-pointer and going 2-for-2 from the foul line. Gowanda was up 59-54 at that point. Cassadaga Valley again closed to within one at 61-60 with 15.5 seconds left in the game. Inbounding the ball and needing to just kill of the remaining seconds, Gowanda was called for traveling with 10.3 seconds left. After a timeout, Gowanda came up big with a smothering effort that frustrated Cassdaga Valleys effort to get a shot as time expired. Leading the Gowanda effort were Quentin Centner (23 points) and Trelin Warrior (12 points). Also scoring for Gowanda were Troy Jimerson (9 points, including a 3-pointer), Seth Geiger (8 points), Blake Herman (5 points) and Logan Ruff (4 points).
January 22 also saw the Gowanda wrestling team at Frewsburg. The team scored a 63-12 victory in the meet. Six Gowanda wrestlers scored wins by pin including Owen Pfaffenbach (124) over Lilyanna Stappenbeck, Greg Reid (131) over Connor Campion, Jayden Fish (138) over Drake Beckstrom and Maddox Hudson (170) over Griffen Lewis. Alanson Stafford (285) won a 5-4 Decision over Hunter Winters. Six Gowanda wrestlers received forfeit wins including Mark Smallback (108), Faolon Quinn (145), Nathan Warrior (152), Winter Mentley-Peters (160), Matthew Grill (190) and Jayden John (215). Gowanda lost matches at 101 and 116.