Gowanda Small Town Times

It seems like a fatalistic cloud has engulfed the Gowanda Varsity girls basketball team. Game after game their performance continues fall well short of the individual abilities of the players. On January 19, the team was at Randolph as this trend continued to unfold.

A minute into the game, Christina Wider scored for Gowanda. Corrina John added another two points and Gowanda was up 4-0. Late lead did not last long. Sloppy passing contributed to numerous Gowanda turnovers as Randolph pulled in front 9-4. Gowanda closed to 9-6 with Wilder’s 2nd score. It would be her last points in the game and Gowanda’s last points of the 1st Quarter. Meanwhile, Randolph went on tear pushing their lead to 31-6 before the period ended. Randolph scored the 1st twelve points in the 2nd quarter before Gowanda went on a 7-point run of their own. Randolph added another four points to close out the half up 47-13.

Randolph started out hot in the 3rd Quarter with a 7-point surge including two 3-pointers. John answered for Gowanda with back-to-back 3-point shots. The second of those coming from way outside of the 3-point ring. The Randolph total grew to 61 in the quarter before Gowanda’s Devan Giambrone hit a 3-pointer to close out the period. With the score 61-22 as the final quarter began, the game was essentially over. Gowanda added another 6 points in the period while Randolph upped their tally by 14. The final score was 75-28. Corrina John had 16 points for Gowanda including three 3-point baskets and hitting three of four from the foul line. The rest of the Gowanda scoring came from Lauren Kelly (5 points), Christina Wilder (4 points) and Devan Giambrone (3 points)

The Gowanda Varsity bowling boys and girls teams were also busy on January 19. They hosted Ellicottville at K&L Lanes in Gowanda. As of this writing, the Gowanda scores have not been reported. This article will be updated as those become available.

[photo] Gowanda’s Quentin Centner (#1) is seen driving towards the hoop early during the January 16 home game versus Frewsburg. Also seen is Trelin Warrior (#11).

On January 16, both the Gowanda Varsity girls and boys basketball teams were in action. While the girls issues on offense have been ongoing the boys have also had issues lately. Both teams took significant losses on the day.

The Gowanda Varsity boys basketball saw the only home action of week for the school on January 16 hosting Frewsburg. Gowanda’s Quentin Centner opened the scoring in the game from 3-point range. Three more Centner scores, including a second 3-pointer had Gowanda up 10-7. That margin grew to 12-7 with a basket from Blake Herman. Frewsburg fought back tightening the game to 18-15 by the end of the 1st Quarter. In a relatively tightly contested 2nd Quarter, Frewsburg gradually worked their way into their own 37-29 lead. The Frewsburg momentum continued into the 3rd Quarter where they outpaced Gowanda 27-18. Going into the final quarter with 64-47 Frewsburg lead, an even exchange of points moved the totals forward through the middle of the period. A very late Gowanda surge closed the gap to 84-74 by the final buzzer. The last three points coming from Seth Geiger from long distance. Leading the Gowanda offense were Quentin Centner (32 points) and Trelin Warrior (19 points).Center totaled five 3-pointers in the game with Warrior also having one. Also scoring for Gowanda were Seth Geiger (9 points), Troy Jimerson (8 points), and Blake Herman (6 points).

While the boys were hosting Frewsburg, the Gowanda girls were at Frewsburg. After a one game absence, the team had their top scorer, Corrina John, back for the game. In some ways that was a mixed blessing as the rest of the team tends to defer to her, when she is in the game, rather than taking shots themselves. It was a quick Gowanda start with Corrina John and Layla Gamble both hitting 3-pointers to open the scoring. That 6-0 lead quickly faded as Frewsburg scored the next 11 points. Although John did land a second 3-point shot in the period, Gowanda was still down 27-13 at the end of he quarter. Frewsburg rolled over Gowanda for the rest of the game. An 18-5 scoring advantage had Frewsburg up 45-18 by halftime. The assault continued with Frewsburg controlling the 3rd and 4th Quarters 23-8 and 16-0, respectively. Corrina John had 17 points in the game to lead Gowanda. In addition to Gamble’s early 3-pointer for her only points in the game, two other Gowanda girls contributed to the scoring. They were Lauren Kelly (4 points) and Karice John (2 points).

Also on the 16th, the Gowanda Varsity bowling teams were at Genesee Valley. The Gowanda boys dropped to 8-1 with their first loss of the season 3-1 with Genesse Valley getting off to a slow start in game one. Game scores in the match were 888-873, 974-1133 and 990-1062 for a match total of 2852-3068. Grouped very tightly the bowling for Gowanda were Gavin Whitcher (139-206-180/525), Drezden Spire (145-151-199/495), Morgan Ruff (176-153-148/477), Kory Degenfelder (165-146-158/469), Zachary Hojnacki (127-149-171/447) and Nicholas Smuda (136-169-134/439).

The Gowanda girls recorded a 4-0 victory over a Genesee Valley team that fielded only three bowlers. The other three spots were filled by absentee bowlers using previous averages. Gowanda also used one absentee bowler in the match with a 137 average (x3) for a 411 series. Game scores in the match were
780-699, 698-593 and 694-590 for pin totals of 2172-1882. Bowling full sets for Gowanda were Bailey Sheilds (194-127-135/453), Emma Golden (125-130-92/347), Tayleigh Williams (89-129-128/346), Lila Offenbach (100-101-134/335) and Natalia Elliott (135-74-71/280).

[photo] Gowanda’s Karice John (#14) races down court with the ball during a January 12 home game against Falconer. Also seen is Alhanna Gabel (#3).

On Thursday, January 11, the Gowanda Varsity bowling teams traveled to Allegany-Limestone. It was one of their few away matches this season. The Gowanda boys team upped their record to 8-0 on the season while the girls slipped to 5-3 with a loss.

The Gowanda boys got off to a slow start with an 800-873 loss in Game 1. It was their lowest total of the night. The boys went on to take the next two games by scores of 883-872 and 874-780 to also win on total pins 2557-2525. The 3-1 win moved their record to 8-0. Top 5 bowlers for the Gowanda boys were Kory Degenfelder (188-150-161/499), Nicholas Smuda (126-181-177/484), Gavin Whitcher (102-158-189/449), Drezden Spire (142-144-136/422) and Morgan Ruff (121-151-133/405). Aiden Gray bowled two games (121&99) during the match and Zachary Hojnacki bowled a single game of 78.

The Gowanda girls team was swept 0-4 with game scores of 660-746, 644-734 and 698-814 for a total pins score of 2002-2294. Bowling full sets for the Gowanda girls were Aubrey Smuda (124-130-172/426), Bailey Shields (127-166-131/424), Makayla Kuras (111-107-147/365) and Tayleigh Williams (120-98-92/310). Bowling two games each were Lila Offenbach (75 & 86), Natalia Elliott (103 & 56) and Emma Golden (87 & 70).

The next day, Friday, January 12, the focus was on the Gowanda girls basketball team hosting Falconer. It was another poor showing on offense. After losing two of their top players before the season started, they were also without one of their top scoring threats to this point, Corrina John, for this game.

It was a very strange showing from a Gowanda offense that has serious problems scoring from under the basket. Of their 24-point total in the game, 21 of those came on 3-point shots. It took Falconer almost half of the 1st Quarter to take a 4-0 lead in the game. A Lilly Scanlon 3-pointer for Gowanda narrowed that to 4-3. A Falconer 10-3 advantage was cut to 10-5 as Lauren Kelly scored at the buzzer to end the quarter. That would be Gowanda’s only 2-point basket of the game. Falconer was up 21-15 at halftime on the way to a 46-24 final win. In addition to Scanlan’s 1st Quarter score, she also had a 3-point buzzer beater as the 3rd Quarter ended. Also scoring a pair of 3-point baskets in the game were Karice John and Marissa Beaver. Layla Gamble had a single 3-pointer for Gowanda.

The first week in January 2024 came to a rough ending on Friday, January 5. Both the Gowanda Varsity boys basketball team and the Gowanda Varsity girls basketball team had problematic road games.

The Gowanda boys were at Springville for a non-league match-up. Springville got off to a quick start much like Gowanda hads often done to other teams. Springville ran up the first six points in the game before Trelin Warrior scored Gowanda’s first two points. Gowanda later closed the gap to 8-5 with a Quentin Centner 3-pointer, but it was all downhill from there. Gowanda was down 24-10 after one quarter. A slightly better 2nd Quarter saw that gap narrowed to 37-26 at halftime. Gowanda was unable to recover from that deficient and took a 71-56 loss. Quentin Centner accumulated four 3-pointers in the game towards a total of 24 points. Trelin Warrior contributed 15 points including a 3-pointer. Seth Geiger landed two shots from 3-point range for six points. Also scoring for Gowanda were Troy Jimerson (9 points) and Blake Herman (2 points).

Friday the 5th also gave the girls team problems as they were at the Pioneer Tournament. Their first game was against the host team. It was a major mismatch with the very tall and athletic Pioneer girls in control of the game from the start. Pioneer scored the first four points in the game. A Corrina John 3-pointer narrowed the score to 4-3. Points were hard to come by for Gowanda leaving them down 15-7 after a quarter and 30-13 at halftime. Springville rolled over Gowanda 22-0 in the 3rd Quarter ballooning their lead to 52-13 at that point A relatively slow final period gave Pioneer a 59-15 win. Gowanda’s only two points in the 2nd half came from Marissa Beaver with 50 seconds left in the game. Corrina John had a pair of 1st half 3-pointers for 6 points before going silent in the 2nd half. Karice John also had a 3-pointer in the first half. With two points each in the game were Lauren Kelly, Christina Wilder and Marissa Beaver.

The Gowanda girls were back at the Pioneer Tournament on the 6th facing Holland in the Consolation Game. This turned out to be a more even match-up, but still another loss. Outscored 9-1 in the 1st Quarter, Gowanda was in a hole they wouldn’t note climb out of. It was 16-6 at halftime on the way to a 38-24 final. Karice John led Gowanda with 6 points including a 3-pointer. Lauren Kelly had four points. Corina John, Marissa Beaver and Layla Gamble each contributed a 3-pointer to the Gowanda scoring. Also scoring for Gowanda were Lily Scanlan (2 points), Autumn Pupo (2 points) and Christina wilder (1 point).

Only the Gowanda bowling teams had winning efforts on Friday the 5th. They hosted West Valley at Gowanda’s K&L Lanes. Both the boys and girls teams came away with 4-0 wins. For the boys, it was with games of 821-702, 855-783 and 975-680 for a match total of 2651-2165. Gowanda’s top bowler was Nicholas Smuda (170-172-185/527). Also bowling for the Gowanda boys were Gavin Whitcher (149-131-163/443), Morgan Ruff (144-151-145/440), Kory Degenfelder (108-155-166/429), Drezden Spire (139-118-165/422) and Zachary Hojnacki (111-128-151/390).

The Gowanda girls got their win with games of 681-517, 729-514 and 747-535 for a match total of 2157-1566. Bowling full sets for the Gowanda girls were Bailey Shields (132-149-145/426), Aubrie Smuda (120-145-142/407), Sierra Twoguns (130-143-113/368) and Makayla Kuras (110-127-137/374). Bowling a pair of games were Natalia Elliott (87 & 112) and Emma Golden (82 and 98). Rolling single games during the match were Lila Offenbach (107) and Tayleigh Williams (78).

In other week ending sports. Gowanda Wrestlers were also busy. The team was at the 7th Annual NYSPHSAA Section VI Dual Meet Wrestling Championships on January 6 at Niagara County Community College. Chautauqua Lake was the overall winner with Gowanda coming in 4th ahead of 5th place Wilson in Division 2. Gowanda lost to Newfane 37-29 after beating Wilson 59-18 in the Consolation Rounds. Previously, the had lost a Semi-Final match to Chautauqua Lake 73-0.

Gowanda was also represented at the Ripley Invitational on the 6th. Gowanda’s Kiernan Quinn took a 2nd place in the girls 152 weight class. She registered pins in both Championship Round 1 and the Semi-Final Round. Those wins came, respectively, against Anahi DeJesus (Dunkirk, 1:34) and Avary LeGrano (Fredonia, 3:42). In the 1st Place Match, Quinn dropped a 17-8 Major Decision to Bella Andes (Lockport).

On January 4th Gowanda Varsity boys basketball team saw the first action in 2024 after the Winter break. They were on the road at Falconer.

As has been typical for Gowanda, they got off to a fast start. Gowanda won the opening tip-off, but the ball went directly to a Falconer player who quickly scored. With an additional point on a foul shot, Falconer had the first three points in the game. Gowanda answered right back. A pair of Quentin Centner scores followed by a Trelin Warrior 3-pointer launched Gowanda into the lead 7-3. The Centner/Warrior combo soon had Gowanda up 13-7 on the way to a 19-9 advantage after one quarter of play.

A stingy 2nd Quarter followed. Both teams scored just 8 points in the period with Gowanda reaching that total with another Warrior 3-point shot, this time from the far right corner near the end of the period. At halftime the score stood at 27-17. Gowanda stumbled in the 3rd Quarter while Falconer came up with their best quarter of the game. With 1:50 left in the quarter, Gowanda had only added another Warrior 3-pointer to their tally while Falconer had gone on a 12-point run. Things were tense with the Gowanda lead squashed down to 30-29. As the clock ticked down to 0:28, Centner landed his first 3-pointer of the game. He had a second 3-point basket in the final quarter as Gowanda went on a 20-4 run that ballooned their lead to 50-33 with 1:02 left in the game. One final Falconer 3-pointer left the final score at 50-36.

Top scorer for Gowanda was Trelin Warrior with 21 points. Not too far behind was Quentin Centner with 13 points. Also scoring for Gowanda were Blake Herman (4 points), Troy Jimerson (4 points), Logan Ruff (3 points) and Seth Geiger (2 points).

Earlier in the day on the 4th, the Gowanda Varsity bowling teams hosted Allegany-Limestone. The Gowanda boys continued their dominant showing on the season rolling over Allegany-Limestone by a series score of 2752-2101. Once again, two Gowanda boys rolled 500-range series including Nicholas Smuda (200-191-172/563) and Morgan Ruff (234-170-151/555). Not far behind were Kory Degenfelder (142-150-166/458) and Gavin Whitcher (147-168-132/447). Bowling just a pair of games were Zachary Hojnacki (143 &114), Aiden Gray (138&114) and Drezden Spire (123 &97).

The Gowanda girls had a much closer match. The won Games 1 and 3, but lost Game 2 for a 3-1 win (2403-2331). Top Gowanda girl was Aubrey Smuda (150-177-199/526). Also bowling full sets were Bailey Shields (136-158-183/477), Makayla Kuras (116-125-138/379) and Sierra Twoguns (130/121/107/358). Bowling a pair of games were Lila Offenbach (153&96) and Tayleigh Williams 100&107). Two girls contributed single games: Natalia Elliott (115) and Emma Golden (92).