Gowanda Small Town Times

[photo] Gowanda’s Lauren Kelly (#45) goes up to score early in the December 8 home game against Forestville. Also seen are Layla Gamble (#22) and Christina Wilder (#30).

Friday, December 8, was a very busy day in Varsity sports for Gowanda. All of the Gowanda-based teams were active on the day.

It was the home opener for the Gowanda Varsity girls basketball team hosting Forestville, who arrived with only six players for the game. A minute and forty-five seconds into the game Corrina John scored a 3-pointer to open the scoring for Gowanda. A very busy Gowanda 1st Quarter saw the team up 14-5 as the period ended. A Gowanda slump, coupled with a Forestville spurt in Quarter 2, found the score tightened to 19-15 by halftime. Gowanda came out fast after the intermission for their best quarter of play in the game. Outpacing Forestville 17-7 in the period, Gowanda’s lead was back up to 36-22 heading to the final quarter. Stumbling again in the final quarter, Gowanda allowed Forestville to mount a comeback. That Forestville rally fell short as Gowanda pulled out a 44-39 win. The officials called 23 fouls on Gowanda during the game. Fortunately, Forestville only scored on 19 of 46 attempts from the foul line. Leading the Gowanda offense were Lauren Kelly (20 points) and Corrina John (13 points). Also contributing were Christina Wilder (3 points), Layla Gamble (2 points), Autumn Pupo (2 points), Lily Scanlan (2 points), Jules Hageman (1 point) and Marrisa Beaver (1 point).

The Gowanda Varsity boys basketball team was at Eden on the 8th for a non-league game. Their results were not as favorable as the girl’s. Eden opened the game scoring from 3-point point range and never looked back. By the end of the 1st Quarter, Gowanda was behind 19-9. Gowanda was hampered throughout the game by uncharacteristically poor ball handling leading to numerous turnovers. An overall off night for the offense found Gowanda down 33-16 by halftime on the way to a 66-41 final score. Making the situation worse. Eden landed a total of six 3-pointers in the game. The Gowanda offense relied on a heavy dose of Quentin Centner, who scored 24 points, including three 3-pointers. Just outside of double digits was Logan Ruff with 9 points. With two points each for Gowanda were Blake Herman, Troy Jimerson and Carson Huch.

The Gowanda boys and girls bowling teams opened their season on Friday the 8th hosting Cattaraugus-Little Valley at Gowanda’s K&L Lanes. both teams recorded big wins to start the season. The boys won their match 2767-1978 with game scores of 974-693, 911-600 and 882-685. With 500-range series for the Gowanda boys were Gavin Whitcher (264-200-121/585), Nicholas Smuda (159-181-188/528), Drezden Spire (207-170-143/520) and Morgan Ruff (138-162-166/466) Also bowling were Zachary Hojnacki (117-125-156/398) and Jarek Howard (89-73-108/270).

The Gowanda girls team had game scores of 755-679, 861-600 and 691-584 for a 2307-1863 win. The girls also had two 500-series bowlers. They were Aubrey Spire (204-170-200/574) and Bailey Shields (180-136-192/508). Also bowling complete series for the Gowanda girls were Makayla Kuras (142-158-102/402) and Emma Golden (124-133-97/354). Sierra Twoguns bowled two games for a total of 241 pins. Bowling single games were Lila Offenbach (128) and Tayleigh Williams (100).

Finally, December 8 & 9 saw the Gowanda wrestling team represented at the Southern Tier Wrestling Officials (STWOA) Tournament along with 25 other schools. Big winner at the tourney was St. Francis with 191 points. In 23rd Place was Gowanda with a score of 30.5. A few highlight Gowanda performances have been reported. In Consolation Round 2 Nathan Warrior (138) had a Technical Fall (15-0) win over Chase Campbell (Northwestern). Also in Consolation Round 2, Jayden Fish (138) earned an 11-6 decision over Dallas Green (Randolph). In Consolation Round 5 Domanik Clark (Randolph) had a 6-4 Sudden Victory win over Gowanda’s Nathan Warrior in the 1st Period of overtime. One Gowanda wrestler, Maddox Hudson (160), made it to the Quarterfinals where he lost by pin (1:22) to Caden Inkley (Randolph). Hudson had made it to the Quarterfinals by pinning Colton Hamilton (Chautauqua Lake-Westfield-Panama) in 2:31.

Boys Basketball (2-1)

Monday, December 4 -non-league -
Gowanda at Cattaraugus-Little Valley
Gowanda 64, Catt.-L.V. 43

Friday, December 8 -non-league -
Gowanda at Eden
Gowanda 41, Eden 66

Girls Basketball

Wednesday, December 6
Gowanda at Springville/West Valley
Gowanda 33, Springville 39

Friday, December 8
Forestville at Gowanda
Gowanda 44, Forestville 39

Wrestling

Wednesday, December 6
Springville at Gowanda
Gowanda 33, Springville 41

December 8 & 9
Southern Tier Wrestling Officials (STWOA) Tournament (26 schools)

1st St. Francis 191
23rd Gowanda 30.5
26th Cameron County (PA) 3

Bowling Boys (1-0) Girls (1-0)

Friday, December 8
Cattaraugus-Little Valley at Gowanda
Boys
Gowanda 4, Catt.-L.V. 0
974-693/911-600/882-685 [2767-1978]
Girls
755-679/861-600/691-584 [2307-1863]

Swimming (Eden/Gowanda)

Wednesday, December 6
St. Francis (Buffalo) at Eden
Eden 74, St. Francis 82
Gowanda’s Christian Merrill 4 gold for 12 points
200M Medley Relay team 1:59.85
200M Individual Medley 2:30.70
100M Backstroke 1:05.84
400M Freestyle Relay team 4:00.93

HAMBURG – John Zygaj, Interim Principal of St. Francis High School, recently announced the Honor Roll of students who achieved academic honors for the First Quarter of the 2023-2024 school year. St. Francis High is a Roman Catholic, Franciscan, private, college preparatory school for young men in Western New York.

First Honors are awarded to students achieving a weighted Grade Point Average of 95 – 100+ while Second Honors are given to students averaging 90-94.990.

Gowanda students who made the list are as follows:

Second Honors: Ethan Farley (11th grade); Samuel Comstock (11th grade).

[photo] Referee signals 2 points for Gowanda’s Kaleb Smith (145) during the December 6 home meet against Springville.

The Gowanda Varsity wrestling team opened their 2023 season at home on December 6. Gowanda hosted Springville for what turned out to be a very exciting evening of wrestling. Before the Varsity contests two exhibition matches were held. The first of those was tied 8-8 after two periods. Gowanda ran up a 16-8 point advantage before getting a win by pin with just 0.04 seconds left on the clock. The second match was equally exciting as a 5-1 point advantage in period 1 tightened to 5-4 by the end of period 2. Gowanda gained a 7-4 point advantage before achieving a pin with 1:05 left in the 3rd period. Gowanda then won the opening coin toss as the focus turned to Varsity action.

Gowanda’s Kaleb Smith (145) won the first Varsity match with a pin in 5:29. In the 152 Class match, Gowanda got in trouble early and went down by pin in 1:04. The score was tied 6-6 and Maddox Hudson (160) was up for Gowanda. After ending the first period in a 2-2 tie, Hudson gained a narrow point advantage in Period 2 before locking down a pin in 4:39. That was followed by Michael Horth (170) gaining a win by a 5-0 decision. Gowanda was on the move and Brody Mescall (190) also won by pin (1:01). At this point, Gowanda was up 21-6. Springville answered in the 215 weight class match running up a 16-0 point total and winning by technical fall with 1:37 left in the third period. Springville followed that by taking a win by pin in 1:15 at 285. With Gowanda’s lead cut to 21-17 focus turned to the lower weight classes. At 101, Springville put up one of their female wrestlers against Gowanda’s Zack Stark. The apparent mismatch verified as Stark ran up a quick 5-0 point advantage before getting a win by pin at 1:02. Gowanda’s 27-17 lead was reversed as Springville achieved pins at 108 (1:03) and 124 (3:23) as well as taking a forfeit win at 116. Springville was up 27-29. Gowanda managed one final win in the meet. Owen Pfaffenback (124) got a pin in 3:23 putting Gowanda back in front 33-29. That advantage was short lived as Springville closed out the meet with back-to-back pins at 131 (5:04) and 138 (1:40). That gave Springville a 41-33 win.

The Varsity action was followed by 8 additional matches. Gowanda won half of those with pins in 4:33 and 1:08 plus a 9-6 decision as well as pin in 4:37 in the only girls match.

Meanwhile, the Gowanda Varsity girls basketball team was at Springville/West Valley. This battle between the two school ended up in nearly the same score as the wrestling match. It was a sluggish affair with no scoring in the first 2:29 of the game when Gowanda’s Corinna John scored a single point on a foul shot. Springville matched that single point before moving into a 6-1 lead. Gowanda stepped it up a bit but still trailed 9-6 after the 1st Quarter. The teams played a nearly even 2nd quarter with Springville bumping up their lead by a single point to lead 17-13 by halftime. Springville ballooned their advantage to 30-20 in an active 3rd Quarter of play. Gowanda went all out in the final quarter for their only double-digit period of the game. Outscoring Springville 13-9 Gowanda was still left with a 39-33 loss. It was a big final quarter for a couple players who had been silent up to that point. Karice John hit twice for her only 4 points in the game. Lily Scanlan also scored her only 4 points in that period on a 3-pointer and a foul shot.

Leading the Gowanda scoring were Lauren Kelly (13 points) and Corrina John (11 points, including a 3-pointer). Alhanna Gabel also scored in the game.

The Gowanda Varsity boys basketball team was at Cattaraugus-Little Valley on December 4 for a non-league match-up. An explosive display of offense in the 1st Quarter set Gowanda up for an easy win.

Just 13 seconds into the game Gowanda’s Quentin Centner hit from 3-point range to open the scoring. C-LV answered taking the score to 3-2. Troy Jimerson put Gowanda back up by three with a couple of foul shots before Gowanda went on a tear. Jimerson hit again at 5:47 for the first two points of a 20-point Gowanda blitz. With Gowanda holding a 25-2 lead, C-LV finally scored again with 8 seconds left in the period.

Gowanda’s Blake Herman opened the 2nd Quarter with a 3-pointer and later added a field goal to the Gowanda total. With the huge 30-4 advantage Gowanda was able to rotate a lot of bench players into the game. That gave the starters more rest than they might have otherwise seen while the second tier players got valuable game experience. This also allowed C-LV to get their offense on track, in spurts. C-LV closed the gap to 30-12. Gowanda answered putting some starters back into the game and going on a 6-point run ballooning the gap back to 24 points at 36-12. While C-LV did edge Gowanda in the period 14-13, that still left the score at halftime standing at 37-18.

The 3rd quarter saw Gowanda push their advantage out to 49-20 by mid-quarter. The score was 56-38 as the final quarter began. The game was all but over and starters saw just minimal action in the period. Gowanda added just 8 points in the period against 5 for C-LV. In a game that was never close Gowanda posted a 64-43 win.

Scoring in double digits for Gowanda were Blake Herman (18 points), Quentin Centner (16 points) and Trelin Warrior (10 points). Herman and Centner both had a pair of 3-pointers in their total. Centner also went 4-for-4 from the foul line. Behind them were Troy Jimerson (8 points), Seth Geiger (6 points) and Carson Huch (2 points). Croix Snow (½), Ben VanNote (½) and Dominick Whalen (2/2) also to the Gowanda total from the foul line.