Gowanda Small Town Times

St. Francis High School, a Roman Catholic, Franciscan, private, college preparatory school for young men in Western New York has announced its first and second honors for the second quarter of the 2023-24 school year. Gowanda students who made the list are as follows:

First Honors: Sam Comstock, 11th grade; Second Honors: Ethan Farley, 11th grade.

[photo] Gowanda’s Lily Scanlan (#24) knocks the ball away on defense during the February 5 home game against Frewsburg. Also seen is teammate Karice John (#14).

The Gowanda Varsity girls basketball team hosted Frewsburg on February 5. It was another long night for the girls as a lack of offense and excessive turnovers made for a game that got out of hand quickly. Frewsburg had already piled up a fast 11-0 lead before Lauren Kelly scored Gowanda’s first two points. Three baskets from Corrina John followed by a Lily Scanlan 3-pointer allowed Gowanda to narrow the gap to 5 points at 12-17. A 10-point Frewsburg run from there gave them a 27-12 advantage as the 1st Quarter ended. It would be Gowanda’s only period scoring in double-digits. Frewsburg, meanwhile, averaged 18 points per quarter the rest of the way. That led to a 45-20 score at half time and a 81-31 final score.

Once again the bulk of the Gowanda offense was placed on Corrina John who landed a pair of 3-pointers and totaled 15 points in the game. Lauren Kelly contributed 11 points. The remaining Gowanda points came from the Scanlan 3-pointer plus two points from Karice John.

Hailey Fisher of Gowanda was one of more than 1,200 SUNY Oneonta students who earned Dean’s List honors for the fall 2023 semester. Fisher is studying Communication Studies.

[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.

The Annual Gowanda Round Robin Wrestling Tournament was held on January 20, 2024. Hosted by the Gowanda Varsity wrestling team, schools in attendance included Falconer-Cassadaga Valley, Portville, Maple Grove, Fredonia, Niagara Wheatfield, Wellsville, North Tonawanda, Olean-Alleghany Limestone, Honeoye Falls-Lima, Randolph, Frewsburg, Dunkirk, Salamanca, Lockport, Franklinville, Alden, Alexander, Iroquois and Orchard Park. This was an individual round robin tournament which allowed a school to enter multiple wrestlers at any weights class. Team scores were based on the total performance of wrestlers from each team represented. Finishing in 1st Place was Falconer-Cassadaga Valley with 193.5 total points. Gowanda finished 6th with 152.0 points. Down in 14th Place was Salamanca with 56.5 points.

Gowanda had three wrestlers in the 131 weight class which was led by Faolan Quinn with 34 points for the team and a 4th Place finish in the class. Quinn secured four wins by pin before getting pinned by Maple Grove’s Jaxon Kraft in the 3rd Place match. Those wins by pin came against Domanik Clark (Randolph, 2:00), Jayden Fish (Gowanda, 0:18), Aiden Richardson (Portville, 1:06) and Greg Reid (Gowanda, 1:23). Fish and Reid earned 26 and 13 points, respectively, for their performances in the class.

The second largest individual point total for Gowanda came from Owen Pfaffenbach (29 points) in the 124 class with a 4th Place finish. He lost a 15-5 Decision to Gabe Lundmark in the 3rd Place match after accumulating three wins. Those wins came against Elisha Hall (Portville, 17-3 Major Decision), Mitchel Schnaufer (Salamanca, 8-7 Decision) and Connor Campion (Frewsburg, 15-2 Major Decision). The 124 class also saw Gowanda’s Brendin Diebel pick up 19 points for the team before being eliminated.

Also standing out for Gowanda was Michael Horth (160) who totaled 14 points and took a 3rd Place finish. Horth pinned Owen Stanley, (Alden, 2:46) and Brenden MacWilliams (Franklinville, 1:26). He also won a 13-0 Major Decision against Devin Herman (Frankilnville) on the way to the Championship rounds. He lost an 11-2 Major Decision to Dylan Gagnon (North Tonawanda), who finished in 1st Place, in the 1st Championship Round. In the 3rd Champion Round, Horth lost to Falconer-Cassadaga Valley’s Mason Kilmer by Medical Forfeit to finish in 3rd Place.

Also scoring for the Gowanda boys were Jayden John (215) 7 points, Nathan Warrior (138) 4 points and Maddox Hudson (152) 2 points.

Gowanda also had one girl, Kiernan Quinn, participate at the tournament in the girls 152 class. She pinned her way to a 1st Place finish in that class. Those pins came against Eva Heineman (Alexander, 5:07), Kira Huett (Alden, 1:21), Addaline Grayson (Dunkirk, 3:56) and Bella Andes (Lockport, 1:19).