Gowanda Small Town Times

Gowanda has had an exceptional post-season so far. Now three days into the first full week of Sectionals playoff games, no Gowanda team has lost a game. Baseball, Softball and the boys and girls lacrosse teams have all posted wins.

The Gowanda Varsity softball team has been particularly motivated this season. After losing two close games to Silver Creek and one to Randolph that cost them a 1st Place finish in their division, the coach commented that they should have won all of their league games and would have, if not for critical errors. The team entered the playoff eager to prove that they were as good as anyone. Gowanda also had some extra incentive in the game as the championship round games were already scheduled to be played at Gowanda’s Lady Panther Park and they were determined to make it into that game.

Having taken down #2 Randolph in the Pre-Quarter round, #7 seeded Gowanda set its sights on a #6 Silver Creek team that had just rolled over #2 Wilson 22-2. The game started out very tight with no score through two innings. In the 3rd inning Silver Creek got on the board first with a single run. That 1-0 lead didn’t last long as Gowanda ran up
three runs in the next inning. Gowanda’s 3-1 lead held up into the 5th inning where they added a pair of runs to their total. Silver Creek countered those two runs in the 6th, but that is where they were stopped. Gowanda came away with a 5-3 win. Leading the Gowanda offense were Addison Kota (2 runs, 1 double) and Ella Luther (1 run, 2 RBIs).
Holland Browning and Corrina John each also scored single runs in the game. Additional support came from Kailyn Farner (2 RBIs) and Jada Geiger (1 RBI). Kota also pitched a 3-hitter for Gowanda with 5 walks and 4 strikeouts.

The Gowanda Varsity boys lacrosse was also in action in the 24th. Seeded 5th, they had a Quarter-Final game at #4 Medina. Gowanda came out strong building a 10-6 lead in the first half. That momentum carried into the second half with Gowanda adding 6 to their score against 3 for Medina. The 16-9 win sends them into a Semi-Final game against the #1 seed, East Aurora. Winter Rivera led Gowanda scorers with five goals and two assists. Adding three goals each were Ha’tsihgahdo:d Stevens, Nakotah Jackson and Cashis Montour. Rounding out the Gowanda scoring were Ethan Steep rock (1 goal, 2 assists) and Jessup Stevens (1 goal). In goal Faolan Quinn made 10 saves on 19 shots.

Despite a 0-14 regular season record, the Gowanda Varsity girls lacrosse team entered the Sectional playoffs as the #3 seed. On May 23 they hosted #6 Newfane at Gowanda’s Hillis Field. Gowanda got off to a fast start taking the opening draw down the field and scoring just 10 seconds into the game. Twenty-nine seconds later a missed pass to a player in front of the net continued on into the net. Two and a half minutes into the game, Gowanda had a 4-0 lead that grew to 6-0 with ten minutes left in the half. A 5-goal spurt by Newfane tightened things to 6-5 with 1:51 showing on the clock. Gowanda’s Ke’ya Stevens scored on a free shot with 57 seconds left in the half giving Gowanda a 7-5 advantage.

Gowanda got another fast start in the second half. Cadence Luther scored for Gowanda 1:09 into the final half. Newfane had only one player on their bench and running with Gowanda without being able rest players started to show as the game wore on. Newfane wasn’t able to get a shot on the Gowanda goal for the first ten minutes of the period. By that time the Gowanda lead had grown to 13-5. Newfane managed two 2nd half goals, both on free shots. Luther scored Gowanda’s final goal with 25 seconds left leaving the final score at 19-7.

Ke’ya Stevens led the Gowanda season-high 7 goals. Aurora Stevens contributed 5 goals and Karice John had 3 goals and an assist. 8th grader, Cadence Luther collected 8 points in the game with 3 goals and 5 assists.

While the girls lacrosse team was beating Newfane, the Gowanda Varsity baseball team was shutting out Chautauqua Lake at home in a Quarter-Final Sectional game. Cole Herman tossed a 3-hitter with 8 strikeouts in the effort. The Gowanda offense started out slow with a single run in the 1st inning and three more in the 2nd. That was followed by a pair of scoreless innings. Going into the 5th inning at 4-0, Gowanda went on a 6-run surge taking their total to 10-0 for the win. Logan Ruff and Carter Capizzi each had a pair of runs and 2 RBIs for Gowanda. Blake Herman also scored twice for Gowanda. Alex Pachucinski had 4 Gowanda RBIs in the game.

One day earlier, on May 22, the Gowanda Varsity softball team was at Randolph for a Quarter-Final Sectional game. Gowanda started out fast. A 3-run Addison Kota homer gave Gowanda a sudden 3-run lead and they never looked back. Gowanda’s lead was 5-0 after two inning. Randolph had their best inning of the game in the 3rd inning closing the score to 5-3. Gowanda picked up single runs in the 4th and 5th innings which Randolph countered with a 2-run 5th inning. The 7-5 score held into the 7th inning where Gowanda added an unanswered run to their tally. The left the final at 8-5. Noteworthy for the Gowanda offense were Gao:Wisa:S “Wassy” Stevens (2 runs, 2 RBIs), Holland Browning (2 runs) and Corina John 2 runs. Addison Kota had 4 RBIs along with the previously mentioned home run. She also pitched the entire game for Gowanda with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in a 4-hitter.

Gowanda Scoreboard - w/e 5/21

Baseball 16-2, 12-2

Monday, May 15

Bishop Timon at Gowanda
Gowanda 12, Timon 3

Tuesday, May 16

Gowanda at Dunkirk
Gowanda 4, Dunkirk 5

Thursday, May 18

Dunkirk at Gowanda
Gowanda 7, Dunkirk 4

Friday, May 19

Hamburg at Gowanda
- Senior Night -
Gowanda 7, Hamburg 6

Softball 12-6, 8-3

Monday, May 15

Gowanda at Falconer
Gowanda 8, Falconer 7

Wednesday, May 17

Frewsburg at Gowanda
- Sectional Quarter-Final
Gowanda 15, Frewsburg 1

Boys Lacrosse 6-8, 6-4

Tuesday, May 16
Gowanda at Newfane
Gowanda 24, Newfane 0

Girls Lacrosse 0-14, 0-7

Tuesday, May 16

Gowanda at East Aurora
Gowanda 5, East Aurora 15

Thursday, May 18

Gowanda at Frontier
Gowanda 1, Frontier 20

Track

Tuesday, May 16

Portville at Gowanda
- Senior Night -

Friday/Saturday, May 19/20

CCAA Championships
In Division 2
Boys
1st Allegany-Limestone 187
6th West Valley 38
Gowanda 15
Girls
1st Allegany-Limestone 153
5th Gowanda 34
7th Cattaraugus-Little Valley 11

Trap Conference 1A-11

Week 5 score & Season total
1st Gowanda 891.00 4,605.00
2nd Hammond 685.00 4,015.50
7th Potsdam 397.00 1,874.00

1st Daniel Stang 23.80 12th in State
2nd Zayne Laskey 23.60 15th in State
6th Daniel Humphrey 21.90
7th David Dirienzo 21.80

1st Maddison Smith 22.00

As the regular season for Spring sports end, the Gowanda trap team has finished their Spring season in 1st Place in Conference. This is the team’s 7th time winning their conference. Gowanda finished strong outscoring 2nd Place Hammond 891-685 in the 5th and final week. That gave Gowanda a season total of 4.605 points compared to 4,015.5 for Hammond.

Four Gowanda shooters finished in the Top 10 in Conference 1A-11. They are Daniel Stang (1st, 23.80 point average [12th in State]), Zayne Laskey (2nd, 23.60 [15th in State]), Daniel Humphrey (6th, 21.90) and David Dirienzo (7th, 21.80). The female member of the team, Maddison Smith, finished 1st in conference with an average score of 22.00.

On Friday and Saturday, May 19 & 20, the Gowanda track teams were at Falconer for the CCAA Track and Field Championships in a field of 20 schools. The Gowanda boys placed 7th in Division 2 with a score of 15 while the girls team was 5th with a score of 34. Standing out for the boys was Mason Wilson who finished 17th overall in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:07.77. Highlight girls were Rhianna Woods (15th 100m dash, 14.47; 11th 200m dash, 29.69 and 11th long jump, 14-04.75) and Elizabeth Malek 13th 100m hurdles, 19.54 and 12th 400m hurdles, 1:22.14).

Dozens of students in ninth through 12th grade at Gowanda Central School District earned honor roll status for the third quarter marking period of the 2022-2023 academic year.

Gowanda High School

High Honor Roll (95 and higher)

Ninth grade: Marcus Gamble, Isabelle Graham, Addison Kota, Reda Robinson, Maddison Smith, and Helena Wallschlaeger.

10th grade: Molly Bowers, Holland Browning, Gracie Eddy, Jillian Gernatt, Tessa Kohn, Danielle Krajewski, Winter Rivera, Sydney Smith, Demetra Spire, William Szalay, and Conner Wilson.

11th grade: Aiden Ackley, Alivia Capozzi, Quentin Centner, Hailey Christopher, Alhanna Gabel, Mya Halftown, Aubrie Heron, Alaina Kaczmarczyk, Makayla Kuras, Chloe Luther, Ella Luther, Riley Olson, Madilyn Pawlak, Emily Pound, Autumn Pupo, Benjamin VanNote, and Christina Wilder.

12th grade: Mathias Arbeiter VI, Ethan Bachek, Aurora Bartlett, Lily Bobseine, Lily Bouch, Malarie Carroll, Cameron Clark, Abril Corrales Cascante, Emma Cross, Josalyn Degenfelder, Lani Farley, Logan Forthman, Jada Geiger, Kaitlyn Hastie, Cole Herman, Cianna Hidalgo, Julia Jefferlone, Kallan John, Hayden Kaus, Benjamin Krajewski, Samuel Latimore, Madison Luder, John Ondus, Alexander Pachucinski, Starla Smith, Shelby Weston, and Gabriella Whipple.

Honor Roll (90-94)

Ninth grade: Colin Barnes, Seth Geiger, Hayleigh Hooper, Darcy Kennedy, Noah Lauer, Elizabeth Malek, and Winter Mentley-Peters.

10th grade: Chase Bolen, Natalia Elliott, Caitlyn Gangi, Devan Giambrone, Alyssa Golden, Blake Herman, Benjamin Latimore, Lily Nuwer, Cheyanna Pasternack, Charlynn Ulmer, Natalee Vecchio, and Mason Wilson.

11th grade: Andrew Clark, Kaylee Corbin, Evan Fort, Layla Gamble, Kaitlyn Hender, Emma Lillie, Nikolas Ondus, Angelina Shaw, Daniel Stang, and Avery Wilson.

12th grade: Braydon Boler, Edoardo Comegna, David DiRienzo, Kailyn Farner, Summer Jones, Rosalee LeBeau, Lea Mohawk, Timothy Rasey, Ruben Rivera IV, Emma Schindler, Jeremiah Siulc, Hudson Smith, Star Stafford, Ke’ya Stevens, and Chloe White.

Merit Roll (85-89)

Ninth grade: Landen Ashley, Samantha Buthy, Damian Ceciliano, Nina Coulon, Brendin Diebel, Patricia Griffith, Xavier Holland, Audrina Huss, Corrina John, Sara Lillie, Christopher Muntz, Presten Shultz, and Lilah Smith.

10th grade: Jaylynn Elliott, Cole Gabel, Aiden Gray, Elizabeth Green, Kayte Harrington, Zayne Laskey, Ellarose LeBeau, Seneca Mohawk Jr., Connor Ribblett, Logan Ruff, Alyssa Ruzycki, Darrin Sherlock, Brayden Smith, and Landon White.

11th grade: Hayden Abraszek, Gracie Carpenter, Destiny Golden, Alexia Harvey, Michael Horth, Willow Mentley-Peters, Christian Merrill, and Riley Tighe.

12th grade: Nikolas Golabek, Mikai Jimerson-Ocasio, Malorie McComber, Gage Miller, Gabriel Purdy, Aurora Stevens, Hannah Szalay, and Kylie Wampler.

Springville

CAM P-TECH

Merit Roll: Daniel Humphrey.

Honor Roll: Santino Jefferlone and Cashis Montour.

Dunkirk WNY P-TECH

Honor Roll: Seamus Matwijow.