SALAMANCA — Monday’s rematch with Gowanda had tons of positive signs for the Salamanca girls basketball team, just not the finish coach Patrick Morgante had hoped for.
The Warriors, winless in CCAA East I play, had their closest chance yet at a league victory, taking Gowanda to overtime. But with two starters fouling out in the fourth quarter, Salamanca couldn’t keep up with the Panthers in a 62-54 OT loss.
Salamanca, which lost 61-21 at Gowanda only three weeks earlier on Jan. 9, rallied back from a 21-9 second-quarter deficit to take a lead in the third quarter and led 51-48 in the last two minutes.
“When we were at their place we lost by 40 points (61-21), and we were winning (tonight) with a minute left, so I see a lot of growth,” SHS coach Pat Morgante said. “A lot of young players have gotten a lot better, even our seniors have got more confidence and we’re starting to believe in ourselves.”
Caryn Miller turned in a career-high 19 points with nine rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors (3-11).
“This was probably her best game,” Morgante said of Miller, a senior who missed the first month of the season returning from knee surgery. “I’ve seen it in practice, I’ve seen it in the last couple games and I was really happy for her. She finally put it together tonight and this is what I thought Caryn could do.”
Kylee Dowdy had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Dessa Dowdy added eight points and six boards and Zoe Gross had four assists.
Salamanca lived at the three-point line with six makes (including two each for Miller and Emma Brown) to none for Gowanda.
Alexis Hawkins led Gowanda (6-8) with 25 points, helping control the paint and slow down the Warriors with a personal 6-0 run after Salamanca briefly took a third-quarter lead.
“She’s super hard to defend,” Morgante said. “She attacks, she’s really aggressive, she goes after the ball, she rebounds, she finishes strong. She’s a tough player. It’s hard to collapse on her, but she still can rebound and finish. She’s tough. She’s one of the best bigs in our league.”
Miya Scanlan added 17 points and Summer Allen 11 in the Panthers’ third consecutive win.
After a deep Dessa Dowdy two-pointer gave Salamanca at 51-48 lead with 1:38 to play, Georgia Benton’s basket cut Salamanca’s lead to one and Allen made one of two in double-bonus free throws with :55.4 to play to tie it. Both teams traded opportunities to retake the lead, but couldn’t score before the end of regulation. With Gross and Kylee Dowdy fouled out, Salamanca started slow in OT from the opening tip as Scanlan scored five straight points.
Even amid a seven-game losing skid — all in league play — Morgante likes his team’s effort and toughness, exemplified in its rally from 12-point first half deficit.
“I’ll tell you what about this team: They fight to the end, they don’t give up, they just play hard all game long,” Morgante said. “I’m really proud of how hard they play. They never give up.
“They’re young and they’re starting to believe that they can be good. There’s a lot of potential here, we’ve just got to start to believe. It’s nice to finally start to see that.”
Gowanda (62)
Allen 4 3-8 11, Scanlan 8 1-2 17, Hawkins 6 13-25, Gabel 3 1-4 7, Benton 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 18-34 62.
Salamanca (54)
Miller 7 3-4 19, Warrior 3 2-2 9, Gross 0 1-2 1, E. Brown 2 0-0 5, D. Dowdy 3 0-0 8, K. Dowdy 4 4-4 12, Slade 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 10-12 54.
Gowanda 15 26 40 51 62
Salamanca 5 21 34 51 54
Three-point goals: Gowanda 0, Salamanca 6 (Miller 2, Warrior, E. Brown, D. Dowdy 2). Total fouls: Gowanda 11, Salamanca 21. Fouled out: K. Dowdy, Gross (S).
JV: Salamanca won.