The end of the regular season has brought the best out of the Salamanca girls basketball team.
Salamanca (11-9) ended the season on a six-game winning streak, with five of those victories in league play. That strong stretch of league games helped the Warriors rise in the Section 6 Class C1 standings, earning a No. 5 seed in the playoffs starting this week.
Salamanca visits No. 4 Falconer on Thursday in a C1 quarterfinal.
Coach Bryelle Wallin said a long absence from the court — Salamanca didn’t play between Dec. 22 and Jan. 17 due to the winter break and a COVID pause — contributed to a slow start in league play, dropping their first two games after the pause to Ellicottville and Pine Valley.
“I’ll attribute a little bit of it to COVID, and the first time around we were missing some players in the first two games, so that did make a difference,” she said.
“But they’re just finally starting to play the way they’re capable of playing and the way they could have been playing all along. I think things are just starting to click, and they’ve got a mindset now that anything can happen on any given day and if they just go out and play hard and do the things that we can do, games will come down to the end and lately, luckily, we’ve been on the winning side of that.”
Lezly McComber leads the Warriors with 10.6 points per game and Jillian Rea has averaged 9.9 points per game.
In Salamanca’s six-game winning streak, three were decided by single digits, none closer than a 56-53 overtime win over Ellicottville.
“The Ellicottville game really came down to finishing foul shots, which we hadn’t been doing in the previous games,” Walllin said. We were 19 of 29, so we still missed some free throws, but making 19 free throws in any game is going to help you tremendously. I think there’s just a little bit of grittiness. In the whole Ellicottville game it was back and forth, back and forth, and in overtime we were down four to start.
“They have just adopted this refuse to die attitude and they just fought and clawed their way back and they just maintained their composure. Poise under pressure is something that we’ve been saying. They kept their composure in the end and just did the little things right.”
Falconer (12-5) comes from a competitive league in the CCAA Central and has won five of its last six games. Wallin said her team is focused on what it can do headed into a tough matchup.
“We’re really focused on defense and we’re focused on doing our things right,” she said. “Going in, we’re not really focusing on what Falconer’s going to do, we’re focusing on what we can do. Falconer is a very physical team, they’re very aggressive, so it’s going to be really important for us to maintain our composure, just like we had to against Ellicottville, but honestly the big focus this week is defense and making sure that we button up the things that we need to to be as successful as we possibly can be. I think when it comes down to it, if we play the we’re capable of playing, it’s anybody’s game, for sure.”
Randolph has the top seed in Class C2 with a 17-3 record, including an 11-game winning streak to end the regular season. Payton Morrison (19.5 points per game) and Kyra Pence (14.9) lead a high-powered offense for the Cardinals. Randolph received a bye to the C2 semifinals, awaiting the winner of No. 4 Chautauqua Lake and No. 5 Maple Grove on Wednesday night, March 2, at Jamestown Community College.
Ellicottville also has a No. 1 seed in Class D, courtesy of the Eagles’ 11-1 league record as CCAA East champions. Emilee Ruiz leads the Eagles with 13.75 points per game, while Dalayla Alexander has averages 10.5.
The Eagles will play either No. 5 Franklinville or No. 4 Pine Valley on Wednesday in the semifinals at JCC.
SECTION 6 GIRLS BASKETBALL
CLASS C1
Thursday’s Quarterfinals
5. Salamanca (11-9) at 4. Falconer (12-5), 7 p.m.
7. Gowanda (9-10) at 2. Portville (17-3), 7 p.m.
6. Silver Creek (12-8) at 3. MST Prep (10-5), 7 p.m.
(at Jamestown CC)
Thursday’s Semifinals (March 3)
Falconer/Salamanca at 1. Wilson (16-4), 6:30 p.m.
Portville/Gowanda vs. MST Prep/Silver Creek, 8 p.m.
Saturday’s Championship (March 5)
Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.
CLASS C2
Thursday’s Quarterfinals
5. Maple Grove (8-12) at 4. Chautauqua Lake (7-11), 7 p.m.
7. Cassadaga Valley (5-15) at 2. Holland (12-8), 7 p.m.
6. Westfield/Brocton (6-13) at 3. Frewsburg (17-3), 7 p.m.
(at Jamestown CC)
Wednesday’s Semifinals (March 2)
Holland/Cass. Valley vs. Frewsburg/W-B, 6:30 p.m.
CL/MG at 1. Randolph (17-3), 8 p.m.
Saturday’s Championship (March 5)
Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.
CLASS D
Thursday’s Quarterfinals
5. Franklinville (13-7) at 4. Pine Valley (9-10), 7 p.m.
7. North Collins (6-12) at 2. Panama (13-6), 7 p.m.
6. Clymer (14-5) at 3. Sherman (10-8), 7 p.m.
(at Jamestown CC)
Wednesday’s Semifinal (March 2)
Pine Valley/Franklinville at 1. Ellicottville (13-6), 5 p.m.
Thursday’s Semifinal (March 3)
Panama/North Collins vs. Sherman/Clymer, 5 p.m.
Saturday’s Championship (March 5)
Semifinal winners, noon
