COUDERSPORT — It was almost as if Owen Chambers couldn’t miss.
The sophomore guard went a perfect 10-for-10 from the field — which included seven 3-pointers — en route to scoring more points (27) than Port Allegany’s entire team as undefeated Coudersport’s(14-0, 9-0 North Tier League) 80-26 romp of the visiting Gators on Monday night.
So, what does having a shooting performance like this feel like?
“I missed two free throws,” Chambers said, recalling his misses in the first quarter. He rebounded well, hitting two 3s midway through the first as the Falcons took an early 14-4 lead and didn’t look back. When senior Khalik Murray missed a 3 late in the second quarter, Chambers crashed to the hoop, secured the missed shot around the free-throw line, took a glance at the scoreboard clock and took a few dribbles before hitting a trey at the buzzer to give the Falcons a 52-10 lead at intermission.
Port Allegany, meanwhile, couldn’t get much going offensively in the early going, aside from Brandon McCaslin’s two free throws that gave the Gators a 2-0 lead within the first minute. After some early misses, Coudersport turned up the defensive pressure and turned steals into uncontested layups.
“They must have shot 90-plus percent from the field,” Port Allegany’s Jeff Stuckey said. “Basically we just couldn’t get the motor started and they beat us in transition. They got probably 10-to-15 steals or more and capitalized on them.
“It was over real early. We just couldn’t get out of the gates in any aspect of the game.”
While the Gators’ motor stalled in the second quarter, Coudersport only ramped it up, scoring 28 points behind 11 from Chambers and seven from Jared Green.
Chambers effort from the floor is no surprise to his head coach, who had trouble remembering if his sophomore missed.
“He puts the work in,” Coudersport’s Brian Furman said. “He puts a lot of shots up in the offseason and even in season, so it’s not a surprise that he knocks down six or seven 3s in a game.”
Green scored 17 points for Coudersport, while Hunter Ricke added 13 off the bench.
Zach Layag and Aaron Wolfinger scored nine and seven points, respectively, for the Falcons, with a majority of those tallies coming in transition layups and easy buckets.
That scoring depth is a major reason why Coudersport has yet to lose a game and is ranked No. 10 in Class AA this week by PennLive.
“I think teams come in and they make sure Owen doesn’t get good looks,” Furman. “They make sure Jared Green is contained and kept off the glass. And then when the other guys can step up and fill in and get us points and rebounds, it’s really makes us a tough team to beat.”
While Coudersport drained 10 3-pointers, numerous open deep shots were passed up for easy layups by Green, Ricke or another player after being found wide open in the paint.
“If you look throughout the year,” Furman said, “I think we’ve had six, maybe seven guys, score double figures throughout the season. They look for each other. We’re not counting on one person to score, so it makes us a tougher team.”
McCaslin led Port Allegany with 12 points, seven of which came in the fourth quarter with a running clock. Midway through the fourth, teammate Howie Stuckey made a steal and passed to McCaslin. McCaslin made the shot, got fouled, then nailed the free throw for the four-point play.
While Jeff Stuckey was hoping for a closer game — the Gators lost to Coudersport by 19 earlier in the year — playing a team at the Falcons’ talent level may prove to be valuable down the road for the Class A Gators(10-7, 7-3 NTL).
“They’re just moving at a way faster pace than we are. Hopefully down the road Coudersport will give us some better games in the future.”
Coudersport heads to Northern Potter on Wednesday, while Port Allegany hosts those Panthers on Friday.
At Coudersport
Port Allegany (26)
Elliott 0 0-0 0, McCaslin 2 6-7 12, Talkington 3 0-0 7, Stuckey 1 0-0 2, Lashway 1 0-0 2, Bell 1 0-0 2. Totals: 8 7-6 26.
Coudersport (80)
Layag 3 2-2 9, Wolfinger 3 1-2 7, Chambers 10 0-2 27, Keglovits 1 0-0 2, Murray 2 1-3 5, Green 6 5-7 17, Burd 0 0-1 0, Ricke 5 1-1 13. Totals: 30 10-18 80.
Port Allegany 7 10 15 26
Coudersport 24 52 75 80
Three-point goals: Port Allegany 4 (McCaslin, Talkington, Lashway); Coudersport 10 (Layag, Chambers 7, Ricke 2).
Total fouls: Port Allegany 16, Coudersport 8. Fouled out: none.
JV: Coudersport, 51-12
