By CONNOR JACKSON

Olean Times Herald

The Big 30 Boys Basketball Senior Classic on Sunday in Portville was dominated by Pennsylvania, winning 103-81 with offense coming easily.

Of course, the most exciting thing about this game isn’t necessarily who wins. But seeing the best players in a high school class who went against each other for years now play together is more of the draw.

Cameron County’s Ryan Shaffer and Landon Farren playing with Otto-Eldred’s Landon Francis, Shene Thomas, and Manning Splain seemed odd. Cameron County and Otto-Eldred battled for the last few years, with Cameron County constantly being the lone possible upset bid for the Terrors in the North Tier League.

Salamanca’s CCAA All-Stars Avery Brown and Maddox Isaac playing with Allegany-Limestone’s CCAA Division 1 Player of the Year Carson Kwiatkowski was fun as well.

“It was a good time,” New York coach Pat Wight from Cuba-Rushford said. “You just try to get them to play fast, play free, and have fun.”

“It was super fun,” PA co-coach Derrick Francis from Otto-Eldred said. “They are the best kids in PA, best kids in New York. I graduated with Pat so it was cool to coach against him.”

PA may have been the more skilled group, but New York had some height and athleticism that was fun to watch in a setting like this. Wellsville’s 6 foot 5 inch JJ Howard showed off to open the game with an alley-oop dunk from fellow Wellsville teammate Aiden Cowburn.

“The woo factor is JJ,” coach Francis said. “When anybody can play above the rim it’s fun to watch. We don’t have kids that play above the rim, so we knew we had to shoot it.”

The two teams were even early on, it was tied 19-19 ten minutes into the contest. But PA made six three’s in the first half as they gradually pulled away before halftime. Francis made two of those three’s while Splain made one to help build a 47-27 lead.

Farren opened the second half with five points in the first minute, and PA stayed comfortably in front for the rest of the game. Of course, the team’s play under different shot clock rules with PA not having one, which may play a factor in style of play.

“It’s a different brand of basketball in PA,” Wight said. “You could be playing defense for a minute, in New York the games are a little bit more free flowing depending on what league you are in.”

New Life Christian’s Nii Narku Hanson-Nortey had a good half with eight points for New York.

Splain led PA in scoring with 13 points, Francis scored 11 while Thomas had 9. Howard stole the show for New York with his dunking ability, and he led the game with 14 points. Kwaitkowski was relatively quiet, scoring five.

“It’s really tough in a game like this to single out kids,” PA co-coach Aaron Straub from Elk County Catholic said. “I thought all our kids played well, moved the ball and shared the ball really well.”

AT PORTVILLE PENNSYLVANIA (103) Splain 4 4-4 13, Shaffer 2 0-0 4, Francis 4 0-0 11, Roessner 3 0-0 9, Sitler 5 0-0 11, Stauffer 5 0-0 12, Thomas 4 0-0 9, Stuckey 1 0-0 2, O’ Neill 3 1-4 8, Paul 1 0-0 2, Farren 4 1-2 10, Wortman 5 0-0 10. Totals: 41 6-10 103 NEW YORK (81) Cowburn 2 0-0 5, Narku Hansen-Nortey 4 0-0 8, Blecha 3 0-0 6, Howard 7 0-0 14, Isaac 4 0-0 9, Kwiatkowski 1 2-2 5, Brown 3 0-0 7, Prentice 1 0-0 3, Platt 1 0-0 2, Ricketts 3 0-0 7, Bialek 3 0-0 7, Barkley 3 0-0 7. Totals: 35 2-2 83.

PA 47 56 NY 27 54 Three-point goals: PA 13, NY 8.