By JO WANKEL

Era Sports Writer

PORTVILLE, NY — Sunday’s Big 30 Girls’ Senior Classic was a showcase of talent and the importance of grit as the two teams faced off on the court at Portville Central School. PA came away with a 51-49 win.

Starters for PA included: Charlotte Austin-Keech (Oswayo Valley); Isabella Rees (Austin); Carrie Drummond (Otto-Eldred); Ella Moses (Port Allegany) and Addie Bell (Otto-Eldred).

“I use the KISS Method. My wife always tells me, ‘Keep It Simple Stupid.’ I went right down the line, how we started is how their numbers were,” PA Head Coach Shawn Gray said of his strategy on substitutions.

Starters for NY included: Ashley Carls (Portville); Natalee Leiper (Ellicottville); Natalie Adams (Wellsville); Makenna Dunbar (Wellsville); and Courtney Marsh (Ellicottville).

“Being in the Big 30 is just… What a great experience for them. There were nerves a little bit in the beginning and again after halftime, and I said just go out and really enjoy it,” NY Head Coach Michelle Alvord said. “I thought both teams played really well.

That’s what you like to see — a good competitive game. I’m glad it wasn’t super lopsided.” Experience playing against one another came in handy anticipating the best strategies on the court for both teams.

Even under pressure and after seeing NY chip away a 10-point lead, PA players kept their focus and came away with the win.

PA opened scoring with a 3 from Isabella Rees (Austin), and NY’s Makenna Dunbar (Wellsville) answered, making the score PA 3-2. PA’s Rees grabbed the rebound and put one up for two with 17:27 on the clock, giving PA a 5-2 advantage.

For NY, Payton Morrison (Randolph) sank a three near the 15-minute mark, tying the score at 5-5. Then NY took the lead with 13:35 to go on a free throw from Sadie Steward (Randolph) and followed that with a basket from Steward to expand the lead to three, 8-5.

PA’s Olivia Bell (Kane) sank a free throw with 12:36 to go to make the score NY 8-6.

With 10:03 on the clock, PA’s Charlotte Austin-Keech (OV) grabbed a rebound and put it up to tie the score at 8-8.

PA took the lead again on a basket from Carrie Drummond (Otto-Eldred) with 9:02 remaining and took a four-point lead on a basket from Rees. With the score PA 12, NY 8, NY’s Natalee Leiper (Ellicottville) grabbed a rebound and passed the ball off to Quinn Pence (Randolph), who drove down the court and put the ball up for two with 7:20 remaining in the half.

Two successful free throws from PA’s Ella Moses (Port Allegany) were followed by a sequence where NY attempted a basket and saw Moses pull down the rebound and turn it into a successful three at the other end of the court.

With a five-point lead, PA held off NY with strong defense and rebounding four over five minutes. With 33 seconds until the half, NY’s Payton Morrison (Randolph) was fouled by Neveah Spaeth (Cameron County), putting her at the line to shoot three. She sank them all, reducing the PA advantage to two, 17-15, as the half wrapped up.

It was so much fun for me, I hope they had as much fun as I did,” Gray said. “It was all the girls after halftime. I let them draw up the stuff and Ella drew up the game-winning play. They got the ball to the right girl at the right time.”

Drummond (O-E) opened PA scoring in the second half with a three, making the score 20-15 less than 20 seconds in.

NY’s Marsh sank a basket and two free throws to give NY four more, broken only by a free throw from Saf to make the score PA 21-19 with 18:11 on the clock.

PA added two baskets, one from Rees and one from Saf, to build up a four-point lead. With 16:49 to go, the scoreboard read PA 25, NY 21. Moses sank a free throw for PA and Marsh found the basket for NY, making the score PA 26-23. Saf sank two more free throws to give PA a fivepoint lead with 15:58 remaining.

Ruter sank two of three free throws to put PA ahead 30-23, answered by a three from NY’s Morrison to cut the lead to four.

A basket from Kane’s Olivia Bell for PA put the score at 32-26, but NY’s Cloey Larabee (Cuba-Rushford) took full advantage of two free throws off a foul on Bell to make the score PA 32, NY 28.

The clock wound down to 9:45 before Bradford’s Alyssa Johnson hit a three for PA, immediately answered by Makenna Dunbar (Wellsville) for NY, making the score PA 37-30. Johnson hit another basket soon after, making it a nine-point lead for PA. Moses (Port A.) sank a basket as well, making the score PA 41-30 with 8:16 remaining.

NY’s Carmen Crowley (Cuba-Rushford) was fouled and went to the line, sinking one of two to make the score PA 41, NY 31, and Marsh added a free throw as well to cut the lead to nine.

PA’s response came from Kane’s O. Bell, putting PA ahead 43-32.

However, NY rallied with just over 6 and a half minutes on the clock, with Brynn Lavery (C-R) and Steward (Randolph) sinking shots and Crowley adding another. A basket from Lavery cut the lead to three with 5:06 remaining, but PA’s Addie Bell (Otto-Eldred) sank a three to bump the advantage back to six for PA.

NY’s Raegan Giardini (Bolivar-Richburg) sank a shot with three minutes on the clock, and Crowley found the basket again to reduce the PA lead to 1, 46-45 as the clock read 1:15 remaining.

PA’s Mya Pistner (ECC) was fouled seconds later and drained one of two at the line to make the score PA 47-45. NY’s Natalie Adams (Wellsville) found a sweet spot and put up a three, giving NY the lead 48-47 with 40 seconds left in the game. A free throw from Pence made it a two point lead as the clock wound down.

With 12 seconds left, Manning drained a free throw for PA and cut the lead to one for NY (4948).

“In the last couple of minutes, I asked Ella, do you want to try to win this, and she said ‘Absolutely,’” Gray said. “I had a girl that hadn’t scored so I put her back in. It ended up that she got the bucket we wanted.”

Gray called a timeout for PA with 10 seconds on the clock, and the team came back out, got the ball to Ruter and she sank a three at the buzzer, giving PA the win with a final score of 51-49.

“It’s a great group of kids, typically, when you are doing this kind of thing. We made sure the focus was on them. This is their time, and just to have fun with it,” Gray stated. “This is something they will probably remember the rest of their lives. I hope they will.

“That last shot probably helps a little bit.”

Assistant coaches were Dan Dalton (PA) and Joe Hennessy (NY).