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T’birds hand Huskies first league loss since 2015

OBSERVER Photos by Lisa Monacelli At left, Chautauqua Lake’ Kyler Majka runs the offense during Tuesday’s CCAA West 1 boys high school baksetball game against Olean. 

MAYVILLE — From a spectator’s perspective, it doesn’t get much better than Tuesday night’s Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 West matchup between Olean and Chautauqua Lake.

Olean entered play with an overall record of 4-1 and captured a state title last season.

The Thunderbirds came into the highly anticipated battle with an unblemished 5-0 record and were ranked as the No. 3 Class C team in the state, according to the New York State Sportswriters Association.

And when all was said and done, both teams unquestionably gave the packed house in attendance at Chautauqua Lake Central School quite the show.

Devin Pope poured in a game-high 25 points, Aaron Swan added 14 points, Chautauqua Lake played ferocious defense down the stretch en route to overcoming an eight-point, fourth-quarter deficit and the end result was a thrilling 58-57 win for the Thunderbirds, who handed the Huskies their first league loss since Feb. 17, 2015.

At right, Chautauqua Lake’s Aaron Swan puts up a shot. Chautauqua Lake defeated Olean, 58-57, to hand the Huskies their first league loss since Feb. 17, 2015 — a 65-52 loss to Fredonia.

“First of all, Olean is a great team,” Chautauqua Lake (6-0, 2-0) head coach Michael Putney said. “I mean they’ve won a lot of games and not by fluke, they have a great coach (and) they have a great program. But I tell you what, these kids at Chautauqua Lake have worked their butts off. They wanted this game. They knew this was a huge game. And they knew that in order to make noise, we had to face big competition like this.”

Monty Shoemaker came through with 17 first-half points and Matt Droney contributed eight points in the game’s first two quarters to help stake Olean (4-2, 0-1) to a 35-27 halftime lead.

Following an even third quarter, the Huskies still led, 45-37.

Arguably the biggest difference was Chautauqua Lake switching to a 1-3-1 zone in the game’s closing minutes. Not only did it stifle the Huskies, but the defensive pressure allowed Chautauqua Lake to get out and run in transition, which got the Thunderbirds right back into the game.

“We like to push the ball,” Putney stressed. “If teams … make turnovers (like Olean did at times in the fourth quarter), we take advantage of it, we run. We run, we run, we run.”

Pope, who entered play averaging 27.6 points per contest, scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to lead the charge while senior Tyler Meredith added 6 of his 9 points.

The stagnant fourth-quarter offense, letting the Thunderbirds push the ball up the floor and missed opportunities ultimately doomed Olean.

“That’s something that we’ve preached to those guys all season from day one is that they have to get back on defense,” Olean coach Jeff Anastasia emphasized. “That really hurt. When we’re giving up layups and then we have to work at the other end (on offense), that makes it tough.”

Shoemaker ended up with a team-high 24 points for the Huskies in defeat; Droney had 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks; and Mike Schmidt contributed 9 points, nine assists and five rebounds.

“I think when you lose it’s always a good learning experience,” Anastasia said. “They’ll figure it out. It takes some time. Like I said, it’s a new group this year and I think we’re taking steps forward. It’s just a matter of in crunch time, who wants the ball? …We’re learning. We’re coming (along). It’s just you can’t make those mistakes. If you have a 7-point lead, you can’t have a wasted possession, you can’t give up layups. That’s something you can’t do.”

Pope had three blocks and three steals to complement his 25 points; Swan added eight rebounds and four assists to go along with his 14 points; Meredith had four assists; and Nate Hammond had 5 points and nine rebounds in the huge win for Chautauqua Lake.

“These guys have wanted it, they knew they could do it,” Putney stated. “We use these games as stepping stones … to get us ready for playoffs. And that’s really what we strive for here is going on into playoffs. … This is huge for this program, because these guys have worked so hard.”

NOTES: Olean came away with a 53-33 win in the jayvee game thanks, in part, to 20 points from Alex Weakfall. … Nate Adams (11 points) was the top scorer for Chauatuqua Lake’s jayvee team.

OLEAN (57)

Shoemaker 10 0 24, Schmidt 4 1 9, Snyder 1 0 2, Rogers 1 0 2, Droney 7 0 14, Bihler 1 0 2, Klein 2 0 4, Dandrea 0 0 0. Totals 26 1 57.

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE (58)

Vinciguerra 1 0 2, Meredith 4 0 9, Majka 1 1 3, Swan 5 2 14, AGleason 0 0 0, Pope 8 9 25, Bentley 0 0 0, Hammond 2 1 5, Wood 0 0 0. Totals 21 13 58.

3-point goals – Shoemaker 4, Meredith Swan 2.

Olean    15 20 10 12 – 57

Chautauqua Lake    15 12 10 21- 58

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