And five days was simply not enough.

Kentucky got the most out of its bench to outrun Chautauqua, 113-93, in Premier Basketball League action.

“Well, I thought that the fact that we only had six guys healthy and that the guys came in with a very good fight,” Chautauqua Hurricane coach Jerome Moss said after the loss. “They never quit and that’s all you could ask.”

The top four teams in the Premier Basketball League make it into the playoffs. With a record of 6-14, the Hurricane placed fifth out of the eight teams. Rochester, Kentucky, Ohio and Jamestown will continue into the postseason.

OBSERVER Photo by Roger Coda Chautauqua’s Geno Green (6) finds difficulty bringing it to the net against the Kentucky Mavericks during the Hurricane’s final home game Friday night at Brocton Central School.

Kentucky’s Chris Hogan kicked off the game with tough defense. In the first six minutes of play, Hogan was at the receiving end of breakaway steals, two 3-pointers and a scrappy offensive rebound that he put back on a missed free throw. His effort started a 19-8 run midway through the opening quarter.

The quarter ended shortly thereafter with the Mavericks leading, 26-16.

In the second, it was all offense. Kentucky exploded for 32 points while limiting the Hurricane to just 18 points. In the quarter, Maurice Greene sat on the bench with an ice pack and his ankle lifted on one chair, so he could only watch from the sidelines. With Greene sitting on the bench, the Hurricane was down to six active players.

But the injury bug didn’t stop there, as Trevanta Gatewood later had an ice pack placed on his ankle as well.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks were getting the most out of their depth. The team had 11 players ready and made line changes — like in hockey — as the full-court press drained both the Mavs and the Hurricane.

“These guys are basketball players, they want to play,” Moss said. “So you just use your timeouts and tell them to keep playing. They could only have five guys on the floor at a time. So it’s five against five.”

At halftime, Kentucky led Chautauqua, 58-34, and the second half began much the same way as the first half did. The Mavericks netted an efficient 39 points in the third, which averaged to 3.25 points per minute, far to fast a pace for the Hurricane to keep up with.

Although the game was all but over, with the score being 97-68 to start the fourth, the Hurricane still had fight in them. Reuben Berry was a force in helping to close the large deficit his team faced, as he scored eight points in that quarter alone, and 24 on the night. The team, in a meaningless game for both playoffs and unlikeliness of a comeback, cut the Maverick’s lead in half late into the final stanza.

“The kids have some pride in their ability to play the game,” Moss said on the fourth quarter effort. “Nobody wants to lose, nobody wants to lose by 30. So in the beginning of the fourth quarter we said, ‘No quit. No quit guys, come on we are going to keep playing hard’ and they did.”

The comeback did not come to fruition, however, as the Mavericks held on for 113-93 win.

Dunkirk alum Alex Crossan made offensive strides in the season ender. His night entailed 14 points, something that wasn’t usually in his stat line during his days on the hardwood at Dunkirk Senior High School.

“I think Alex came a long way,” Moss said. “Alex played high school ball for me and I thought that this would be good for him and he wanted to continue to learn how to play the game. He continued to work hard all season and he went better as he went and I’m really happy for him.”

The Mavericks’ top scorer was Nick Waddell, who scored 26 points, while Robert Crawford added 17 points in the win.

“We didn’t make it this year,” Moss said, “but we will be working hard to try to be able to put a good team together next year and see if we can get into the playoffs.”

Email: akuczkowski@observertoday.com

Twitter: @Kuczkowski95