OBSERVER File Photo On the right is a file photo of Silver Creek’s top scorer, Brady Woleben. Woleben had his way with the Panthers on Wednesday night, scoring 29 points.

SILVER CREEK — With the CCAA Div. 1 East league crown just out of the reach of the Silver Creek boys basketball team, they came into Wednesday with just three games separating them from what really matters — the postseason.

But before the playoffs can begin, the Black Knights still want to take it one game at a time to finish out the regular season strong.

Silver Creek (12-6, 6-3) trounced the Gowanda Panthers (2-16, 0-9) at home on Wednesday night, topping the division foe by a final score of 50-30.

“I think we played really well tonight by sticking to our gameplan,” said Silver Creek head coach Rob Genco. “With a game tomorrow against Allegany it was good to rest some guys and get ready for tomorrow while competing at a high level tonight.”

Black Knights’ lead scorer Brady Woleben had 19 first half points as Silver Creek was able to pile it onto the scoreboard from the start.

“We were able to move the ball well tonight,” said Genco. “Brady was able to get a couple dunks to get us going. He pretty much fueled us tonight.”

For Woleben, he tried making the first half into his own personal dunk contest.

After missing a dunk earlier in the game, Woleben got his legs under him as the half wore on. Midway through the first quarter, Woleben took a breakaway feed from teammate Dominic Jamison and threw it down one-handed with ease.

“They’ve taken their lumps but they’ve had success now these past two seasons,” said Genco about his senior class. “They came in as young guys and they’ve played a lot of basketball games here. They deserve it. They work hard and they’re great kids.”

Later in the half, Woleben did it again, this time after his own steal, flushing it down hard with his right hand.

Gowanda got some life late in the second quarter with 3-point baskets from Aaron Colantino and Tanner Olson, cutting Silver Creek’s halftime lead to 31-13.

“These guys didn’t give up, I’ll give them that,” said Gowanda head coach Eric Ring. “We just had some missed opportunities tonight.”

Gowanda was energized in the second half by senior Justin Kohn, who was able to get to the free throw line to earn some points.

“We just have a lack of basketball knowledge,” said Ring about the reason for his team’s disconnect this season. “We only have one starter back from last year. Some of these guys have never played basketball on this level.”

For Silver Creek, Woleben scored a quick 10 points in the third quarter before exiting with the rest of the starters, finishing his point total at 29 points to go along with 15 rebounds.

The Black Knights second group got valuable experience, which will hopefully lead to future success for the program.

“I want this second group to be a machine, also,” said Genco. “They need the experience — it’s good that they are able to get those minutes because next year it’ll be their show.”

As for Gowanda, they’re hoping for a quick turnaround for their program.

“These jayvees having been doing a great job with the offense we’ve put in,” said Ring. “With those guys doing what they’re doing, playing over the summer and next season — this program can turn it around within the next two season.”

With the win tonight, Silver Creek has — for now — solidified enough power points to earn a No. 4 seed come playoff time in the Class C1 bracket. An upset tomorrow of Allegany-Limestone would only propel their confidence as a team moving forward.

“We’ve played an extremely tough schedule this year,” said Genco. “To say that we’ve even won 12 games up to this point in the season — I’m pretty proud of them.”