Three seasons ago, Olmsted began competing in the Yale Cup and Section VI.  In their first season, the Owls won just three games under then coach, Michael Webster.  Last season, Rich Skrabucha took over as the Owls' head man.  Sweeping changes after just one season were immediate.  Academics, attitude, character, work ethic, and commitment to the team became the expectation.  That meant losing some players along the way and a lot of growing pains.  Olmsted won just four games last year.

New approach, same results, right?  Hardly.

Six games into this season, Olmsted is now 3-3.  One of its loses was in overtime to City Honors and another was in the most unique and difficult gym in WNY to play at, Lafayette.  Last night was my first opportunity to see the Owls play.   I'm confident that I'll be seeing a lot more of them in the future.   

The Owls hosted Emerson on Thursday night and showed right from the opening tip, which team wanted to win more.  Olmsted closed the first quarter on a 10-2 run to go up 16-6, and then extended its halftime advantage to 29-14.  After weathering Emerson's third quarter storm, the Owls closed things out in the fourth and came away with a 50-43 victory.  Jalen Schumaker poured in a game-high 18 points and Malcolm Hendrick added 15 points.  Emerson's leading scorer, Lenny Dowell, was held without a field goal and finished with just two points.

***

Silver Creek entered this season as the favorites in CCAA II and knew the top league contender would be Portville.  The Black Knights needed a dramatic 3-pointer to force overtime and eventually earn a four-point win against the Panthers in the Class C2 semifinals last year.  Sure enough, as the first meeting between the two schools rolled around, both came into the contest unbeaten.  But as all those in attendance quickly found out last night, the gap between Silver Creek and its competition has only widened.

Silver Creek (8-0) built a 14-point lead after one quarter and were already up by 23 points at the half, en route to an 84-57 win.  In typical Black Knights fashion, they got there by pressuring on defense, scoring in transition with the ball rarely touching the floor, and knocking down 3-pointers.  Kaine Kettle (game-high 23 points) and Steve Marcey (16 points) each rained down four long-distance bombs, including the highest arching rainbow '3' I've seen all year from Kettle and a brilliant catch-and-shoot in the corner from Marcey.  Both drew "Ahhs" from the home crowd.

Zed Williams was his usual self as well, leading the way defensively and forcing countless turnovers.  Williams, who I feel is WNY's  ultimate stat stuffer for his combination of rebounds, assists, steals, & blocks, finished with 22 points.  His evening included converting the highlight play of the game: 6-7 sophomore Bill Brooks sent a full court outlet pass to Marcey, who delivered a fancy behind-the-back pass in stride to Williams for the finish.  Showtime.  Chill Showtime.

Zach Blask led Portville with 20 points, while Josh Watson scored 16 points.

-centercourt