Photo by Alex Shippard North Collins's Dylon Mercado (3) looks to put up a shot while Brocton's Johnethen Spicer (15) defends during Tuesday’s Frewsburg Holiday boy high school basketball Tournament.

FREWSBURG — North Collins’ Michael Gullo hit a buzzer-beater in overtime and Frewsburg’s Cordell O’Brien scored a career high as the Eagles and Bears advanced to today’s 8 p.m. championship game of the Frewsburg Holiday Basketball Tournament with victories in Tuesday’s opening round.

North Collins beat Brocton, 41-39, in the first boys game of the evening on the back of Trevor Mercado, who scored 18 points.

Gullo nearly won the game for the Eagles in regulation when he hit a 3-pointer with 8 seconds remaining to give his team a two-point lead. The Bulldogs inbounded to Tyler DeRosier with 3.6 seconds left and the senior banked in a shot high off the backboard from a bad angle to send the game into the extra session tied at 36.

Kevin Spicola gave North Collins a lead early in overtime before free throws from Hunter Rizzo and Garrett McFadden eventually gave the Bulldogs a one-point lead. Gullo tied the game with a free throw with 37.8 seconds showing on the clock before Brocton turned the ball over on a shot-clock violation with 2.5 seconds remaining. The Eagles then called a timeout to set up a full-court play that worked to perfection for Gullo’s winning shot.

North Collins led 10-4 after the first quarter and 19-10 at halftime before the Bulldogs came to life in the third quarter. Ronald Brown opened the second half with a 3-pointer before Charles Rexford, Rizzo and Johnethen Spicer all had buckets in a 9-0 Brocton run that tied the game at 19-all with 3:22 left in the third quarter. The Eagles scored the next 8 points, capped by a Gullo 3-pointer, to take a 27-19 lead, but Rizzo answered with a 3-pointer of his own to cut the North Collins lead to 27-22 heading into the fourth quarter.

Mercado then scored 6 straight points for the Eagles as they grew the lead to 33-26, but Brocton answered, eventually taking a one-point lead on a McFadden 3-pointer with under a minute remaining.

Gullo finished with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, for North Collins (2-4).

DeRosier led the Bulldogs (0-5) with 10 points and 17 rebounds while Rexford grabbed 13 rebounds and Spicer pulled down 10.

In the nightcap, O’Brien scored 34 points, including a pair of breakaway dunks, as Frewsburg beat Pine Valley, 61-42.

The senior scored 17 points in the first half as the Bears built a 27-18 lead heading into the break.

Frewsburg quickly scored the first 6 points of the second half, capped by O’Brien’s second dunk of the night that led to a 33-18 advantage. The Panthers’ Zach Mansfield, who finished with a team-high 18 points, answered with three 3-pointers throughout the remainder of the third quarter as the Panthers cut the deficit to 42-35 heading into the final 8 minutes.

Nyle Bird hit a big 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter for the Bears before O’Brien picked up his fourth foul with 6:53 left in the game. What looked like it could be a turning point in the game never materialized as the rest of the Bears were able to hold off Pine Valley over the next few minutes until O’Brien returned. Frewsburg hit 6-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

O’Brien was the only Frewsburg scorer in double figures, but Caleb Caldwell chipped in nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals. O’Brien pulled down eight rebounds to go along with four steals and Quinn Conlan grabbed nine rebounds while Bradley Nelson had four rebounds and three assists.

Gilberto Ortiz led Pine Valley (5-2) with 11 rebounds while Trent Mihalko grabbed six. Dylan Chase and Mihalko each handed out four assists while Stephan Crisanti picked up three steals.

NOTES: Brocton won the jayvee matchup with North Collins, 45-30, behind 9 points apiece from Gabe Morello and Darien Booker. … David Gullo led the Eagles with 13 points. … Frewsburg won its jayvee matchup with Pine Valley, 60-25, behind 21 points from Aaron Hair and 19 points from Nolan Brink. … Dawson Harrington led the Panthers with 11 points.