By JON FENIELLO

sports@observertoday.com

Behind great play by Jamestown’s post players, the Red Raiders survived a tough test from the Fredonia Hillbillies to win 57-50 in non-league action on Friday night.

The Hillbillies (0-2) got out to a quick start with two baskets on fast breaks from their half court defense, which also kept Jamestown scoreless for the first four minutes.

However, the Red Raiders made a flurry of baskets to end the quarter. Matt Hill started by scoring back to back three point shots. Jamestown’s forwards led by Grant Moore used their strong physical play which ended up giving them a 19-6 lead after one quarter.

“Even though we were great defensively, we started extremely slow on the offensive side of the ball,” stated Red Raiders coach Ben Drake. “Matt got us going early and we were eventually able to settle in and use our size to our advantage with the big guys playing well inside.”

Fredonia responded with a full court press that forced the Red Raiders to turn the ball over multiple times in the second quarter. That allowed for the Hillbillies to have an outburst of points.

“We are a very inexperienced team,” said Drake. “That is one area that we will have to do better at. We had way too many turnovers and that led us to giving up too many easy layups.”

The Hillbillies trapped the ball and jumped into the passing lanes which led to many fast break points including two threes by both Reid Tarnowski and Tyler Putney.

“I was pleased with how we came out in the second quarter,” said Fredonia coach Greg Lauer. “We responded great with our press and that brought us back into the game.”

See FREDONIA, Page B2

The third quarter was a high intensity defensive quarter for both teams as each squad had few opportunities to score as the visitors held a 39-31 lead after three. According to Drake, “Our defense was solid in the half court. We did a good job at making them earn their points. As long as we took care of the ball and did not force shots, we were able to get back into good position and make things difficult for them .”

In the final quarter, Jamestown’s forwards continued their solid play with numerous second chance points. After a quick three by Putney, Jamestown tallied the next eight points which included an offensive put back by Shaheem Freeney followed by an old fashioned three point play by Marcus Rojas. “This is two games in a row that we had very good defense, but we did not finish the possession by getting the rebound,” said Lauer. “We were outrebounded by 15.”

“I am pleased with our scoring,” added Lauer. “We have scored 50 points in both games, which should be enough to win the games. Our focus is on rebounding and playing great defense.”

The Hillbillies look to rebound on Monday when they host Global Concepts while Jamestown travels to Frontier on Tuesday for their league opener.

Jamestown 57, Fredonia 50

JAMESTOWN (57)

Hill 3 2 11 E. Rojas 1 4 7, Moore 4 1 9, Faulkner 1 0 2, M. Rojas 5 7 17, Freeney 4 3 11.

FREDONIA (50)

Field 0 6 6, Piper 3 0 6, Pucci 0 2 2, Putney 3 1 10, Shuart 1 1 3, Swartz 2 0 4, Tarnowski 6 4 19.

3-point field goals made: Hill 3, E. Rojas 1, Tarnowski 3, Putney 3

Jamestown 19 13 7 18 — 57

Fredonia 6 19 6 19 — 50