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Fredonia runs past Frewsburg on the road, 68-56

Photo by Alex Shipherd. Pictured above, Fredonia’s Keith Piper looks to bring the ball up the court during a basketball game against Frewsburg at Frewsburg High School on Thursday.

FREWSBURG — In between the third and fourth quarters Thursday evening, Fredonia’s huddle swayed to the beats of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”

Safe to say by that point, the Hillbillies’ night was “so good, so good, so good.”

A 21-point lead will do that for you.

Tyler Putney had 15 points to lead 11 Fredonia players in the scoring column as the Hillbillies beat Frewsburg, 68-56, in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 West action.

Fredonia’s offense was in rhythm for most of the night, shooting 25 of 46 from the field, including 9 of 21 from 3-point range.

“We always predicate everything on the defensive end. We talk about how our defense helps to generate our offense,” Fredonia coach Nick Betrando said. “We can take opportunities on that end and turn them into more advantagous looks. That definitely helps get us moving in the right direction.”

Quinn Conlan led the Bears with a game-high 25 points to go along with seven rebounds and two blocked shots while Brad Nelson added 21 points, three assists.

“He’s a phenomenal player. He’s a force inside,” Bertrando said of Conlan. “We really just tried to make all of his touches very tough.”

The Hillbillies led by six after the first quarter and by 11 at halftime, but didn’t put the game away until a 15-2 run that ended the third quarter. During that span, Putney hit three 3-pointers while Nate Shuart, Brayden Myers and Alec Schrader each added a bucket.

“It doesn’t matter who you are or how big you are, we expect the same level of energy, effort and execution,” Bertrando said.

“Putney got hot,” Frewsburg coach Tom Nelson said. “He’s a tough kid to guard.”

At the other end of the floor, Frewsburg turned it over four times while going 0 for 4 from the field. The Bears’ only points over their final 11 possessions of the period came on a pair of Conlan free throws.

“There were times where we had him open and just didn’t get him the ball,” Nelson said of Conlan. “We had a few passes over his head. … They defend hard.”

The game was in stark contrast to the teams’ first meeting of the season on Dec. 12 when the Hillbillies led 55-44 with under a minute left only to see Frewsburg score eight points in the final 30 seconds. The Bears had multiple chances to tie that game late, but couldn’t capitalize.

“Up there we held them to (55) points,” Coach Nelson said. “I don’t know if they’ve had a game this year where they’ve scored 68 points.”

Fredonia led 20-14 after the first quarter Thursday on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Kaleb Rybij and Myers added treys in the second quarter, but back-to-back 3s from Nelson in the final three minutes helped the Bears stay within striking distance until the Hillbillies’ game-deciding third-quarter run.

“Fredonia hides its defense and disguises it. We spent too much time figuring out what to run,” Coach Nelson said. “You can run plays or you can just play basketball. We need to just play.”

Frewsburg (6-6, 3-4) will look to get back in the win column Tuesday at home against non-league Ellicottville while the Hillbillies (9-5, 6-1) will host rival Dunkirk next Thursday.

“We don’t look ahead and we don’t look behind,” Bertrando said. “We focus on every game that is presented to us.”

NOTES: Frewsburg shot 23 of 51 from the field, including 3 of 12 from 3-point range. … Aaron Hair grabbed six rebounds in defeat. … Keith Piper and Myers followed Putney with 11 points apiece while Shuart chipped in 9. … Shuart led Fredonia with four rebounds; Putney had two steals; Piper and Myers each had three assists; and Piper blocked two shots. … Fredonia won the jayvee contest, 58-13, led by 12 points from Nick Creeley.

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