All year long, the coaches of Chautauqua Lake, Dunkirk and Fredonia have emphasized the strength of their league in the regular season, Division 1 West of the Chautauqua Cattaraugus Athletic Association. Through the sectional championships, those coaches could not have been any more right.

CCAA Division 1 West is made up of six teams in girls basketball: Chautauqua Lake, Dunkirk, Fredonia, Maple Grove, Olean and Southwestern. Of those six teams, four of the six — Chautauqua Lake (Class C1), Maple Grove (Class C2), Olean (Class B1) and Southwestern (Class B2) — played for their class sectional title, with only Olean losing, by two points, after star player Sara Pfieffer fouled out with most of the fourth quarter left to play. Even the two teams that didn’t play for a sectional title — Dunkirk and Fredonia — each upset a top 5 seed in their playoff bracket. Dunkirk was eliminated by Olean, while Fredonia lost in the sectional semifinal to 2-seed East Aurora, the eventual Class B1 champion.

Moving forward, Chautauqua Lake and Maple Grove meet in the Class C crossover game at Jamestown Community College on Tuesday, while Southwestern plays in the Class B crossover game at Buffalo State College on Wednesday. The winners of those games will advance to the Far West Regional game for their class, Saturday, at Buffalo State College. Regardless of the outcomes of the crossover games, CCAA Division 1 West is guaranteed at least one representative fighting for a chance to make the state finals.

Because the league is so tough during the regular season, all year long the coaches have shared the thought that it prepares their team for postseason success.

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Chautauqua Lake’s Emily Phelps looks to drive to the basket during the Class C1 girls basketball sectional final game at Jamestown Community College.

“It really comes back to our league,” said Chautauqua Lake coach Bill Persons after winning the Class C1 sectional title on Saturday at JCC. “The league that we are in was so tight and tough. Everybody kind of counted us out because of our record, but I knew it would pay dividends this time of year, and it certainly has.”

After losing in the Class B1 sectional semifinals, Fredonia coach Mark Putney shared a similar sentiment.

“I knew that we were going to do fine in the playoffs, and that’s what I was really shooting for, because I knew that our league was so tough,” said Putney.

To put things in perspective in terms of the regular season, the Dunkirk Lady Marauders began the season 8-0, before a road loss at eventual Class C2 finalist Frewsburg. Once the league year began, however, Dunkirk only went 2-8 in league games in CCAA Division 1 West, with both wins coming against Fredonia. Dunkirk coach Ken Ricker knew that his league was tough before the league contests even began, and dampened his expectations for the regular season because of that.

“When we were 8-0, some people were talking about us going undefeated. I thought that was so silly,” said Ricker after beating Fredonia at Fredonia High School. “I had to tell a lot of adults, ‘Please put on the brakes. We might not win again all season.’ Our league is so good.”

Dunkirk finished the regular season at 10-10, but still managed to upset the 5-seed, Buffalo Arts, on the road by double digits in the first round of the playoffs.

Fredonia, the lowest seed in Class B1 with a 6-12 regular season record, notched a pair of double digit playoff upsets, including a 55-39 win on the road at 3-seed Springville.

Chautauqua Lake, who finished in fourth place in the division with a 3-7 record in league, throttled 4-seed Tapestry by 50 points on the road in the playoffs, then upset the No. 1 seed Portville to earn a spot in the Class C1 final. In the final, Chautauqua Lake ran over 3-seed Silver Creek 18-2 in the first quarter and led by double digits the entire rest of the way for a 62-31 win.

Even Dunkirk and Fredonia, who sat at the bottom of the league this season, are each just a year removed from playing each other in the Class B1 final last season at Buffalo State College. After Fredonia won that game, they moved on to face Class B2 champion Southwestern in the crossover game, and won that as well.

Needless to say, their league is pretty good.

Next year and for years to come, when the Power Point system of sectional playoff seeding disrespects teams from CCAA Division 1 West — and for that matter, other teams around the Southern Tier, as well — remember the recent history of the programs being slighted. No matter what the Section VI playoff brackets might lead you to believe, the Section’s best hail from Division 1 West.