Dunkirk’s Earl Stewart goes up for a contested layup defended by Fredonia’s Nick Whitfield during the last rivalry matchup between the two teams in Fredonia last season. Stewart and Whitfield lead their teams in scoring this year. OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot.

FREDONIA — Tonight, at long last, the Dunkirk-Fredonia rivalry finally hits the hardwood for the first time this season. The Dunkirk Marauders head into hostile territory to take on the Fredonia Hillbillies at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Fredonia High School in a CCAA Division 1 West boys basketball matchup.

A year ago, neither contest was very competitive. The first meeting, at Dunkirk High School, was highlighted by multiple Dunkirk players walking out on their team, while the second meeting was a low point for the Marauders, as Fredonia scored 100 points in one of the most lopsided blowouts in Chautauqua County all year.

Now, however, the narrative is completely different. Dunkirk has “turned the page” on the struggles of last year, according to Dunkirk coach Luke Gullo, and the results this year have shown a lot of growth and improvement.

“It’s going to be interesting. We are certainly up and coming, and teams in our league have taken notice. On any given night, we have a chance,” said Gullo. “We’re playing with a lot of confidence and playing for the love of the game.”

Fredonia, too, is not focused on the outcomes from a year ago.

“Last year is last year. It’s the furthest thing from our mind,” said Fredonia coach Nick Bertrando. “It’s a totally different ballgame.”

While this is another league game for both the Marauders and Hillbillies, there is obviously an added intensity whenever these two teams meet.

“We’re not downplaying the rivalry, but it’s another league game for us to get ready for the playoffs. It’s another test for us to learn from,” said Gullo. “It’s going to be loud and chaotic, and our kids are excited for that and happy for the opportunity.”

“They’re playing good ball right now,” Bertrando said of Dunkirk. “We want to come out and represent our school proudly.”

Dunkirk comes into tonight’s contest with a 4-6 record, including a split of the Marauders’ first two league games of the year — a 70-63 win over Chautauqua Lake and a 56-53 loss on Tuesday to Southwestern in Dunkirk. For a team that did not win a game after the first meeting with Fredonia a year ago, Dunkirk has already made major steps forward this season. The Marauders won the Frewsburg Holiday Tournament with wins over Gowanda and Frewsburg over winter break, then earned their first league win in two years over Chautauqua Lake to start the new year. Even Tuesday’s tight contest with Southwestern — one of the better teams in the league a year ago — shows the improvement Dunkirk has made this year.

“Our kids have improved immensely,” said Gullo. “The kids we have this year are working their tails off. … and now, we’re putting a scare into some people.”

Dunkirk boasts multiple scorers who help carry the load offensively. For the Marauders, senior leader Earl Stewart came into the Southwestern game averaging 15 points per contest and leads the team with 105 points on the season, despite missing the first two games while recovering from an injury suffered during football season. Second on the team in scoring and leading the team with over eight rebounds per game is newcomer Christian Ortiz, who transferred to Dunkirk from Pine Valley. Ortiz, known as Dunkirk’s running back, provides the Marauders with a presence down low and a toughness, combined with teammate Jayshawn Couser, that the team hasn’t had in a while.

“We have two football players playing basketball [in Ortiz and Couser] that adds a level of toughness that we were lacking,” said Gullo.

Another key aspect for Dunkirk is the improved shooting from players like Carlito Villafane, who has recently emerged as a solid scoring threat for the Marauders after a strong showing at the Frewsburg tournament. Villafane, A’Marion Tell, Davon Kubasik and Donny Lockett all shoot the ball well from deep for the Marauders.

Still, though Dunkirk is not the team it was a year ago, Fredonia won’t be intimidated. The Hillbillies come in with a record of 7-3 on the season, after also splitting their first two league games. The Hillbillies dropped a tight contest at Allegany-Limestone, but responded with a 74-61 victory at Olean, against a team that did not lose a game all regular season a year ago. Like Dunkirk, Fredonia also won a tournament over winter break, as the Hillbillies defeated AA Lockport and A2 South Park to win the Clarence Holiday Tournament, despite having a noticably smaller class size than the other schools in the tournament. Fredonia’s only three losses this season came against a defending Sectional champion in Allegany-Limestone and two AA schools, Harborcreek (PA) and Jamestown. Fredonia hasn’t even played a home game in a month.

“The scheduling aspect for us is designed for the grind of our league,” said Bertrando. “Hopefully those games will give us the confidence and mindset that we can get the job done (tonight).”

For the Hillbillies, their key players have “been there, done that,” in terms of the Dunkirk-Fredonia stage. Leading scorer Nick Whitfield comes in at nearly 16 points per game and has taken a huge leap forward in his development into the team’s number one option offensively this year. Fredonia also returns Tyler Putney, a third-year varsity player averaging 13.7 points per game; Kaleb Rybij, a senior guard who averages 11.7 points per game this season; and Alec Schrader, the other half of a senior-led backcourt, who focuses on getting others involved offensively, but added 16 points for himself at Olean earlier this week. Despite the balanced Hillbillies’ offense, defense is still the focal point of the boys in orange and black.

“We stress team basketball and we try to emulate that every day,” said Bertrando. “It all starts on the defensive end for us.”

Fredonia is the more experienced team coming into the contest, even after the departure of many of the seniors that took the floor the last time the two teams met in Fredonia.

“The Dunkirk-Fredonia game is always emotionally charged. There’s not too many rivalries like that anymore. The atmosphere is amazing, and hopefully, because our guys have played in that before, I hope that helps us,” said Bertrando.

While the contest tonight is just the third league game for each team this season with five weeks remaining in the regular season, plenty can be taken from tonight’s contest. The winner will have the better league record at the moment of the game’s conclusion and will set itself up favorably moving forward in league play. While that’s notable, we all know when these two teams meet, it’s about more than just the league standings. Tonight is for bragging rights in the division and in the cross-town rivalry.

Follow along on Twitter for updates during the game @bradencarmen and @TheObserverNY on Friday and read the game story in the Weekend OBSERVER.