“I got a perfect screen, and I knew if I hit it, the game was over,” said Putney. “I was hot tonight, so I went in thinking I’m slinging it and game over. It was perfect, a great finish.”

It wasn’t as good of a start for Fredonia (11-4, 5-2) as the finish was, as the Hillbillies trailed at the end of the first quarter 16-10 after Olean (10-6, 4-3) closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run. After the first four points of the second quarter went Olean’s way, the Hillbillies trailed 20-10 on their home floor.

Fredonia got back in the game and trailed 26-21 at the half, but a big reason as to why the Hillbillies trailed was the team’s struggles shooting the ball in the first half.

“We were still in a good spot. I told the guys that shots were going to fall,” said Fredonia coach Nick Bertrando. “We got great looks, but for whatever reason, the shots didn’t fall. … To only be down five in that position was a blessing.”

Fredonia’s Alec Schrader (3) looks to pass around Olean’s Jason Brooks (11) during Thursday’s game in Fredonia. The Fredonia Hillbillies defeated the Olean Huskies 62-55 on Thursday. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

Putney made sure those struggles went away quickly in the third quarter. He hit four straight 3-pointers in the first half of the period to give Fredonia a four-point lead, 35-31, with 4:08 left to play in the frame.

“Nothing was really going down in the beginning [of the game],” said Putney. “… but in the second half, once I made a few in a row, I thought ‘Alright, now I’m just going to keep shooting.'”

Putney said he knew at that point that his team was going to win. Although the result may have looked in doubt at times the rest of the way, Putney’s confidence never wavered. It was that confidence he took into the final shot of the night he attempted.

“Once I hit a few, I thought I wasn’t missing again,” said Putney.

Fredonia still trailed by a point, 42-41 after the third quarter, but the Hillbillies never let it get out of reach. Down 52-45, Putney drilled his sixth 3-pointer of the game to move within striking distance. Then, Kaleb Rybij hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to just a point, 52-51. Rybij did the same with a 3-pointer later in the quarter to trail 55-54, then Putney answered with a pair of 3-pointers to both take the lead 57-55 and deliver the knockout punch, 60-55. Dom Gullo finished off the scoring with a pair of free-throws to cap off an 11-0 Fredonia run to end the game.

“Everyone had to step up,” said Bertrando. “Tyler [Putney] definitely had the hot hand, but other guys stepped up and they recognized he had the hot hand. They set screens for him and they looked for him in advantageous positions to get him open looks.”

Putney added a team-high 10 rebounds in addition to his game-high 30 points. Nick Whitfield and Kaleb Rybij each added 10 points, while Whitfield had nine rebounds and Rybij had four assists.

Jason Brooks led Olean with 19 points, while Covi James added 18 points. No other Olean player reached double digits.

The win completes a season sweep of Olean, who finished as undefeated league champions and Section VI, Class B overall champions a year ago.

“Olean is and has been one of the top teams in Western New York, and in all of New York State, for as long as I’ve been here,” said Bertrando. “We talked before the game about how this was a great opportunity to get us ready for playoffs. … They are the pinnacle. For us to play that well against them was nice to see.”

Fredonia now looks ahead to Monday’s rivalry contest at Dunkirk High School against the Marauders. Dunkirk lost to Southwestern on Thursday night 63-58.

“Now that we beat Olean twice, we know we can beat anyone. It’s all about who’s hot, and when we’re hot, I feel like we can win any game,” said Putney.

NOTES: The theme of Fredonia’s game for the home crowd was to wear gold and purple in honor of NBA icon Kobe Bryant. Putney’s eight 3-pointers accounted for 24 of his game-high 30 points. Bryant wore the Nos. 8 and 24 in his career.