After her two free throws gave Randolph a four-point lead and Frewsburg subsequently turned the ball over, the star senior could relax.

Her Cardinals were the Section VI Class C champions.

Hvizdzak capped her stellar career in style, surpassing the 2,000-point mark late in the first quarter before finishing with 34 points and eight rebounds as Randolph won its 10th sectional title — and first since 2015 — with a 56-52 victory over a game Frewsburg squad.

“It’s really crazy. From the start, we made this our goal,” Hvizdzak said postgame. “We wanted our year up on the wall.”

OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman Frewsburg’s Elise Sposato attempts to get by Randolph’s Sydney Hvizdzak during Friday’s Section VI Class C final in Randolph.

“It would have been cool in a normal year to see what we could’ve done,” Randolph coach David Pihlblad said when asked about the lack of a state tournament this season. “We achieved our goal. … We’re never going to think, ‘What if?'”

With 2,029 points, Hvizdzak finished her career third on the school’s all-time scoring list behind Mckenna Maycock (2,947 points) and Marah Maycock (2,326 points).

Friday night, she secured her spot alongside the Maycocks as a fellow 2,000-point scorer.

“When I grew up … I got to see them do their thing. I’ve always wanted to do that,” Hvizdzak said. “When I heard the season would be shortened, I thought I might come up a little short, but it’s great to be up there with both of them.”

She scored 12 points, including the final 8, in the first quarter, and her third basket pushed her past 2,000 for her career when she scored on a layup with 1:47 left to pull her team within a point. Hvizdzak knew she was five points away after the Cardinals’ semifinal win at Chautauqua Lake on Wednesday.

“I burst into tears after that because all of a sudden we were playing on our home floor,” Hvizdzak said, “which made this night all the more magical.”

By the time her eight-point run was over, the Cardinals took a 16-13 lead into the second quarter.

“We thought we could attack them with our 3-2 zone,” Frewsburg coach Jeff Collver said. “The transition killed us, not getting back on defense.”

Payton Morrison then hit a 3-pointer before Hvizdzak hit back-to-back 3-pointers and added another bucket to give Randolph a 27-15 lead midway through the second quarter.

“We got down early and she just took over,” Pihlblad said of Hvizdzak. ” … She got layup after layup after layup and set the tone fo the rest of the game.”

Alyssa Adams scored on a putback with 6.4 seconds left in the first half as the third-seeded Cardinals carried a 33-21 lead into halftime.

Hvizdzak and Morrison again hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the third quarter and it felt like the Cardinals coronation was on. After a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 East title, all Randolph had left to do was finish an undefeated season and capture the sectional crown.

But the Bears didn’t go quietly.

Elise Sposato hit a 3-pointer to make it a 10-point game with 5:52 remaining and Tyra Clark — who finished with a career-high 18 rebounds — scored on a putback with 4:07 left to make it a seven-point game.

“These kids have never given up. They don’t ever back down,” Collver said. “I think most teams probably would’ve packed it in after halftime.”

Lizzie Schrecengost, who scored 9 of her 11 points in the first half, made her only second-half bucket with 3:31 remaining to make it 52-47 and Mikayla Jones scored with 2:08 left to make it a three-point game.

After Morrison scored on a drive, Sposato hit another 3-pointer to cut the Frewsburg deficit to two with 1:22 left.

“We felt like everybody snubbed us and ignored us all year,” Collver said. “We relished that underdog mentality.”

The Bears were then looking to tie the game, but Hvizdzak jumped in the passing lane for a steal with 47 seconds left.

“There were a couple of plays that we needed to control,” Collver said. ” … We had three possessions where we turned it over late.”

The Cardinals then missed a pair of free throws, but Kyra Pence — who’s listed at 5-foot-7 on the Randolph roster — secured an offensive rebound and Frewsburg was forced to foul Hvizdzak.

“She’s a warrior. It’s just fitting that she was the girl that did the dirty work in there,” Pihlblad said of Pence. ” … She dives on the floor, she just balls. She plays so hard. That was the difference.”

The Daemen College commit made both of her free throws to push the lead to four and after the Bears turned it over on their next possession, Hvizdzak dribbled out the clock.

“I heard the other team squeaking their shoes and making noise and I thought ‘I have to put them in for my team right now,'” Hvizdzak said. ” … When I saw it bounce on the rim first, I was scared for my life, but I knew it was going in.”

“Every game this year, she was the best player on the court. She goes out there and she plays,” Pihlblad said. “On the biggest stage, the last game of her career no matter what, and she probably played her best performance.”

NOTES: Morrison had 11 points, six rebounds and three assists; Alyssa Adams had eight rebounds; and Katelyn Storer blocked two shots for Randolph. … Sposato led Frewsburg with 16 points, four rebounds and four steals; Schrecengost had seven rebounds; Jones had 12 points and four assists; and Alex Hultberg had three assists.

FREWSBURG (52)

Trocki 0 0 0, Clark 4 0 8, Hultberg 2 1 5, Jimerson 0 0 0, Sposato 5 4 16, Schrecengost 5 1 11, Jones 5 0 12, Collver 0 0 0, Samuelson 0 0 0. Totals 21 6 52.

RANDOLPH (56)

KPence 1 0 2, Smith 0 0 0, Adams 4 1 9, QPence 0 0 0, Hvizdzak 13 4 34, Morrison 4 1 11, Storer 0 0 0, Philp 0 0 0. Totals 22 6 56.

3-point goals–Sposato 2, Jones 2, Hvizdzak 4, Morrison 2.

Frewsburg 13 8 15 16 — 52

Randolph 16 17 14 9 — 56