The Warriors’ head coach had every right to.

Andy Herrick scored 23 points, Lucus Brown had 20 and RJ McLarney added 19 to lead Salamanca to a 92-60 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 West victory over Fredonia.

“What I love is their unselfishness,” Bennett said. “It’s never about individual points or performances, it’s the whole team, so in that regard I’d give them an ‘A.’

“Execution-wise, we were probably a B-plus. Credit Fredonia for that. They’re really, really good. It’s really hard to play an A-plus game against a team like that. For the quality of opponent we just beat, and for our first league win, I’m certainly pretty happy.”

OBSERVER Photo by Tim Frank Fredonia’s Nick Whitfield puts down a dunk during Saturday’s CCAA Division 1 West game in Salamanca.

The win improved the Warriors, the seventh-ranked Class C team in the state, to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the division, while the Hillbillies, honorable mention in Class B, fell to 4-2 and 0-1.

For one quarter, this game was as advertised, with Salamanca leading 18-17.

And then the Warriors caught fire.

In the second period, the hosts went on a 33-7 run in a seven-minute span. Leading that surge were Herrick with 11 points, Brown with 9 and McLarney with 8.

In combination with a slew of Fredonia turnovers — the Hillbillies had 31 for the game — the Warriors’ lead ballooned to 51-30 at intermission.

“When we get clicking, especially when we get turnovers, we’re able to move the ball, and that’s when we’re at our best in transition,” said Bennett, who saw his squad drill 13 3-pointers. “But what I liked is when it was extended into the halfcourt our execution was the best it’s been in a while.”

With Salamanca armed with the big lead, the second half was never in doubt.

“We talked about … their pressure … and I thought we had a good game plan to go with it,” Fredonia head coach Nick Bertrando said. “As much as you’d like to simulate it in practice, it doesn’t always look the same or be the same. They ran it to a T. … With their pressure and their trapping, and then us making some careless passes, they capitalized on every single one of them and just kept the foot on the gas.”

Nick Whitfield led the Hillbillies with 21 points and Nick Creeley added 20. Fredonia suffered a key loss when Ethan Fry went down with an apparent foor or ankle injury with less than two minutes remaining in the first half and didn’t return.

The Hillbillies will be back in action tonight when they entertain Olean.

“We don’t have a lot of time before we get back to the wild, wild West 1,” Bertrando said. “It doesn’t get any easier as it’s a no-nights-off league.”

Salamanca, meanwhile, will travel to Southwestern this evening.

NOTES: For the Warriors, Hayden Hoag finished with 5 points, seven assists and six steals; Brown added six assists, three assists and three steals; Cole Hedlund collected 8 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals; and Harley Hoag chipped in 4 points, five assists and four steals. … Nick Whitfield had several highlight-reel dunks for Fredonia.

FREDONIA (60)

Hahn 1 0 3, Tabone 0 1 1, KWhitfield 2 0 5, Field 0 0 0, Fry 3 0 8, Quinn 0 0 0, Creeley 10 0 20, NWhitfield 10 1 21, Schrader 1 0 2, Riddle 0 0 0, White 0 0 0. Totals 27 2 60.

SALAMANCA (92)

Isaac 0 0 0, Ross 2 0 6, HaydenHoag 2 0 5, Hedlund 4 0 8, Galante 2 1 5, Brown 8 1 20, HarleyHoag 2 2 6, Herrick 10 0 23, Carlson 0 0 0, McLarney 7 1 19. Totals 37 5 92.

3-point goals– Hahn, KWhitfield, Fry 2, Ross 2, HaydenHoag, Brown 3, Herrick 3, McLarney 4.

Fredonia 17 13 17 13 — 60

Salamanca 18 33 26 15 — 92