Then in the fourth quarter, the game got very close, with East Aurora holding possession of the ball with under a minute left to play on two separate occasions with a chance to tie.

But still, Fredonia never panicked and eventually came away with a 60-56 victory over the Blue Devils in the final game of the CCAA-ECIC Challenge at Dods Hall on the campus of SUNY Fredonia.

“We began with the end in mind. We have aspirations of going far this year, and it starts with winning our first game,” said Fredonia senior Jay Hawk. “Everyone on the team did a great job staying focused.”

Fredonia (1-0) came into the season with the goal of being more balanced offensively than in previous years. To emphasize that point, Hillbillies head coach Nick Bertrando brought his leading returning scorer, Ethan Fry, off the bench in Saturday’s contest. The decision certainly didn’t seem to bother Fredonia, or Fry, as he came in and immediately drilled a 3-pointer to extend the Fredonia lead to 7-1 shortly before the halfway point of the first quarter.

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Fredonia’s Keegan Whitfield (3) drives to the basket as East Aurora’s Cade Wittenrich (0) defends during Saturday’s game at SUNY Fredonia.

“With Ethan being a phenomenal competitor, the fact that he was able to come off the bench and he didn’t take offense to that by any means … that says a lot about him and his character,” said Bertrando.

Hawk carried the Fredonia offense in the opening period with 11 of the 16 points.

“We kept moving the ball around. It was more just my teammates getting me in position to score,” Hawk said.

In the second quarter, Fry took his turn in control of the offense with all 12 of Fredonia’s points in the frame. The Hillbillies led East Aurora 28-17 at the break.

In the third quarter, Fredonia had a balanced scoring effort to increase the lead to 45-32. Mike Hahn hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first 70 seconds of the period, then Davion White scored the next four Fredonia points before Hawk and Fry combined for the final seven.

But as soon as the fourth quarter began, East Aurora (0-1) came out like an entirely different team and fought back into the contest. Over the first 1:40 of the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils went on a 10-1 run to cut Fredonia’s lead to 46-42. Over the next six minutes, East Aurora played Fredonia evenly.

The Blue Devils sent the Hillbillies to the free-throw line four times in the final minute. After East Aurora cut the Fredonia lead to just a pair, Sal Tabone hit two free throws to put Fredonia back up by four. Then, after East Aurora hit a pair of free-throws, Keegan Whitfield split a pair of free throws to put Fredonia ahead by three points, 59-56, with 31.5 seconds to play.

East Aurora had not one, but two chances to tie the game with a 3-pointer within the final 30 seconds, but the Hillbillies held the Blue Devils scoreless. Hahn hit the back end of a pair of free throws in the final seconds to solidify the victory.

Hawk finished with a team-high 19 points and 14 rebounds. He averaged 4.0 points per game last season, but is expected to play a much larger role this year.

“I’ve been confident the whole time,” he said. “Last year, my role was to do the dirty work. If I’ve got to score more this year, that is what it is. If I do the dirty work again and I score zero points but we win, I don’t care. I just want to win the game.”

“What you saw from Jay Hawk today, we’ve seen from Jay Hawk all along,” said Bertrando. “Jay is a phenomenal individual, regardless of basketball ability. He is a kid that every coach would love to have on the team just because he brings it every day. … When you’ve got a kid like that, good things happen.”

Fry contributed 17 points and seven rebounds. Hahn added 10 points and five rebounds, while White had 6 points and Tabone had six assists.

Zach Bell led the Blue Devils with 21 points, including 17 points in the second half. Matt Horning had 10 points and Hunter Gould had 9 points, all on 3-pointers.

Fredonia travels to take on Buffalo Arts Academy on Wednesday.

“This was fun. What more could you ask for in a season opener,” Bertrando said.

EAST AURORA (56)

Wittenrich 2 0 4, Gould 3 0 9, Horning 4 2 10, Coatsworth 0 0 0, Parrish 2 1 6, Steele 0 0 0, Bell 8 5 21, Bodecker 2 1 5, LaRouech 0 1 1. Totals 21 10 56.

FREDONIA (60)

Hahn 3 1 10, Gullo 0 0 0, Whitfield 2 1 5, Fry 7 1 17, Putney 0 0 0, Tabone 0 3 3, White 1 4 6, Hawk 6 7 19, Riddle 0 0 0, Hall 0 0 0. Totals 19 17 60.

3-point goals–Gould 3, Parrish, Hahn 3, Fry 2.

East Aurora 3 14 15 24 — 56

Fredonia 16 12 17 15 — 60