As unbelievable as the run has been, it’s hard not to believe in the Hillbillies now.

Fredonia — the No. 10 seed in the Class B2 bracket — made a statement again Tuesday night, with Class B1’s No. 1 seed, the Lewiston-Porter Lancers, their latest victim. Fredonia finished off a fourth straight stunning upset, 64-63 in overtime, to win the Class B crossover game at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.

“The statement was more to ourselves than to anybody else. People have been doubting us the entire year, even back to the preseason,” said Fredonia senior co-captain Jay Hawk. “It was less about proving other people wrong, and more about proving us right.”

Fredonia’s other senior captain, Ethan Fry, took the doubt a little more personally.

OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown Fredonia’s Jay Hawk holds the championship plaque following the game.

“We’ve been doubted the whole season. We’re tired of the doubters, it’s time to make a statement. People have got to start recognizing it. Until they do, we’re going to keep running it on people,” Fry said.

For head coach Nick Bertrando, everything fell exactly how he hoped.

“Perfect 10 — I thought the headline the other day was really spot on with this group,” Bertrando said. “There’s different forms of having a ‘Perfect 10’ but I wouldn’t take any other group over this group. I’m excited for them, and I’m excited to have another day with them.”

Fredonia (19-7) has eliminated back-to-back No. 1 seeds, a No. 2 seed and a No. 3 seed on its run through the postseason to become the first Fredonia boys basketball team since 1993-94 to earn a trip outside of Section VI to the Far West Regional game.

The common theme: Fredonia’s defense. The Hillbillies have been in position where in the final minute of each of their last four games, their opponent could tie the game or take the lead on one possession. But each time, Fredonia did just enough to win.

OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown Fredonia’s Ethan Fry puts up a shot during Tuesday’s game.

Tuesday, they did it twice.

Lewiston-Porter (20-4) had the ball for the final possession of regulation, tied at 60-apiece, with the ball in the hands of Jalen Duff — Section VI’s leading scorer. But after Keegan Whitfield did not give Duff enough space for a step-back jumper and forced him to drive, Hawk soared in the lane with his arms straight up — already with four fouls — and contested the layup. The defense forced Duff to miss the layup, Hawk grabbed the rebound, and the game was sent to overtime.

“It’s experience for us,” Hawk said. “We’ve experienced close games the entire year.”

Then in the extra period, the Hillbillies found themselves down 63-62, with Lewiston-Porter in possession of the ball with less than a minute to go. Again, Hawk played tough defense on Duff in the lane and forced a miss.

But Fredonia could not convert on the offensive end, as a tough night offensively for Fry got even tougher with a crucial miss. The Lancers got the ball back, and Bobby Beilein — the sixth leading scorer in Section VI coming into the game — was sent to the free-throw line for the one-and-one.

OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown Fredonia head coach Nick Bertrando reacts after the Hillbillies beat Lewiston-Porter in overtime of their Section VI Class B crossover game Tuesday at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.

Somehow, a little bit of Hillbillies magic materialized, as the knockdown shooter missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Fredonia grabbed the rebound.

Then, with under 20 seconds left in overtime, Fredonia went to who it has gone to all postseason: Davi White. Fredonia’s junior forward converted yet another of a seemingly endless list of contested buckets in the paint to put Fredonia up by one, 64-63.

But the Hillbillies needed one more stop — and they got it.

“I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous,” said White. “But once we bring up the intensity, it’s hard for people to score. Our defense, when we play as a team, no one is going to score on us.”

Fredonia first forced a pass from Duff to the corner. The Hillbillies then closed out on Beilein to force another pass, to eventually send the ball to Vinny Carlo — Lewiston-Porter’s third-leading scorer — for a 3-point attempt at the buzzer. The shot was off the mark, and the final horn sounded to send the Hillbillies into bedlam.

“That’s our team defense,” said Fry. “Everyone just wants it. Everyone has that grit to want to win.”

“This has been a really special group, not only to be around, but to be able to coach,” Bertrando added. “There’s so many different athletes’ personalities and guys with guts on this team. I couldn’t be prouder.”

White led Fredonia with 21 points on the night, including 11 points in the third quarter, and later, the game-winning basket. He also led the team with 14 rebounds, and added three assists, a steal and a blocked shot.

“I feel like there’s like this surge of energy going through my body, where ‘nothing’s stopping me now.’ I’m just on a full head of steam. If anybody’s in my way, then they get knocked out of the way and I still do my thing,” White said.

Despite a tough shooting night, Fry added 15 points, putting him just seven points shy of 1,000 in his career. He first joined the varsity team as a sophomore in 2020-21, when Fredonia won a sectional championship in the pandemic-restricted season. Fry also had 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

“The guys on the team really stepped up for me. Everyone saw I wasn’t having a great game offensively. Shots weren’t falling, but my guys came and picked it up for me,” Fry said. “They picked up my slack and they really kept me in the game.”

Hawk added 14 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer in the second quarter for Fredonia’s first lead of the game. He also had 11 rebounds and four blocked shots along with a steal and an assist.

“It feels awesome. Teams at this point in the year are just fighting for another day, and we’re still alive,” Hawk said.

Mike Hahn had 12 points on four 3-pointers, two of which came on an 8-2 run over the first 90 seconds of the second half to put the Hillbillies ahead 32-28. Hahn also had nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Whitfield only had 2 points — a go-ahead floater with 3:40 left in the fourth quarter — but he played tough defense the entire game, and added six rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot.

Duff led the Lancers with a game-high 33 points, but the rest of his team combined for just 30 points. The Lancers entered the contest averaging over 70 points per game.

“I think it’s a testament to these guys. They are competitors, they are really, really good athletes. They have really bought in to what we want to do this year,” said Bertrando. “We talked about rowing the boat, rowing together where everybody needs to do their part in order to get the job done. Everybody had their little niche in the game to be able to pull out an incredible victory against a really, really good team.”

Fredonia only used six players in the contest, with Ashton Putney playing just a handful of minutes off the bench. Fredonia stuck with its five starters for the majority of the 36 minutes, and it was just enough for the win.

“This feels amazing to me. It feels amazing to play with my wonderful teammates and to have a wonderful coach that pushes us to our limits,” said White. ” … I’m ready to play against anybody else. Our team, if we play together, we’re unstoppable.”

The Hillbillies now advance to represent Class B at the Far West Regional game Saturday against the Section V champion. The winner of that contest will advance to the state final four.

“The job is not finished. We’ve got bigger goals than this. This was a great win, but we’re looking on to Saturday now,” Fry said, ” … but it was great to hear that final buzzer sound with us being up, to keep this run going with this family.”

FREDONIA (64)

Hahn 4 0 12, Whitfield 1 0 2, Fry 5 1 15, Putney 0 0 0, White 8 4 21, Hawk 6 1 14. Totals 24 6 64.

LEWISTON-PORTER (63)

Beilein 6 0 14, Duff 13 6 33, Barnwell 0 0 0, Leardini 4 0 10, Russell 1 0 2, Carlo 2 0 4, Whitehead 0 0 0. Totals 26 6 63.

3-point goals–Hahn 4, Fry 4, White, Hawk, Beilein 2, Duff, Leardini 2.

Fredonia 6 18 23 13 4 — 64

Lewiston-Porter 10 16 21 13 3 — 63

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