As his team began to pull away, it opened the door for another celebration.

With 2:25 left in the fourth quarter, leading 61-54, Smith planted his feet halfway between the free-throw line and the basket. He turned his shoulders and lifted the shot from his right hand over the defender and nailed the shot to extend the lead.

But those points were more than just the 20th and 21st points of the night for the Frewsburg senior. The shot marked the 1,000th point in Smith’s varsity basketball career.

Smith and his team made sure that his personal highlight came with a win to celebrate, as well.

Frewsburg’s Gavin Smith, left, and Silver Creek’s Simon White, right, battle for a rebound in a CCAA Division 1 East boys basketball game Thursday night at Silver Creek High School. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

Frewsburg outscored Silver Creek 24-11 in the fourth quarter to close out a 72-56 victory in Thursday’s Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 East game at Silver Creek High School.

“The important thing is we got the win,” Smith said after the game. “We had a bad start to the season, but it looks like we’re starting to turn it around.”

Smith shared the spotlight of his monumental night with his teammates after the game, as well. The entire team posed for a photo surrounding Smith while he held his customized 1,000-point basketball.

Frewsburg head coach Rob Collver called the accomplishment “an honor” for him because he got to coach Smith the entire way along his journey as a varsity basketball player.

“To see him grow as a freshman on varsity trying to figure things out, now to see him reach this milestone, it’s an honor for me to be able to watch it,” Collver said.

While not many players reach 1,000 career points, Smith ranked the achievement second on his career list, only behind reaching a sectional final last season.

Collver said the way he handled his biggest individual career achievement was no surprise given who Smith has been the entire time Collver has coached him as a varsity player.

“Gavin is, far and away, the highest IQ basketball player I’ve ever had. He knows the game and he knows when his shot comes. He knows how to get his teammates open,” Collver said. “… It’s been an honor to watch him and see him grow as a player.”

Although Frewsburg (3-4, 2-0) led 12-5 after the first five minutes of action Thursday, Silver Creek (5-3, 1-2) closed the period on a 14-5 run, punctuated by a shot from Simon White in the final seconds to take a 19-17 lead after the first quarter.

The Black Knights held a narrow lead after each of the first two quarters, as the two-point advantage grew to five points by halftime, 33-28.

In the third quarter, things began to change in Frewsburg’s favor. Collver believes a big reason why was the adjustment his team made after accounting for the absence of Silver Creek’s own 1,000-point scorer, Ray Cortes.

“We took two days just to prepare for him. All the stuff we worked on went out the window,” Collver said.

According to Silver Creek head coach Ralph Jackson, Cortes was “not available to play” in Thursday’s game. He attended the game and cheered his teammates on from the bench.

Frewsburg claimed the lead on a three-point play by Chase Haglund with 1:46 left to play in the third quarter. Smith then hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to extend the lead to 46-42. Haglund capped an 8-0 run to put the Bears ahead by six points before White cut the Frewsburg lead in half with a late 3-pointer going into the fourth quarter.

“We always say, when you think, you stink. I just wanted them to play. Don’t think, just go, and I think that energized us and kick-started that big fourth quarter,” Collver said.

Silver Creek, however, ran out of energy.

“I told them at halftime it was going to take 32 minutes. We ran into some foul issues and kind of just ran out of steam,” Jackson said.

Smith hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to three points, 55-52, in the fourth quarter, then hit a layup to put his total at 19 for the night. With a half-quarter to go, he set his teammates up for the next two buckets before he clinched his own personal milestone. From there, the Bears coasted over the final 2:25 to earn the victory.

“I just started to adjust better to the defense, figure out a way to get shots open, get shots for my teammates, and that just opened me up too,” Smith said.

The Black Knights were led by White’s career-high 29 points, which led all scorers in the contest. Jose Pratts added 10 points for the Black Knights, while Brady Eick had 9 points.

“Simon stepped up big for us, making plays and scoring the basketball,” Jackson said. “… We’ve got guys that can play.”

The Bears were led by Smith’s 26 points, half of which came in the final period. Garrett Brink had 16 points in the win, while Kael Collver had 10 points and Haglund added 9 points.

“I was all for Gavin getting his 1,000 points, just hoping it wasn’t against us tonight,” Jackson said. “He’s a great player. We were trying to key on him. … Congratulations to Gavin on getting his 1,000. That’s obviously a great accomplishment.”

Up next, Frewsburg hosts Cassadaga Valley on Monday in another league matchup. Silver Creek’s next game is at Cassadaga Valley next Thursday.