They even shared the same message after the game, just a couple minutes apart.

“The job is not finished.”

Thanks to seven 3-pointers from Hahn and 12 buckets from White, the senior duo combined for 50 points for the eighth-seeded Fredonia Hillbillies in a 71-44 victory over the ninth-seeded Buffalo Academy of Science Wolverines in a Section VI Class B1 boys basketball prequarterfinal.

“This has been the best three years of my life,” White said, referring to his transfer from Dunkirk as a sophomore to now finishing his senior year at Fredonia. “I wouldn’t want to be with any other team or any other coach.”

OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown Fredonia's Davion White celebrates with teammates on the bench.

Fredonia jumped ahead to a 13-2 advantage on Thursday behind nine points in the opening period from White, including five points in the first 95 seconds of the game.

“In the first quarter, up until about the last minute, we really got after it on both ends of the floor,” Fredonia head coach Nick Bertrando said.

Buffalo Science responded with the final six points of the period to cut the Fredonia lead to five points after one quarter.

The Wolverines then continued to chip away at the Fredonia lead, at one point drawing to within two points, 21-19, near the halfway point of the second quarter.

“In the second quarter, we came out a little slow,” White said. “Obviously we didn’t want to lose our last home game of the season, so it was a team effort of just wanting it really bad.”

OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown Fredonia’s Malachi Hall (20) makes contact with Buffalo Science’s Martavius Bradley during Thursday’s Section VI Class B1 prequarterfinal boys basketball game at Fredonia High School.

With the game suddenly tight, Hahn took over. The senior sharpshooter drilled three of his four 3-pointers in the period after Buffalo Science made its run to put the Hillbillies firmly ahead again. Hahn’s fourth 3-pointer of the period put Fredonia ahead 31-21 with less than a minute to go in the half, and the Hillbillies maintained a seven-point advantage at the break.

“When I’m open, I’m going to shoot it,” Hahn said.

That mentality is a big reason why Bertrando said of Hahn: “I’m glad he’s on my team.”

Hahn hit the shot that would have sent Fredonia to the state Final Four last season if not for an inadvertent whistle in the final seconds of an eventual loss in overtime. Thursday was the first page of the next chapter of postseason memories for Fredonia’s senior shooting guard.

“Mike (Hahn) has shown he is fully capable of rising to the moment. This year and last year, he has put an extreme amount of time in. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort he has put in,” Bertrando said. “… It’s just fun to see that pay off when somebody has dedicated so much time and sacrificed so much to now see the fruits of the labor in a big-time moment in a big-time playoff game.”

The Hillbillies scored the first seven points of the second half to double their lead. By the end of the third quarter, Fredonia had tripled its halftime lead to 21 points, 49-28, with an 18-4 advantage in the quarter. Hahn and White combined for 14 of the 18 Fredonia points in the third quarter.

The Hillbillies continued to pour it on in the fourth quarter, with 22 points from six different players. White led all scorers in the final period with eight points, his third quarter of the night with at least eight points in his final game on Fredonia’s home floor.

“We were lucky to get another home game. We didn’t know if we would get another home game in the playoffs. We just wanted to make the best of this opportunity to make sure we went out with a win on our home court,” Hahn said.

On the night, White led all scorers with 27 points, while Hahn added 23 points on seven 3-pointers and a couple of free throws. In addition to their scoring figures, White had six rebounds, five assists and four steals, while Hahn had six rebounds and three steals.

“It makes us pretty hard to stop when I’m hitting from outside and Davi (White) is doing his work inside. The defense has really got to pick its poison,” Hahn said.

“It helps immensely when you’ve got two guys who have been a staple of the program, and two guys who recognize it is their senior year and it is now or never. … It’s fun to see,” Bertrando said.

Buffalo Science was led by Jaleel Flowers with 16 points, while Martavius Bradley had 14 points.

Up next, Fredonia heads to Salamanca for a rematch of last season’s Class B2 championship game. Salamanca was bumped up to Class B1 late this season after postseason opt-outs were announced.

“It’s going to be a good one,” White said. “It’s going to be a battle to the end. These are two good teams about to face off to go back to Buff State.”

Fredonia won 58-54 over Salamanca in the title game a year ago, and the two teams split in the regular season this year.

“Salamanca is probably the toughest competition we’ve faced,” Hahn said. “… We’ve got to go into Salamanca and get a win, something that’s hard to do.”

“Obviously we know the challenge ahead. Salamanca has been consistently ranked in the top 20 in Class B across the entire state. They have an all-state returning player (Lucus Brown),” Bertrando said. “We are going to have our hands full with the Salamanca Warriors on Saturday.”

BUFFALO SCIENCE (44)

Funderburk 0 0 0, Deynes 2 0 4, Parker 0 0 0, Walker 1 0 2, Dixon 0 0 0, Flowers 6 4 16, Adams 1 0 2, Hanley 3 0 6, Bradley 5 2 14, Pruitt 0 0 0. Totals 18 6 44.

FREDONIA (71)

Hahn 7 2 23, IFerguson 0 0 0, Dowdy 1 0 3, Gullo 1 2 5, Quinn 2 0 4, Koopman 0 0 0, Field 0 0 0, APutney 2 0 5, Hall 1 1 3, GPutney 0 0 0, White 12 3 27, Lincoln 0 1 1, SFerguson 0 0 0, Luce 0 0 0, Lancaster 0 0 0. Totals 26 9 71.

3-point goals–Bradley 2, Hahn 7, Dowdy, Gullo, APutney.

Buffalo Science 8 16 4 16 — 44

Fredonia 13 18 18 22 — 71