The Dunkirk-Fredonia rivalry can bring out a different level of intensity from the players that play in it. For a winless Dunkirk team this season — a team that lost every game by double digits — the rivalry was necessary to make Tuesday’s game close.

It’s hard to find a game much closer than how Tuesday turned out. But in the end, the ‘Billies had just enough to hold off a challenge from the visiting Marauders to come away with a 39-32 victory in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 girls basketball game at Fredonia High School.

There was no better example of the fight it took for Fredonia to withstand Dunkirk’s best shot than the final moments from Sophia Burrows.

In a two-point game, Burrows took an elbow to the face in the battle for the ball in the paint. Burrows shook it off and calmly sunk both free throws to double Fredonia’s lead to four points, tied for the largest lead of the contest at that point. Burrows later made two more free throws in the final minute to put Fredonia ahead by six points on its way to closing out the victory.

Fredonia’s Madelyn Polhamus passes out of the paint while being defended by Dunkirk’s Chelsey Tramuto during a CCAA Division 1 girls basketball game Tuesday night at Fredonia High School. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

“I’m so proud of Sophia,” Fredonia head coach Brianne Flowers said. “She went in earlier in the game, wasn’t really doing well, but she came back in and she earned those minutes. She got those steals on defense, and she was ice in her veins at the line.”

All night long, the game was a battle. The teams were tied at 10-all after the first quarter, as Fredonia (4-3, 1-1) got six points in the opening frame from Madelyn Polhamus, but Dunkirk (0-8, 0-4) fought back thanks to a steal at mid court by Jocelyn Thomas, which she turned into a go-ahead fastbreak layup.

“Jocelyn Thomas, as a 14-year-old, played her best game of the year as our point guard,” Dunkirk head coach Luke Gullo said.

The second quarter slowed down a bit offensively, as Naomi Muck’s layup with 6:03 to put Fredonia ahead 12-10 represented the only points on either side until Ema Pacheco evened the score at 12-all. It was the fourth tie of the first half.

Fredonia’s largest lead of the half was four points, 16-12, but Pacheco banked in a 3-pointer with eight seconds left in the half to pull Dunkirk within a point at the break.

Pacheco had nine of Dunkirk’s 15 points at halftime, while Polhamus had eight of Fredonia’s 16 points at the break. Those two players continued to battle each other throughout the second half. Polhamus had a pair of buckets in the first minute of the third quarter, with Dunkirk’s Chianti Lopez making a shot of her own in between.

Pacheco brought the game back to even again, 20-20, with 4:10 left in the third quarter with a pair of free throws. Then, just as she did to end the second quarter, Pacheco made a shot with just eight seconds left on the clock. This time, her shot gave Dunkirk the lead, 25-24, entering the final period.

Through three quarters of play, neither team led by more than four points. It remained that way for the first half of the fourth quarter, with ties at 25-25, 27-27 and 28-28. With three minutes left, Isabella Buckley hit a floater to give Fredonia a 30-29 lead. Dunkirk immediately answered on the next possession with a bucket from Thomas, but Fredonia punched back with a layup from Polhamus for a 32-31 lead. Cecelia Tonelli split a pair of free throws to put Fredonia ahead two points with 2:13 to go.

From that point on, it was the toughness from Burrows that took over and put Fredonia over the top.

“We want someone at the end of the game that’s going to make free throws, and today, that was her. She really stepped up big for us at the end,” Flowers said.

Each side had only one player surpass five points on the evening. Pacheco managed 17 points for Dunkirk — more than half of the team’s 32 points overall, even considering she only had one point in the final period.

“She’s our engine,” Gullo said of Pacheco. “She’s an absolute pleasure.”

For Fredonia, it was Polhamus that led the way with 15 points, even with just one made free throw. Polhamus made seven shots from the field, while no other Fredonia player made more than two.

“She was definitely our hot hand,” Flowers said of Polhamus.

Fredonia did, however, get five free throws from Burrows in the fourth quarter when the game was in the balance. Naomi Muck also pitched in with eight rebounds, five assists and four steals to go along with four points.

“We weren’t able to get anything going. Luke (Gullo) really prepared them well. They knew all of our out of bounds plays. They really guarded us very well. He changed up their defense and put a lot of pressure on our guards that we weren’t able to handle in the beginning. He did a really good job of preparing them for this,” Flowers said.

Despite missing out on securing the first win of the season, Gullo said the focus of his team this year is “all about development.” He only took over the program six weeks prior to Tuesday’s game, and called it “the most fun I’ve ever had coaching a team that is struggling to win a game.”

Gullo was thrilled with the progress he saw on Tuesday. Dunkirk played what was clearly its best game of the season to date, on the road against its rival.

“I was hoping that they could get the achievement tonight (of a win) but they have grown and developed so much,” Gullo said.

Up next, Fredonia hosts Salamanca while Dunkirk hosts Falconer. Both league games are Friday.

DUNKIRK (32)

Pacheco 6 4 17, Buchanan 1 0 2, Earing 0 2 2, Munson 0 1 1, Thomas 2 0 4, Tramuto 1 2 4, Benjamin 0 0 0, Lopez 1 0 2. Totals 11 9 32.

FREDONIA (39)

Russo 0 0 0, Burrows 0 5 5, Muck 1 2 4, Delcamp 1 1 3, Buckley 2 0 5, Smith 0 0 0, Polhamus 7 1 15, Snyder 1 0 2, Tonelli 2 1 5. Totals 14 10 39.

3-point goals–Pacheco, Buckley.

Dunkirk 10 5 10 7 — 32

Fredonia 10 6 8 15 — 39