Fredonia’s Colin Luce lays up a basket as Southwestern’s Cooper Charles defends during Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 boys basketball action Tuesday at Fredonia High School. OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown

FREDONIA — Sometimes things have a way of falling perfectly into place.

With 29 seconds left on the clock, Brennan Lincoln found himself at the free throw line, with Fredonia up by double digits. All four of his fellow seniors looked on as he made the first free throw. They then headed to the bench, as a packed Fredonia High School gym stood and gave them an ovation for one final time at home — at least in the regular season.

Lincoln then followed by banking in the second free throw to receive his own standing ovation. He then walked toward the bench, donning the bulky knee brace that he wore for each game he made it back for after a serious knee injury sustained during football season. His season was initially in doubt, but he attacked his rehab and made it back for the second half of his final season.

There could not have been a better ending for the Hillbillies on Senior Night.

“It was an unreal feeling,” Fredonia point guard RJ Koopman said of his final moment walking off the court. “… The last four years of my life have been surreal. It went by so fast, but I couldn’t be more thankful. That’s a memory that will last in my head for the rest of my life.”

Lincoln’s free throws were the final points of the night for Fredonia as it finished off a 74-59 victory over the Southwestern Trojans in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 boys basketball game Tuesday night.

“It’s really meaningful,” said Fredonia head coach Nick Bertrando of the way the game ended. “You see these guys grow from modified kids, to JV, to seniors and you never want it to end. … It was just nice to send them out on a win tonight. It was a special moment.”

Fredonia (17-2, 9-2) dug itself into a hole early, as Southwestern (8-8, 4-6) started on a 10-2 run over the first 2:25 of the game.

“We came out with some intensity. We knew coming up to their place that we had to come out of the gate and match their intensity and home energy,” said Southwestern head coach Aaron Emley.

Fredonia responded by scoring 14 of the next 20 points to tie the game at 16-all, as Donovan Dowdy’s 3-pointer evened the score with 1:12 left in the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, even though it was Senior Night, it was a Fredonia sophomore who caught fire. Graham Putney came off the bench and hit three 3-pointers in the period, outscoring Southwestern 9-8 himself in the quarter. Fredonia’s 18-8 advantage in the second quarter put the Hillbillies ahead, where they would stay for the rest of the night.

“I knew my team needed me to come off the bench and be a spark,” Putney said. “Senior Night is a big night with a lot of energy. I’d do anything I could do to contribute, whether it’s playing 10 minutes or playing the whole game.

Fredonia outscored Southwestern 20-14 in the third quarter and 20-19 in the fourth quarter, after the 10-point edge in the second quarter. Aside from the 10-2 start to the game, Fredonia outscored Southwestern 72-49.

“They wear you down. They are a tough team to match up with all game,” Emley said of Fredonia. “… Credit to Nick (Bertrando) and their team. That’s a very good team. All of them contribute, all of them play very hard, and he’s got them playing really good basketball in time for the playoffs.”

Putney’s 17 points off the bench — including five 3-pointers — were a career high. Both Bertrando and Putney’s father, Mark, joked after the game that coming off the bench might be Putney’s role moving forward after the success Tuesday.

While Putney’s 17 points led Fredonia, it was a balanced attack on the night. Four players scored at least 13 points: Putney, Dowdy with 16, RJ Koopman with 15 and Colin Luce with 13. Dowdy also had 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Koopman had 10 assists.

“Today, we really kept moving all around the court. I feel like that was the game-changer for us,” Koopman said.

As an underclassman, Putney credited the Fredonia senior class for helping him develop over his time with the program. It was poetic that his best game came on the night that was meant for them.

“They have been tremendous, honestly. Every single one of them, whether it’s in basketball or outside of basketball. They took me under their wing, essentially, and they have been able to push me every day in practice to be the best I could,” Putney said.

Southwestern was led by Landon Hooks with 18 points, while Roger Markham had 16 points and Jalen Edwards had 11 points.

Up next, Fredonia closes out the regular season with a league contest on the road at Falconer. Southwestern plays at Salamanca on Friday. Both teams will be playing for postseason seeding, as Fredonia looks to set itself up with a home playoff game.

“At some point, it’s going to end,” Bertrando said. “This is an amazing group. We’re just trying to stack days to keep this thing going as long as we can.”

SOUTHWESTERN (59)

Harris 4 0 8, Hooks 7 1 18, Edwards 5 1 11, Charles 0 2 2, Waite 0 0 0, Markham 6 2 16, Casselman 2 0 4. Totals 24 6 59.

FREDONIA (74)

Luce 6 0 13, Kelly 2 0 5, Dowdy 7 1 16, Putney 6 0 17, Koopman 7 0 15, Piazza 0 0 0, Cuthbert 1 2 4, Dowlen 0 0 0, Stearns 0 0 0, Lincoln 1 2 4. Totals 30 5 74.

3-point goals–Hooks 3, Markham 2, Luce, Kelly, Dowdy, Putney, Koopman.

Southwestern 18 8 14 19 — 59

Fredonia 16 18 20 20 — 74