Fredonia guard Ryan Kelly (1) celebrates during Fredonia’s Section VI, Class A2 boys basketball semifinal playoff win against Iroquois on Saturday afternoon at Buffalo State University. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

BUFFALO — Nick Bertrando has always kept his message consistent.

Trust in your training and believe in each other.

Saturday afternoon, his team did exactly that.

The Fredonia Hillbillies did everything they needed to do to take down Iroquois, the top seed in Class A2, on Saturday to earn a spot in the Sectional title game on Thursday night. Fredonia defeated Iroquois by a score of 58-47 at Buffalo State University.

“This is what these guys have worked for. I’m extremely happy for them,” said Fredonia head coach Nick Bertrando. “I’m extremely proud of them, too.”

In the first half, it was all RJ Koopman for Fredonia, with 15 points to lead all scorers, including four 3-pointers. Fredonia led 31-24 at the break.

In the third quarter, for the Hillbillies, it was everyone else. Koopman scored the first bucket of the third quarter, then Colin Luce, Donovan Dowdy, and Ryan Kelly combined for the next 16 Fredonia points. The Hillbillies outscored Iroquois 18-7 in the third quarter to take an 18-point lead into the final frame.

Koopman hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring of the fourth quarter. It gave Fredonia its largest lead of the evening, 52-31.

Just as the game appeared to be over, Iroquois rose from the dead with 13 consecutive points. The Red Hawks called a timeout with 1:58 left to play after a 3-pointer by George Issa pulled them to within single digits.

But shortly after the timeout, Fredonia finally stopped the bleeding. Graham Putney hit a layup with 1:16 left to go back up by 10 points, 54-44. Fredonia finished off the victory with four free-throws in the final minute, two apiece from Luce and Koopman.

Up next, Fredonia faces the winner of Olean/East Aurora on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., back at Buffalo State University.