It had been more than a decade since a game in Forestville mattered the way Friday’s game did.

The music blasting over the speakers reverberated through the gym to the point where you could feel the floor rattle. All four sets of bleachers were packed full, even the visitors’ side with fans from Cattaraugus-Little Valley bringing energy throughout the night.

But by the end of it all, it was not the Timberwolves’ night.

Friday night belonged to Forestville, and now, so does Division 4.

OBSERVER Photo by Jon Neubauer Forestville’s Patrick Reilly puts up a 3-point attempt against Cattaraugus-Little Valley during CCAA Division 4 boys basketball action Friday in Forestville.

The Hornets won their first league title in over a decade with a 61-44 victory over Cattaraugus-Little Valley Timberwolves in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 4 action. The victory clinched the title outright, rather than having to share the crown between the two teams that shared the floor Friday.

“I’m very proud of my guys. I’m very happy for them,” Forestville head coach Ralph Jackson said. “This is a great group of kids. They might be the hardest-working group of kids I’ve had come through here, and it shows.”

Forestville (15-4, 9-1) avenged its only league loss of the season by defeating the Timberwolves (14-5, 7-3).

“They beat us on their court, so we knew it was going to be a tough game tonight,” Jackson said. “We certainly don’t think we played as well as we could have over there, particularly defensively, but tonight we were much better — we held them to 44 points.”

The final score did not tell the story of how close the game was early. Both teams split the first 12 points evenly at six apiece. The Timberwolves scored the next five points, but with 10 seconds left in the opening period, Patrick Reilly hit a 3-pointer to pull the Hornets within a pair.

Forestville evened the score at 11-11 early in the second quarter on a layup by Jack Spengler, but Cattaraugus-Little Valley responded with the next seven points to pull ahead 18-11. The visiting fan section’s cheers were echoing through Forestville’s gym.

All that run did was give the Hornets a chance to practice what they preached all year.

“So what, now what?”

Forestville showed its mental toughness to respond with a 14-0 run over roughly four minutes to reclaim the lead. The Hornets held a 25-23 advantage at the break.

The first three possessions of the third quarter all resulted in points, all within the first minute of action. Three minutes in, Forestville held the narrowest of leads, 32-31.

Then what? The Hornets answered with a 9-0 run, capped off by a 3-pointer from Manny Sanchez with 1:24 left in the third quarter. Forestville’s lead was suddenly up to double digits, 41-31.

“We certainly are capable of going on those runs. We expect runs like that to happen,” Jackson said.

After Forestville’s lead was cut to six points in the fourth quarter, the Hornets had one more chance to respond to adversity.

They were up to the task.

Forestville responded with five 3-pointers during an 18-5 run to put the game — and the division — to bed.

Sanchez and Jacob Anders hit back-to-back threes to start the run. They both shouted in excitement after drilling their shots.

Forestville’s hot shooting from beyond the arc turned a 43-37 lead into a 17-point Forestville victory. In all, the Hornets hit 10 3s, with half of them coming in the fourth quarter.

Seven players scored for the Hornets in the victory, including three players with at least a dozen points: Jacob Anders with 16, Blake Waterman with 14 and William Duliba with 12. Four different players had multiple 3-pointers for the Hornets, led by Duliba with four.

Owen Wright accounted for half of the Timberwolves’ points with 22. Tucker Barrick added 11 points for the Timberwolves.

Friday’s victory clinched the Hornets’ league title outright, the program’s first division crown since winning back-to-back titles in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

“This means a lot to them. It means a lot to me too,” Jackson said. “They have come a long way, and they have worked so hard for this. This is great, but there’s still more things we want to accomplish this season.”

Both teams have a nonleague game Tuesday night to close out the regular season. Cattaraugus-Little Valley hosts Brocton at 5:30 p.m., while Forestville travels to Gowanda for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off.

CATTARAUGUS-LITTLE VALLEY (44)

Barrick 5 0 11, Crawford 0 0 0, Wright 10 0 22, Boswell 1 2 4, Merrill 1 3 5, Gabel 0 0 0, Whited 1 0 2. Totals 18 5 44.

FORESTVILLE (61)

Sanchez 2 0 6, Spengler 1 1 3, DAnders 2 0 4, JAnders 7 0 16, Reilly 2 0 6, Waterman 7 0 14, Duliba 4 0 12. Totals 25 1 61.

3-point goals–Barrick, Wright 2, Sanchez 2, JAnders 2, Reilly 2, Duliba 4.

Cattaraugus-Little Valley 11 12 10 11 — 44

Forestville 9 16 16 20 — 61