MAYVILLE - The Frewsburg Bears jumped out to a 10-0 lead over Chautauqua Lake in their Section 6 Class C-2 prequarterfinal boys basketball game on Thursday night. With their patient offense and solid defense, the Bears were able to maintain that lead - give or take a few points - throughout the rest of the game, and 10th-seeded Frewsburg cruised to a 52-37 victory over the seventh-seeded Thunderbirds.
''It was a good start,'' Frewsburg coach Tom Nelson said. ''We've had other games this year where we came out and played well and then we'd have that quarter where we just don't score. I wanted to avoid that.''
The Bears (8-11) did avoid that, outscoring Chautauqua Lake in every quarter.
Article Photos
Frewsburg’s Alex Elderkin hits a fade-away jumper and is fouled by Chautauqua Lake’s Cody Thomas during Thursday night’s Section 6 Class C-2 prequarterfinal boys basketball game. See additional photos at cu.post-journal.com.
P-J photos by Scott Reagle
Frewsburg's reward is a quarterfinal matchup tonight against second-seeded Maple Grove (17-1). The winner of the prequarterfinal was scheduled to have a day off before facing the Red Dragons but Wednesday's snow caused the game to be delayed a day.
''I love challenges like this, I just wish we had a day in between to get ready,'' Nelson said. ''I don't have time to even think about it.''
The Thunderbirds (10-9) missed their first nine shots and had three turnovers as they fell into the 10-0 hole during the game's opening six minutes.
''We were missing baskets,'' Chautauqua Lake coach Chris Dole said. ''We missed a lot of chippies and that was the story of the night. Some of these kids haven't seen a playoff game before. The younger kids were missing layups and point- blank shots. That's what it does, it creates jitters.''
Frewsburg had experience on its side, with six seniors and just one underclassman compared to Chautauqua Lake's two seniors and seven underclassmen.
''I wasn't surprised by what happened tonight,'' Dole said. ''They're a senior-laden team. Everybody looks on paper and says a 10 seed beating a 7 is an upset but it's not. It's seniors beating younger kids. It really is experience over youth.''
Senior Alex Elderkin, Frewsburg's leading scorer, was limited to just 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers, but junior Josh Nelson scored a game-high 18 points and fellow junior Derek Smith added nine.
''Alex is a great shooter but he's not the only guy on our team,'' Nelson said. ''I think this year's team has a little more balance. Last year we really needed him to score but this year we've got some other guys who can score, as well. It was good to see them step up and do that.''
The Thunderbirds trailed, 15-6, after the first period and were down, 27-16, at halftime. Only twice in the second half were they able to get their deficit under double digits, first in the opening minutes of the third quarter and then in the first minute of the final period.
Chautauqua Lake scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to bring it within nine points, 38-29, with more than seven minutes remaining. But Frewsburg extended its lead to 11 points over the next few minutes before closing with a 9-5 run.
''We knew coming in what it was going to be,'' Dole said. ''We couldn't have predicted the outcome but we knew it was going to be one of those nights where we were going to be in for a fight. They played in a tougher division. When you prepare all season long in a tougher division, when you get in games like these you know how to play.''
Senior Cody Thomas led the Thunderbirds with 16 points, including three 3-pointers, and junior Ian Clute added 11.
''I look forward to next year,'' Dole said. ''We've got everybody returning but two guys. We've just go to look forward to next year now. It's unfortunate, but somebody has to lose.''
And somebody has to win.
For the Bears, the win means a quick turnaround before facing one of the area's better teams in the Red Dragons.
''They're going to come out and pressure us and if we can handle the pressure we can play with them,'' Nelson said. ''We turn the ball over and it could be a long night.''
FREWSBURG (52)
Smith 4 1 9, Munella 1 0 2, Nelson 6 5 18, BJohnson 3 0 6, Elderkin 3 2 10, DJohnson 0 5 5, Adelgren 1 0 2, Caldwell 0 0 0, Stearns 0 0 0, Totals 18 13 52.
CHAUTAUQUA LAKE (37)
Clute 4 3 11, Mayer 0 0 0, Briggs 0 0 0, Thomas 6 1 16, Hulton 1 0 2, Davidson 2 0 6, Applegarth 0 0 0, Miller 1 0 2, Latimer 0 0 0, Totals 14 4 37.
3-point goals: Thomas 3, Davidson 2, Elderkin 2, Nelson.
Frewsburg 15 12 11 14 - 52
Chautauqua Lake 6 10 8 13 - 37