HAMBURG — The Jamestown High School boys basketball team was one half away from opening its Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 schedule with a loss Wednesday night.

Not just any loss, however.

How does an epic setback sound?

Limited to 12 points in the first two quarters and trailing by 13 points at halftime, the Red Raiders were on the verge of one of the most disheartening losses in Ben Drake’s 20 years as varsity coach.

But a lineup change to start the third quarter brought new life to the squad and Jamestown rallied to stun Frontier, 58-55, in overtime.

Marcus Rojas led the Red Raiders (3-1, 1-0) with 17 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and four steals, and Matt Hill added 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals, but it was the inspired play of Henry Malarkey, Grayson Holt and Daunte Garland that gave Drake the spark he was looking for.

“To be honest, I was just very disappointed with our lack of effort (in the first half),” said Drake, noting that his team scored just two points in 12 minutes of game action at one point. “It’s one thing if we’re losing to a better team and shots aren’t falling. I just thought they were playing harder than us. I can’t remember a worse half of basketball that I’ve coached. It’s not because we didn’t score. It was because of our effort.”

Inserting Malarkey, Holt and Garland into the game to start the second half was the right move as the Red Raiders limited the Falcons to seven points in the third quarter to claw back to within 32-26 heading into the fourth quarter.

“We went full-court man-to-man and we stayed in it the entire second half,” Drake said. “I just really tried to change our effort and energy and we forced them into quick shots and turnovers, and we started getting buckets as a result of our defense.”

Once the fourth quarter began, Malarkey, who had yet to score this season, went to work as he tallied all 10 of his points in that period and overtime, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Jamestown used a 14-2 run to start the fourth quarter to take a lead, but Frontier hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game, 40-40. Hill drained a pair of free throws to put the Red Raiders back in front, but the Falcons’ Kyle Ebert (28 points), converted a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left in regulation to tie the game again. The Red Raiders had the last shot of the period, but it didn’t fall, allowing the game to go into overtime.

In the extra session, Elijah Rojas and Malarkey both hit treys in the first 90 seconds and Jamestown never relinquished the lead.

The Red Raiders return to action Friday when they travel to Amherst for a non-league game.

NOTES: Garland dished out four assists off the bench for Jamestown. … In the junior varsity game, Jamestown prevailed, 54-40. Travon Blakeslee led the way with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Andrew Dix added 13 points for the Red Raiders (2-3).

JAMESTOWN (58)

Crofoot 0 0 0, Hill 2 9 13, Faulkner 0 0 0, Moore 2 1 5, MRojas 7 1 17, ERojas 4 0 9, Freeney 0 0 0, Garland 2 0 4, Malarkey 4 0 10, Grant 0 0 0, Holt 0 0 0, Totals 21 10 58.

FRONTIER (55)

Hiam 3 0 7, Taylor 1 0 3, Bailey 1 0 2, Dunz 3 5 11, Ebert 7 11 28, Weiss 2 0 4, Totals 17 16 55.

3-point goals–MRojas 2, Malarkey 2, ERojas, Hiam, Taylor, Ebert 3.

Jamestown 8 4 14 18 14 — 58

Frontier 10 15 7 12 11 — 55

Jayvees: Jamestown 54, Frontier 40

CARDS UPEND PANAMA

RANDOLPH — A 32-19 second half allowed Randolph to pull away from Panama for a 67-49 non-league win.

Ty Hind led the Cardinals (2-1) with 22 points, seven assists and four steals while eighth-grader Gabe McCoy added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Panthers (1-4) led 19-17 after the first quarter thanks to a trio of 3-pointers from Dominic Spontaneo, who finished with 13 points.

Randolph (2-1) took a 35-30 lead into halftime and eventually put the game away. Kaleb Steward chipped in 11 points, five assists and five steals.

“He attacked all night long and got easy shots for people,” Randolph coach Kevin Hind said of Steward. “He was a big plus tonight. He had a really good all-around game.”

Jack Sperry led the Panthers with 15 points, all on 3-pointers, four of which came in the opening half.

“We picked up our defense in the second half. We went man and got a little more physical,” Hind said. “Coming off a (37-point) win in the first game, I was a little nervous because it’s not every night you hit 15 3-pointers. You can’t live in the past. I know we hit a bunch of shots last game, but we had to come play tonight.”

PANAMA (49)

Lawson 1 0 3, Spontaneo 4 2 13, Morse 1 4 6, Sperry 5 0 15, Barmore 3 0 7, Hovey 1 0 2, Delahoy 1 1 3. Totals 16 7 49.

RANDOLPH (67)

Steward 5 0 11, Hind 10 0 22, Wakefield 2 2 8, Donaldson 2 0 5, Sherman 2 0 4, McCoy 6 3 15, Foster 1 0 2, George 0 0 0.

3-point goals–Lawson, Spontaneo 3, Sperry 5, Barmore, Steward, Hind 2, Wakefield 2, Donaldson.

Panama 19 11 8 11 — 49

Randolph 17 18 18 14 — 67

Jayvees: Randolph won

CLYMER COASTS PAST FALCONER

CLYMER — The host Pirates claimed a 64-30 non-league win over visiting Falconer (0-5) courtesy of 16 points and six steals from Robert Overton as well as five assists and 6 points from Jordan Wade.

Clymer is now 3-2 overall, thanks to a seven-rebound, 7-point performance from Spencer TeWinkle.

Brandon Crick led Falconer with 16 points while Tylar Olson added five blocks.

FALCONER (30)

Dallas 2 0 5, Crick 5 4 16, Schrader 0 0 0, Samuelson 0 0 0, Olson 2 0 5, Rowan 0 0 0, Young 1 2 4, Buffone 0 1 1, Troutman 0 0 0, Norton 0 0 0, Seaholm 0 0 0. Totals 10 6 30.

CLYMER (64)

Neckers 3 0 9, Wiggers 1 0 2, Beckerink 5 0 11, Miller 1 0 2, Hinsdale 2 1 6, Willink 2 0 5, Wade 3 0 6, Overton 6 1 16, Watkins 0 0 0, TeWinkle 3 1 7. Totals 26 3 64.

3-point goals–Neckers 3, Overton 3, Crick 2, Olson, Dallas, Beckerink, Hinsdale, Willink

Falconer 6 7 8 9 — 30

Clymer 21 17 16 10 — 64

Jayvees: Clymer won