On Tuesday night, the Cardinals took care of the Bears the old-fashioned way.

Gabe McCoy, Randolph’s 6-foot-5 senior center, scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while 6-foot-4 junior Jaiden Huntington added 17 points as the Cardinals essentially wrapped up the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Central Division crown with a 76-55 victory.

“Gabe is a difference maker,” Randolph head coach Kevin Hind said. “He blocks shots, he rebounds balls that other guys aren’t going to … he changes games.”

Randolph improved to 15-1 overall, including 9-0 in the league, with games remaining against Maple Grove, Cassadaga Valley and Portville.

Frewsburg’s Gavin Smith protects the ball from Randolph’s Jaiden Huntington, left, and Drew Hind during Tuesday’s game in Randolph. Photo by Mike Frame

Frewsburg (8-9, 7-2) remains the Cardinals’ last remaining obstacle to a division championship. A 10-0 run midway through Tuesday’s second quarter squashed any thoughts of an upset.

“Obviously we’d like a league title, but I told them pregame, ‘No matter how this goes tonight, we’re good no matter where we are. It doesn’t hurt us seeding-wise, it doesn’t hurt us playoff-wise,'” Frewsburg head coach Rob Collver said. ” … This is an atmosphere we needed to practice in. Having that opportunity I hope will benefit us down the road.”

Huntington hit a 3-pointer to open the spurt and McCoy added a conventional three-point play when he was fouled on a putback with 4:17 remaining. Huntington added a free throw when Collver was assessed a technical foul and then add another one on Randolph’s ensuing possession.

“We worked on a couple different things defensively to help (senior Zach) Winters inside, but also try to maintain and run them off the 3-point line,” Collver said. ” … More can go right for us with them putting the ball on the floor and trying to beat us off the dribble than just spotting up and shooting because they’ll hit 15 3s again.”

After a Bears’ miss, Cardinals freshman Drew Hind chipped in a bucket before Bears sophomore Gavin Smith ended the run with a 3-pointer. By that point, the hosts were up 27-16.

Randolph's Griffin Nelson (10) attempts to drive by Frewsburg's Zack Carr during Tuesday's CCAA Central Division game in Randolph. Photo by Mike Frame

“Our guys play hard. We’re long. We have 6-5, 6-4 and 6-3. Drew has long arms up at the top,” Coach Hind said. ” … We can definitely make you work for what you’re trying to get.”

Randolph took a 34-20 lead into the locker room at halftime and put the game away with a 9-0 run to start the third quarter that included four of Frewsburg’s 19 turnovers.

“We’ve been really good in the third quarter. … We’ve done a good job of that this whole season of coming out in the third quarter, taking a deep breath, finding some guys and hitting some shots,” Coach Hind said. “Drew made a play right off the bat, stole the ball out of the air and put us on a little roll.”

McCoy and Huntington did most of their damage inside for the Cardinals, who shot 29 of 55 (52.7%) from the field, including 25 of 35 (71.4%) on 2-point attempts.

“Gabe had some really nice moves. Huntington had some really nice moves,” Collver said. “When you don’t have that option of doubling down, that leaves your post defender one-on-one and they got us a couple of times.”

Junior Carson Conley also added 17 points and Hind had 13 for Randolph.

“Every guy I put on the court can shoot the ball,” Coach Hind said. “Use them.”

Junior Connor Murray led the Bears with 20 points while Winters had 13 and Smith had 10.

“I was super-proud of our guards. We handled that press very well,” Collver said. “I didn’t expect us to run them up and down the floor … but when they set that press up, Connor, (junior) Zack (Carr) and Gavin handled it great. … That’s going to pay huge dividends in playoff time.”

The Cardinals are currently the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Section VI Class C playoffs while Frewsburg is No. 4. If the seeds play out that way, the same teams will match up one more time with a lot more on the line than there was Tuesday.

“We’re definitely moving in the right direction, trying to stay in shape, be healthy and execute,” Coach Hind said. “Overall, this is a pretty good basketball team. I like where we’re at.”

NOTES: Randolph was 4 of 20 (20%) from 3-point range and turned the ball over 12 times. … Frewsburg shot 18 of 47 (38.3%) from the field, including 8 of 21 (38.1%) from 3-point range. … Hind had seven assists for the Cardinals and Owen Nelson had six. … Winters led the Bears with seven rebounds and junior Andrew LeBaron had five while Carr had five assists and Smith had three steals to go along with three assists. … Randolph won the jayvee game 52-27. Kevin Herington led the Cardinals with 16 points and Kael Collver led the Bears with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

FREWSBURG (55)

Brink 2 1 6, Carr 0 2 2, Smith 3 2 10, Spencer 0 0 0, Murray 7 1 20, Sears 0 0 0, LeBaron 2 0 4, Winters 4 5 13. Totals 18 11 55.

RANDOLPH (76)

ONelson 1 0 2, Kelly 1 0 2, Hind 4 4 13, GNelson 1 0 2, Conley 7 3 17, McCoy 9 5 23, Huntington 6 2 17. Totals 29 14 76.

3-point goals–Brink, Smith 2, Murray 5, Hind, Huntington 3.

Frewsburg 7 13 18 17 — 55

Randolph 13 21 23 19 — 76

Jayvees: Randolph won 52-27.