More importantly, the Red Raiders were playing for the opportunity to avoid Lancaster for as long as possible in the playoffs.

Marley Drake scored 31 points and Jamestown hung on to beat Frontier 54-49 in Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 action on Senior Night at McElrath Gymnasium.

“She’s willing to take it on her shoulders. When your father is a coach and the athletic director, people are always going to have something to say,” Jamestown head coach Ken Ricker said of Drake. ” … She’s willing to take shots and live with the result. … I’m extremely proud of her.”

The Red Raiders improved to 13-5 overall and 8-4 in the league with the victory. They will host a Section VI Class AA quarterfinal against the No. 6 seed next Friday night. The opponent will likely come down to a coin flip at Saturday’s seeding meeting with Frontier and Orchard Park finishing with identical 4-8 league marks.

Jamestown’s Mickia Freeney scores on a reverse layup in front of Frontier’s Brookelyn Vicaretti (44) during Wednesday’s ECIC Division 1 game at Jamestown High School’s McElrath Gymnasium. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“Our goal all year has been to get to Buffalo State. You have to avoid Lancaster because they are a different animal,” Ricker said. “Tonight, we win, and we get on the other side … regardless of who’s over there, it’s not Lancaster.”

Drake scored 9 points in the first quarter and 13 more in the second as Jamestown built a 30-19 halftime lead Wednesday.

“Early on we were struggling a little bit. … (Marley) is going to hunt shots. Every kid I’ve ever coached, I’ve begged to do that,” Ricker said. “When you are one of the best shooters in Western New York, if not the best, please go hunt shots.”

The Falcons (10-9, 4-8) opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run to close their deficit to three before Drake hit her sixth of eight 3-pointers in the game to push the Red Raiders’ lead back up to 35-29. Drake then hit two more 3-pointers before the quarter was over to reach 31 points in the game and give the hosts a 44-33 lead entering the final quarter.

“She was going to do everything she could tonight to make sure we won,” Ricker said of Drake.

Again, Frontier made a run.

Paris Izzo, Ali Zglinicki and Mya Brown scored as the Falcons opened the period on a 6-2 run before junior Alyson Canfield hit a 3-pointer for Jamestown to slow the run.

Izzo and Red Raiders senior Kylie O’Brien then traded baskets, but that would be the Red Raiders’ final field goal of the game. Jamestown turned the ball over six times over its eight possessions, but a free throw by senior Mickia Freeney with 16.5 seconds left gave the Red Raiders a five-point lead and that proved to be enough.

“When they started pressing us, Mickia let her struggles on the arc affect the rest of her game,” Ricker said. “There were college coaches here just to see her and she can’t let that happen.”

Canfield finished with 10 points and nine rebounds; O’Brien had 12 rebounds; Freeney had 7 points, four blocked shots, three rebounds and three assists; and Drake had three steals.

“Tonight, Mickia wasn’t making shots, but the last two games she made a bunch for us,” Ricker said. ” (Tonight) we told her to use her next skill, which is her best skill: going to the basket.”

Brown led Frontier with 15 points and Zglinicki had 10.

“Clarence and Williamsville North are at least our equal, but they both dropped a game to either Orchard Park or Frontier, and we didn’t. … All four of those games were like this. We’ve found that resiliency,” Ricker said. “We didn’t lose to anybody but the top two teams. That makes us the third team.”

NOTES: Jamestown shot 20 of 64 (31.3%) from the field, including 9 of 37 (24.3%) from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 17 times. … Frontier shot 22 of 57 (38.6%) from the field, including 2 of 13 (15.4%) from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 24 times. … Lancaster will be the No. 1 seed in Class AA and Lockport will be the No. 2 seed. If top seeds win out, Jamestown would play Lockport in the semifinals and not see Lancaster until a possible sectional final.

FRONTIER (49)

Theisen 0 0 0, Muka 3 2 9, Zglinicki 5 0 10, Pignone 0 0 0, Brown 7 1 15, Izzo 4 0 9, Vicaretti 3 0 6. Totals 22 3 49.

JAMESTOWN (54)

Freeney 3 1 7, Drake 11 1 31, Canfield 3 3 10, Engquist 1 0 2, O’Brien 2 0 4. Totals 20 5 54.

3-point goals–Muka, Izzo, Drake 8, Canfield.

Frontier 6 13 14 16 — 49

Jamestown 13 17 14 10 — 54

Jayvees: Frontier won.