A year ago, Danielle West hit a deep 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock to put the exclamation point on a 42-36 Pine Valley win in Fredonia.

The next time West and her Panthers walked into the Fredonia gym, the ball was in her hands again with the game on the line. But this time, it was Fredonia which escaped with the narrow victory.

Thanks to all 9 points in the fourth quarter for Fredonia, along with a crucial offensive rebound, Ella Koopman was the player to step up with the game on the line in the rematch from a year ago. The Hillbillies defeated the Panthers 34-31 on Thursday night.

Although the entire game was played with the two teams within seven points of each other, Fredonia (4-1) trailed the entire first three quarters of play.

Pine Valley leading scorer Danielle West shoots a 3-pointer during Thursday’s game against the Fredonia ‘Billies at Fredonia High School. P-J photo by Braden Carmen

Pine Valley (0-6) jumped ahead 3-0 on a three-point-play converted by West. Through the first three minutes of action, seven total points were scored, and five of the seven belonged to West. Fredonia twice cut the Pine Valley lead to only a point, but the Panthers held strong and finished the opening quarter with a 9-6 lead.

The Panthers pulled ahead by the largest advantage of the opening half, 14-8, on a 3-pointer by Sarah Kruszka. But immediately, Koopman answered with a 3-pointer of her own to put Fredonia back to within one possession. The ‘Billies clawed back to within a point in the final minute of the opening half, but Koopman missed a potential go-ahead layup shortly before the halftime buzzer sounded with Pine Valley ahead 20-19 with one half left to play.

Pine Valley opened the second half with the first six points, and eight of the first 10 points in the period, to build a seven-point lead before Fredonia began to mount a comeback.

But over the final 10 minutes of play, Fredonia looked like an entirely different team, and it was all led by Koopman.

“In the first half, we just couldn’t get our offense to run,” Fredonia head coach Brianne Flowers said. “Finally in the second half, we calmed down a little bit and were able to get some looks that we wanted.”

After Sophia Gullo made a layup to put Fredonia within five points, Koopman closed out the scoring in the third quarter with a floater from the free-throw line to put Fredonia within three points, 28-25.

In the final period, Koopman kept it rolling.

With 6:22 left to play, Koopman hit a 3-pointer standing right in front of her team’s bench. The shot evened up the score at 28-all, which marked the first time the ‘Billies were not trailing since the opening bucket.

Koopman then gave Fredonia the lead on a jump shot just a few steps inside the arc from where she hit the tying 3-pointer less than 90 seconds earlier. Koopman capped off a personal 9-0 run for Fredonia, and a 7-0 start to the fourth quarter, by putting the ‘Billies ahead 32-28 with 4:20 left to play.

“She is a two-guard, through and through. Getting her to realize that she can shoot the ball, it gives her so many more options to lead us in ways that she hasn’t been able to in the last three years that she’s been on varsity,” Flowers said. “… She’s always been a shooter, she just hasn’t been able to get the looks.”

But then, a minute later, West had an answer of her own.

From near her own team’s bench, West banked in a 3-pointer off the side of the glass to cut Fredonia’s lead to just a point, 32-31, with 3:17 left to play.

“The girl just makes anything,” joked Pine Valley head coach Zach Len. “… I think she just likes playing on this court, I guess.”

From there, however, both teams struggled to score. Fredonia missed out on multiple chances to extend the lead, while Pine Valley could not reclaim the advantage despite multiple chances in the paint. With 20 seconds left on the clock, Fredonia’s starting center — and St. Bonaventure DI softball signee — Jordan Lucas gathered a rebound and absorbed a shot to the face to earn a trip at the free-throw line.

Although Lucas missed both free throws, Pine Valley failed to box out on the second attempt, and just as she did throughout the fourth quarter, Koopman swooped in to make the play. She gathered the offensive rebound and dribbled the ball out of the paint and beyond the arc to waste nearly half the remaining time on the clock. Koopman then stepped up to the free-throw line and calmly knocked down both shots for the three-point advantage.

“It doesn’t surprise me that she got it. She’s one of the hardest working kids you’ll ever have,” Flowers said.

But still, Pine Valley had a chance to answer. After a time out, the ball found its way to West for a relatively open look at a game-tying 3-pointer, but this time, the big shot didn’t fall. Pine Valley scrambled to get another opportunity, but that shot also did not fall and the ‘Billies escaped with the narrow victory.

“The play we drew up there, I thought it was going to work. Danielle (West), she’s usually money. I remember last year when she hit the game-winning shot. We tried it again, but we were not successful this time. That’s just how it is,” Len said.

Flowers added, “Danielle (West) is a great player. That was a really good shot that she took, and they were almost able to tie it and take us to overtime.”

Koopman led all scorers in the game with 16 points, despite not scoring at all in the first quarter. She also led the team with six steals and added three rebounds.

Ashlynn Delcamp was second on the ‘Billies with 6 points, all of which came in the first half. Lucas, Makayla Tabone and Alana Holt all tied for the team lead with four rebounds apiece.

“We have to work more on our offense and have more options within it,” Flowers said, while noting increased opportunities in the upcoming games over winter break due to multiple players set to leave town for the week.

West led Pine Valley with 10 points, despite just two points in the middle periods. Vivien Libby was second on the Panthers with 6 points. Pine Valley shot just four free throws in the contest, including West going 3 for 3 at the line.

The Panthers carry just seven players on the varsity roster, which Len tried to account for by saving timeouts for late in the fourth quarter. He noted that fatigue likely played a factor in his team’s fourth quarter performance.

“I give Fredonia props. They battled and they were able to seal it,” Len said. “… They have a good team over there. We were able to battle with them the entire way, so hopefully we carry it on into the new year.”

Fredonia plays in a holiday tournament at Jamestown Community College over break, while Pine Valley plays next on Jan. 3 against Salamanca.