Lucus Brown was the driving force.

It added up to a dominating performance.

Brown scored 36 points — one off his career high — to lead the Warriors to a 75-47 victory over Fredonia in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 West action.

“In the history of this gym, nobody has worked harder than him. That’s what I want him to trust,” Salamanca head coach Adam Bennett said of Brown. “To go out and watch him have fun, play free and fly around is a great feeling.”

Salamanca’s Maddox Isaac blocks a shot by Fredonia’s Brennan Lincoln during Thursday’s CCAA D1 West matchup in Salamanca. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

The win improved Salamanca to 8-3 overall, including 4-0 in the league, and gave the Warriors sole possession of first place with one game remaining in the first trip through the division schedule.

“We keep working behind the scenes on the things that we know that we have to do in order to be a championship-level program,” Bennett said. “I told our guys, ‘Tonight, the results don’t matter, it’s just about putting in the work.’ … We’re going to get right back to work tomorrow and we’re going to try to get better.”

As a team, the Warriors shot 31 of 56 from the field, including 8 of 19 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over just nine times.

“They’re a great team. We obviously knew what we were getting tonight,” Fredonia head coach Nick Bertrando said. “They’re a well-oiled machine and a great program. They brought it tonight.”

The Warriors dominated from the opening tip and Brown was in the middle of it all. The senior star picked up a steal and a layup off Fredonia’s first possession and then assisted on a Maddox Isaac bucket the Warriors’ next trip down the floor.

“Every team throws everything that they have at him,” Bennett said. “To go for 36 tonight, to play the defense that he does, to rebound, he’s a great teammate who gets other guys involved. … He trusts in all that work behind the scenes that nobody sees.”

After blocking a shot during the Hillbillies’ next possession, Brown went the other way and finished a lay-in for a quick 6-0 lead.

“There’s no stopping him. It’s just trying to make his shots, catches and looks very difficult,” Bertrando said of Brown. “He’s a next-level player who can score in a multitude of ways.”

Fredonia (9-4, 3-1) hung around at 15-12 midway through the first quarter, but Brown closed the period on a personal 8-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers. Brown scored 17 of the 23 points for the Warriors.

“I don’t care about my scoring,” Brown said. “I just play the game.”

Salamanca opened the second quarter on a 13-0 run before the Hillbillies’ Ashton Putney hit a free throw, but Fredonia’s first field goal of the period didn’t come until Jameson Quinn’s bucket with 2:36 remaining.

“We had energy in all four quarters,” Brown said. “We just really had great ball movement. We all played well as a team, the starters and the bench players.”

The Warriors led 44-18 at halftime, and despite the Hillbillies’ Davion White scoring 9 points during the third quarter and Fredonia going on a 14-0 run to close the period, Salamanca still held a 23-point advantage entering the final eight minutes.

“Right now, you’re thinking about all the negative things,” Bertrando said. “As I look at the film and break it down, we’ll pick apart the areas that are of concern and some of the things we did well considering the outcome of the game.”

For the game, the Hillbillies went just 17 of 44 from the field and turned the ball over 25 times, which led to 30 points at the other end for the Warriors.

“I think our defense led to offense. We were playing good defense and we played about six different defenses tonight,” Bennett said. “We want to be tough to prepare for. When you can defend like that and get out in transition, it just makes things easier all the way around.”

Fredonia will travel to nonleague Lewiston-Porter on Monday before finishing up its first trip through the league slate next Thursday at home against Allegany-Limestone.

Salamanca will visit nonleague Clymer on Saturday before visiting Southwestern next Thursday in its final game of the first go-round of the 10-game league schedule.

“It’s always harder on the road. We have a goal in any game we play not to lose on our home court,” Bennett said. ” … This is a tough league. We know we are going to have to play really well in any game that we play in our league. … There is no game where you roll the ball out and win.”

NOTES: Brown scored 37 points against Portville during his sophomore year. … Salamanca won the jayvee game 43-29. Dominick Hill led the Warriors with 10 points and Graham Putney led the Hillbillies with 12.

FREDONIA (47)

Hahn 4 3 13, Ferguson 0 0 0, Dowdy 0 1 1, Gullo 1 1 4, Quinn 2 0 4, Field 0 0 0, Putney 3 2 9, Hall 1 0 2, White 4 1 10, Lincoln 2 0 4, Luce 0 0 0. Totals 17 8 47.

SALAMANCA (75)

Herrick 1 0 2, Bradley 0 1 1, Isaac 2 0 4, Gillman 0 0 0, Crouse 1 1 3, ABrown 3 2 8, Ross 4 0 11, LBrown 15 1 36, Holleran 4 0 8, Trietley 0 0 0, Austin 1 0 2. Totals 31 5 75.

3-point goals–Hahn 2, Gullo, Putney, White, Ross 3, LBrown 5.

Fredonia 12 6 18 11 — 47

Salamanca 23 21 15 16 — 75

Jayvees: Salamanca won 43-29.