And by the time his work was done, Maple Grove’s boys were walking off the court at Chautauqua Lake with a hard-fought 63-57 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West victory.

Cresanti scored 13 points, highlighted by a driving and-one layup following a behind-the-back move outside the paint, as the Red Dragons (8-2, 4-1) — the New York State Sportswriters Association’s No. 25-ranked Class C team — held off a furious rally by the Eagles (4-7, 2-3).

“I thought it was a little sloppy. Credit to Chautauqua Lake, they stayed on fire there at the end with their defense and they hit some big shots,” Maple Grove head coach Graham Soffel said of the final few minutes. “I would’ve loved for it to be a cleaner closeout for us, but it’s hard when they’re hitting some 3s and putting on some heavy pressure at the end.”

The game was littered with fouls, and essentially decided at the charity stripe. Maple Grove was 14 of 26 from the free-throw line and Chautauqua Lake was 16 of 32.

Chautauqua Lake's Nick Jacobson is fouled by Maple Grove's Marcus Laney as he drives for a layup during Tuesday's CCAA Division 2 West game in Mayville. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

After trailing 28-12 at halftime and 39-30 after three quarters, the Eagles got back in the game early in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Nick Jacobson converted a three-point play on Chautauqua Lake’s first possession of the final period and then scored through contact with Red Dragons senior Jonah Foley the next trip down the floor to make it a five-point game.

Foley disagreed with the no-call and voiced his displeasure on the way up the court, resulting in a technical foul.

“That’s something we have to work on is maintaining our emotions a little bit,” Soffel said.

Unfortunately, the Eagles didn’t make either free-throw attempt and they turned the ball over on the ensuing possession as they failed to close the gap further.

Chautauqua Lake's Nate Henry attempts a pass as Maple Grove's Jack Bless (10) and Nathan Cresanti (0) defend during Tuesday's CCAA Division 2 West game in Mayville. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“Against Westfield, we missed 16 free throws and tonight we were 16 for 32. That’s the name of the game,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Devin Pope said. ” … We’re young and made some dumb mistakes at the end.”

Two possessions later, Foley drilled a 3-pointer and Marcus Laney followed that up with a second-chance three-point play as Maple Grove’s lead quickly grew back to nine with six minutes remaining.

“If we’re running our press well and we get some turnovers, I think it helps our guys stay a little confident throughout the game,” Soffel said.

The Eagles whittled away at their deficit, eventually pulling back within five on a pair of Brendan Klossner free throws, but Cresanti made his highlight-reel play the next time down the floor — despite landing hard on his right hand — to make it an eight-point game with 2:58 remaining.

“It was really impressive. I’m really happy for him to make a big play like that,” Soffel said. “As a coach those are the plays where you are thinking ‘No, no, no. Yes.’ That worked out in our favor and it was a good move by Nate.”

Maple Grove's Nathan Cresanti passes over the Chautauqua Lake defense during Tuesday's CCAA Division 2 West game in Mayville. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

Throughout the ensuing possession, Cresanti grimaced in pain as he held his right hand, but the ball eventually found its way to him and he made a cross-court, one-handed baseball pass to Foley, who drilled his second 3-pointer of the quarter to make it an 11-point game.

“We just kept attacking … letting open shots come to us. We did it better toward the end,” Pope said. “They hit some tough shots and some big 3s.”

Asher Olson and Klossner hit 3-pointers in the closing minutes, but it was too little too late for the Eagles.

“Nick’s a good shooter, Nate (Henry) is a good shooter, Brendan’s a good shooter,” Pope said. ” … It just depends who’s hot. It’s really finding that next-level guy to help out with that.”

Jacobson had a team-high 17 points and Klossner had 15 for Chautauqua Lake, which hosts Panama on Thursday. The Panthers are No. 7 in Class C.

“We played the No. 1 team in the state (Randolph) the third game of the year … they hit 14 3s. We played the No. 2 team in the state (Westfield) and lost by 5. We play the No. 7 team in the state Thursday,” Pope said. “This league is tough. We can hang with anybody if we play our game. It’s just finding what nights we’re going to bring it and what nights we’re not.”

Jack Mansfield scored 14 of his game-high 20 points during the second quarter for the Red Dragons, who will host league-leading Westfield on Friday.

“He was huge. We’ve been kind of waiting for him to do that,” Soffel said. “He doesn’t miss in practice and it finally translated to the court tonight, which was huge.”

NOTES: Maple Grove finished 22 of 63 (34.9%) from the field, including 5 of 23 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 15 times. … Chautauqua Lake was 18 of 48 (37.5%) from the field, including 5 of 16 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 24 times. … Chautauqua Lake won the jayvee matchup 40-38. Liam Swan led the Eagles with 16 points and Cordell Rivera had 10. Ethan Verbosky led the Red Dragons with 12 points and Zach Cornell had 10.

MAPLE GROVE (63)

Cresanti 4 5 13, Foley 3 4 13, Lombardo 0 0 0, Rodgers 2 2 7, Mansfield 10 0 20, Laney 2 3 7, Bless 0 0 0, Verbosky 1 0 3, Barton 0 0 0, Colburn 0 0 0. Totals 22 14 63.

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE (57)

Jacobson 5 7 17, Henry 2 5 9, Fairbanks 0 0 0, Gibbs 1 0 3, Olson 3 2 9, Abuhmeidan 0 0 0, Houser 2 0 4, Klossner 5 2 15. Totals 18 16 57.

3-point goals–Foley 3, Rodgers, Verbosky, Gibbs, Olson, Klossner 3.

Maple Grove 8 20 11 24 — 63

Chautauqua Lake 5 7 18 27 — 57

Jayvees: Chautauqua Lake won 40-38.