Salamanca’s Karina Crouse (2) looks to pass during Friday’s game against the Fredonia Hillbillies at Fredonia High School. P-J photo by Braden Carmen

FREDONIA — After Friday’s game at Fredonia High School, Salamanca Warriors head coach Joe Hinman said, “We made it worth the trip.”

After a weather postponement, Friday’s game at Fredonia was the only one Salamanca had left on its schedule over a two-week stretch. But, after the long bus ride, the Warriors made the most of their opportunity to claim a third league victory of the season.

Salamanca pulled ahead in the second quarter and never looked back. An early 9-0 run to start the second half was more than enough to carry the Warriors to victory, 53-35, over the Hillbillies in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 West game.

“Coming in, we hadn’t played a game in a week. The girls were really ready to play somebody,” Hinman said. “I’m proud of them for getting a big win on the road.”

Fredonia (6-4, 1-2) fell behind early, but responded with the final seven points of the opening quarter. Ella Koopman hit a 3-pointer with 1:11 left in the period to cut the Salamanca lead to just a point. The Hillbillies pulled ahead on a pair of free throws from Makayla Tabone, and on the next possession, a layup from Jordan Lucas with just 2 seconds left on the clock put Fredonia ahead of the league-leading Warriors, 11-8, after one period of play.

“It’s one of those years where it’s just, ‘Who is going to show up that day?’ That’s what I love about this league, you really don’t know, game in and game out,” said Fredonia head coach Brianne Flowers.

In the second quarter, Salamanca (11-2, 3-0) answered with a run of its own. Shortly before the halfway point of the period, the Warriors reclaimed the lead on a bucket by Karina Crouse. The Warriors capped their own 7-0 run on a three-point play by Lezly McComber. The Warriors led 21-16 with 3:19 left in the opening half, then took a 25-18 lead into the intermission.

“We ended the second quarter with some intensity,” said Hinman. “I told them we’ve got to finish. We’ve got to focus and carry that intensity into the second half, and I think we did that.”

Fredonia needed another quick spurt of offense like it had in the final minutes of the opening quarter to get back in the game. But instead, it was Salamanca that came out with the run to begin the third quarter.

In just over two minutes, the Warriors posted a 9-0 run, including four points apiece from Karina Crouse and Bella Wolfe. At the conclusion of the run, the Warriors led 34-18, and the teams remained at least nine points apart the rest of the game.

“Their press, we just couldn’t break it for whatever reason. We just kept turning the ball over and giving them easy transition points,” Flowers said. “That’s what their whole team is built off of, those quick transition points, and they succeeded at it.”

The Warriors had three scorers reach double figures: Crouse, McComber and Wolfe. The trio combined for 40 of the 53 Salamanca points, as Crouse and McComber tied for the game high with 14 points.

Fredonia was led by Ashlynn Delcamp, who posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, a team high in each category.

“Ash Delcamp stepped up big for us today, keeping us in the game. … Kudos to her,” Flowers said.

Up next, Fredonia travels to Pine Valley in a nonleague contest on Monday before a trip to Olean next Friday. Salamanca hosts Southwestern next Friday.

SALAMANCA (53)

KCrouse 6 1 14, MCrouse 1 0 2, Dowdy 0 2 2, LeiMcComber 2 1 5, Wolfe 6 0 12, Lafferty 0 0 0, LezMcComber 6 2 14, John 0 1 1, Ross 1 0 3. Totals 22 7 53.

FREDONIA (35)

Lucas 2 1 5, Tabone 2 3 7, Delcamp 2 6 10, Koopman 1 0 3, Holt 1 0 2, Walnicki 3 0 6, Gullo 0 0 0, Wegrzynowski 0 0 0, DiPalma 1 0 2. Totals 12 10 35.

3-point goals–KCrouse, Ross, Koopman.

Salamanca 8 17 16 12 — 53

Fredonia 11 7 12 5 — 35