Salamanca's Lucus Brown puts up a shot over Avon's Josh Harter during Saturday's Class B Far West Regional at Buffalo State Sports Arena. Photo by Steve Garvey

BUFFALO – In the midst of a postgame interview Saturday afternoon, Salamanca basketball coach Adam Bennett had to excuse himself in order to join his players for another team photo.

It seemed only fitting.

Because after the Warriors’ down-to-the-wire 56-52 Class B Far West Regional victory over Section V’s Avon, it seemed like everyone who took to the court at Buffalo State Sports Arena deserved the recognition.

It was that kind of afternoon for Bennett’s crew, which will now travel to Glens Falls for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four next week. Their opponent in Thursday’s 7:45 p.m. semifinal at Cool Insuring Arena will be the Section III Marcellus-Section IV Waverly winner.

For one day, however, the Warriors (20-5) were going to enjoy what they accomplished in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd.

Salamanca's Maddox Isaac is closely guarded during Saturday's Class B Far West Regional at Buffalo State Sports Arena. Photo by Steve Garvey

As expected, senior Lucus Brown did his thing against the Braves, scoring 24 points in his smooth-as-silk style that has been his calling card for years, but he had plenty of help.

At the most critical of times.

For the record, the list of heroes was long. Junior Maddox Isaac scored 9 points, junior Avery Brown had 8, sophomore Payton Bradley added 7, and juniors Cory Holleran and Jacob Herrick had 5 and 3, respectively. After accepting their second regional championship plaque in three seasons, however, it was hard to select which performance was the most important.

The Warriors, instead, just took turns.

Salamanca, which never trailed after the first three minutes of the game, took a 25-16 lead into halftime, but saw its advantage shrink to 40-38 after three quarters when the Braves’ Trevor Stroud nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Salamanca's Avery Brown is fouled under the basket during Saturday's Class B Far West Regional at Buffalo State Sports Arena. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

The Warriors used a 10-5 run to start the final period – six points from Lucus Brown and four by Bradley – to expand their lead to 50-43 at the 3:25 mark, but Avon didn’t die.

Shortly after Lucus Brown picked up his fourth foul, Josh Harter nailed a trey and a minute later Michael Rowland scored on a putback to tie the game 50-50 with a minute remaining.

That’s when Avery Brown turned in his biggest plays of the afternoon.

First, his elbow jumper put Salamanca back in front with 46 seconds remaining. Then, after Stroud’s jumper tied the game again, 52-all, Avery Brown hit nothing but net on his two free throws with 7.9 ticks left.

Avon got the ball to halfcourt before calling timeout with 4.6 seconds remaining to set up a potential game-tying or game-winning shot. That’s when Holleran took his turn to come up big, intercepting the Braves’ cross-court entry pass. Herrick was eventually fouled with 1.4 seconds remaining and he calmly hit both free throws, securing the Warriors’ trip to the North Country next week.

NOTES: Harter led Avon with 19 points, Rowland added 16 and Stroud chipped in 13. … The Warriors shot 21 of 44 from the floor compared to 18 of 47 for the Braves.

AVON (52)

Harter 6 6 19, Rowland 5 5 16, Dolgos 1 0 2, Stroud 5 1 13, Hillman 1 0 2. Totals 18 12 52.

SALAMANCA (56)

Herrick 0 3 3, Bradley 3 1 7, Isaac 3 1 9, ABrown 3 2 8, Ross 0 0 0, LBrown 10 4 24, Trietley 0 0 0, Holleran 2 0 5. Totals 21 11 56.

3-point goals-Harter, Rowland, Stroud 2, Isaac 2.

Avon 9 7 22 14 — 52

Salamanca 16 9 15 16 — 56