Southwestern's Landon Hooks scores in front of Medina's Jerrell Nealy during Saturday's Section VI Class B1 semifinal at Fredonia State University's Dods Hall. P-J photo by Jon Neubauer

FREDONIA – No. 9 Southwestern trailed for very little time during the opening three quarters of Saturday’s Section VI Class B1 semifinal.

But the Trojans never really built a sustainable lead either.

That came back to bite them in the end.

No. 5 Medina took the lead with 6:40 remaining in the game and never relinquished it on its way to a 62-52 victory at Fredonia State University’s Dods Hall.

“Today’s game plan was all about the 32 minutes as a whole, to keep the tempo up as much as possible with the defense and wear them down over time,” said Medina’s Tom Forrestel, the Mustangs jayvee coach who has served as varsity the coach the past two games after head coach Justin Morgan had surgery on a shoulder injury. “They are a great team, but the circumstances of this year are that they are in essence six-deep.”

Southwestern's Jalen Edwards puts up a 3-point attempt during Saturday's Section VI Class B1 semifinal against Medina at Fredonia State University's Dods Hall. P-J photo by Jon Neubauer

The win vaults the Mustangs into Wednesday’s 6 p.m. final against No. 2 Olmsted, which beat No. 6 Springville 49-34 in Saturday’s second semifinal. The title game will be back at SUNY Fredonia.

“I personally haven’t watched any of these guys,” Forrestel said just before the Griffins and Owls tipped off. “We’ve got some games on film and we’ll have some firsthand stuff with this game.”

Despite not leading since the game was 23-22 midway through the second quarter, Medina never let the game get away and the Mustangs were rewarded for it.

Trailing by four entering the fourth quarter, Medina outscored Southwestern 22-8 over the final eight minutes. That surge was started by Kolton Fletcher’s banked 3-pointer on the Mustangs second possession of the period.

“Banked 3s,” Forrestel quipped, “they happen once in a while.”

Southwestern's Roger Markham attempts to get by Medina's Carlos Doval during Saturday's Section VI Class B1 semifinal at Fredonia State University's Dods Hall. P-J photo by Jon Neubauer

After the Trojans’ Oscar Harris and Medina’s Jayzon Wills traded buckets, Kendrick Russaw gave the Mustangs the lead for good with 6:40 remaining.

Southwestern pulled to within a point two more times in the fourth quarter, but Wills’ free throw with 2:54 left made it 52-50 and Avion Johnson followed with a three-point play – his only basket of the game – to give the Mustangs a five-point lead.

“The and-one was noteworthy because Avi doesn’t necessarily get tons of minutes. We’ve been preaching teamwork and togetherness,” Forrestel said. “You can’t have those moments if your head isn’t in it for the other 31 and a half-minutes. To have him rewarded with that moment is just great.”

Roger Markham later made it a three-point game for the Trojans, but Jerrell Nealy followed with a basket to make it 57-52.

Southwestern then turned the ball over on three of its final five possessions and missed 3-point attempts on its other two as Medina put the game away at the foul line. The Trojans went 0 for 9 from 3-point range and turned the ball over 10 times in the second half.

“I like the shots when they go in,” Southwestern head coach Aaron Emley said when asked about his team’s second-half shot selection. “You can say they’re bad shots, but those guys make those shots. I’m not going to criticize them for the shots they take because I’ve seen them make those shots.”

The finish marked a disappointing end to what figured to be a promising season for Southwestern before football injuries to Bradyn Fuller and Zach Markham left the Trojans playing with a six-man rotation on most nights.

“When you have a six-man rotation and they are rotating 10 or 11 guys, there is a big difference there,” Emley said. “They gave me everything that they possibly could, I just think we ran out of gas a little bit.”

NOTES: Nealy and Preston Woodworth finished with 15 points apiece for Medina, which shot 23 of 53 from the field, including 9 of 27 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 13 times. … Landon Hooks had 18 points for Southwestern, which shot 20 of 48 from the field, including 5 of 22 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 16 times.

SOUTHWESTERN (52)

Harris 3 2 8, Hooks 7 1 18, Edwards 3 0 8, Waite 2 2 6, Markham 3 2 8, Casselman 2 0 4. Totals 20 7 52.

MEDINA (62)

Wills 3 1 7, Woodworth 4 4 15, Batista 1 0 3, Fletcher 1 0 3, Doval 0 0 0, Russaw 4 0 8, Moss 3 0 8, Nealy 6 2 15, Johnson 1 1 3. Totals 23 8 62.

3-point goals-Hooks 3, Edwards 2, Woodworth 3, Batista, Fletcher, Moss 2, Nealy.

Southwestern 14 15 15 8 – 52

Medina 11 13 16 22 – 62