When Eric Davis Jr. fouled out for Global Concepts, Westfield knew it was time to go with its biggest defensive obstacle out of the game and trailing 52-39 with 2:02 remaining in the Section VI Class C boys basketball championship.

However, the Wolverines could not get the big shot to fall and came up short 54-45 as Global Concepts captured its first sectional title in program history on Saturday at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex.

“We couldn’t buy the 3-pointer that would have made it a game,” Westfield head coach Nolan Swanson said. “We needed one more. We got a couple. It just didn’t go down and would have cut it to five. We just couldn’t get that next basket.”

Westfield’s night went a lot like its season did as a whole, starting solid, but then stumbling in the middle and a strong finish came up just short.

“We went through a real tough time in the middle of the year,” Swanson said. “We lost a handful of games, even in a week we lost three games. We were sick, a lot of things didn’t go our way. We knew we were a better team than our record, we always knew that. They put a lot of time in. That’s how you get to the final. I’m proud of them.”

The No. 4 Wolverines kept pace with Global Concepts in the first quarter, thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Nolan Anderson to cut the deficit to 21-16. However, that would be the last field goal from Westfield in the half as the second-seeded Gators limited the Wolverines to just one point in the quarter and led 29-17 going into the break.

The Westfield defense did a better job containing the Global Concepts’ offense in its second meeting this year, but the points were still hard to come by for the Wolverines as they struggled to beat the press.

“Except the first quarter,” Swanson was pleased with his defense. “We knew they were a good starting team. They start games well. Their speed is surprising to opponents so they seem to get off the ground running pretty well. We wanted that first quarter to be a little lower scoring. I think they had 20 or so. That wasn’t quite it, but we were trying.”

The Gators scored plenty of points off the press. Benefitting most was sophomore Jaiden Bennefield, who provided them with a game-high 18 points. Global Concepts attacked the glass in transition and even thrived there when the offense was set and Davis Jr. showed his strength down low fighting for rebounds and a hard 15 points.

“We’re not used to going by a guy and then they’re still chasing you,” Swanson said about the press. “It’s with everything they got, plus there is another quick guy right there. It’s a really aggressive defense that we don’t see here often. We’ve seen it this year and they got us the first time kind of the same way. Just too many turnovers in the open court.”

Davis Jr. did a good job of containing Westfield’s Grant Beadle, limiting him to 5 points in the first half, but in doing so he racked up the fouls and ultimately was bounced from the game in the fourth.

Without Davis Jr. in his way, Beadle began attacking the basket with success and scored 10 of his 17 points in the final period. Anderson also reached double-digits with 13 points for Westfield.

Even with Beadle heating up, Westfield could not land the big shot on the outside to really dig into the deficit and Global Concepts held on for the victory.

“We threw everything we had at them,” Swanson said. “It’s just every bit of effort we had. That’s just a tough team.”

Global Concepts (18-4) advances to the Class C Far West Regionals this Saturday at the Buffalo State Sports Arena against either Lyons or Honeoye of Section V. The Wolverines finished the season with a 13-10 record.

GLOBAL CONCEPTS (54)

Castro Jr. 1 2 5, Clay 2 1 5, Mills 0 0 0, Bennefield 8 2 18, Davis Jr. 7 0 15, Pagan 3 0 6, Soto 1 0 2, Balde 1 1 3, Bush 0 0 0, Larose 0 0 0, Acosta 0 0 0. Totals 23 6 54.

WESTFIELD (45)

Paddock 0 0 0, Baum 0 0 0, Stein 0 0 0, Tuah 1 0 2, Swanson 3 2 8, Thomas 2 0 5, Anderson 3 5 13, Wells 0 0 0, Beadle 5 7 17. Totals 14 14 45.

3-point goals–Castro Jr., Davis Jr., Thomas, Anderson 2.

Global Concepts 21 8 16 9 — 54

Westfield 16 1 11 17 — 45