Since 2018, when Nick Bertrando took over the Fredonia varsity program, Fredonia had never lost to Dunkirk. On Thursday night, with Fredonia coming into play losing six of its last seven games, Dunkirk’s luck was supposed to change.

Fredonia’s response? Not tonight.

The Hillbillies continued their recent dominance in the rivalry with a 74-53 win over the visiting Marauders in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 game at Fredonia High School.

“This was a testament to these guys. We hadn’t necessarily shown it off, but these guys work on their craft. They can shoot it,” Bertrando said. “The time and the effort that these guys put in was on full display tonight.”

OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown Dunkirk’s Avery Krystofiak drives to the basket.

Fredonia (5-6, 2-3) did not make it easy on itself early. Dunkirk (3-6, 1-3) jumped out to an early lead as Avery Krystofiak kept finding open space in the lane for easy buckets.

“We were moving the ball, we were looking to attack the gaps,” said Dunkirk head coach Sixto Rosario. “We brought practice to the game. It was working, so there are some things to highlight there that were positive.”

The Marauders led 18-12 after the opening quarter, and it could have been even worse if not for Ashton Putney. The Fredonia senior accounted for nine of the Hillbillies’ 12 points in the period.

“We’ve been in this position before,” Bertrando said. “… One of the things we talked about was to be present and move on to the next play.”

In the second quarter, it was back to the same old story. Fredonia quickly grabbed the lead behind three straight 3-pointers — first by Putney, then the tying and go-ahead shots from Donovan Dowdy to jump ahead 23-20.

OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown Dunkirk’s Greg Orcutt, right, is closely guarded by Fredonia’s Luca Gullo.

“Coach always says before the game that not a lot of high schoolers get to witness this crowd in a high school gym,” Putney said. “It’s great to have the fans come out to support us. It feels good.

In Dunkirk-Fredonia games, the old saying that “basketball is a game of runs” is even more true, as the atmosphere lends itself to teams getting hot and riding the momentum. But on Thursday, once Fredonia took control, it never gave it back.

That was thanks to smothering defense Bertrando designed to limit the open looks for Dunkirk’s two leading scorers, K’Vion Tell and Greg Orcutt. Both scorers were held well under their averages on the season, combining for 30 points between them. Krystofiak added 12 points and Malik McCall had 9. The rest of the team had just 2 points.

The smothering Fredonia defense was even more impressive considering the Hillbillies had not run the scheme in any of their previous games this season. Bertrando pulled out all the stops on Thursday to keep his perfect streak in the rivalry intact, and his team fully bought in and played arguably its best all around game of the season.

“We all trust each other. We know we’re not a one-man team. Whoever is on the court, the five guys are looking to do their one-fifth. We’re just having fun playing together because we love each other,” Putney said.

The Hillbillies hit 10 3-pointers on the night and outscored Dunkirk 48-21 over the middle two periods of the game to run away with the win. By the final buzzer, the scoreboard looked just as it always does when Bertrando’s squad takes on the cross-town rival.

“In a great energy, packed environment like this, this great rivalry definitely gives you that extra kick to continue,” Bertrando said.

The Hillbillies were led by Putney’s 17 points, but six players scored at least 8 points in the win: Putney, Dowdy, Colin Luce, Brennan Lincoln, Luca Gullo and R.J. Koopman. While Koopman was the only one to not reach double digits in scoring, he did so with 11 assists.

Up next, the Hillbillies travel to Southwestern on Monday, then host Allegany-Limestone next Thursday. Marauders travel to Salamanca next Thursday.

DUNKIRK (53)

Tell 5 2 14, McQuiggan 0 0 0, McCall 3 3 9, Strong 0 0 0, Orcutt 5 6 16, Krystofiak 6 0 12, Denson 0 0 0, Paz 0 0 0, Morales 0 0 0, Chaverez 0 2 2. Totals 19 13 53.

FREDONIA (74)

Luce 6 1 14, Ferguson 0 0 0, Dowdy 5 2 15, Gullo 4 2 10, Koopman 3 0 8, Putney 6 1 17, Cerrie 0 0 0, Lincoln 5 0 10, Hall 0 0 0. Totals 29 6 74.

3-point goals–Tell 2, Luce, Dowdy 3, Koopman 2, Putney 4.

Dunkirk 18 9 12 14 — 53

Fredonia 12 23 25 14 — 74