Fredonia senior point guard Luca Gullo drives into the lane against Middle Early College in a Section VI, Class B1 quarterfinal boys basketball game on Saturday afternoon in Buffalo. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

BUFFALO — The Hillbillies knew they were in for a fight this postseason.

More than a week before playoff seeding was even finalized, Fredonia head coach Nick Bertrando was running through postseason scenarios in the locker room after a win over Allegany-Limestone.

Every time the road led back to Middle Early College, Bertrando acknowledged the Kats had the potential to make a deep playoff run. Unfortunately for Bertrando, he was right.

The Fredonia Hillbillies saw their season come to an end Saturday afternoon with a 61-56 loss to the Middle Early College Kats in a Section VI, Class B1 quarterfinal boys basketball game at City Honors School in Buffalo.

Fredonia lost the battle on Saturday afternoon due in large part to 15 turnovers that often led directly to points for Middle Early College. Still, despite the result, Bertrando told his team before they left the locker room that he was proud of the way they fought.

Fredonia senior Ashton Putney looks to pass during the second half of a Section VI, Class B1 quarterfinal boys basketball game against Middle Early College on Saturday afternoon in Buffalo. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

“I told them walking out of here, regardless of the outcome, you guys played Fredonia basketball the way it’s supposed to be played – as hard as you can, with your teammates, for each other, for 32 minutes. They showed that today,” Bertrando said after the loss. “They fought to the bitter end.”

Both teams entered Saturday’s game with more than a week of rest after earning a bye straight to the quarterfinals. They each got an extra 45 minutes to prepare as a last-minute venue change moved the game from the Grabiarz School of Excellence to City Honors School in Buffalo due to power issues. Players notified their families of the change approximately an hour before scheduled tipoff.

Once the game began, Middle Early College (13-8, 3-seed) scored the game’s first two points off a turnover. That would hold as a theme throughout the contest, as the Kats pressured Fredonia (11-10, 6-seed) throughout the contest and dictated the pace of play.

“We talked about controlling the pace and the tempo of the game,” Bertrando said. “We turned the ball over 15 times and that plays into their strength of getting out in transition.”

Following the early turnover, however, Fredonia got itself going from beyond the arc.

Fredonia head coach Nick Bertrando speaks to his team during a timeout in Saturday’s Section VI, Class B1 quarterfinal boys basketball game against Middle Early College at City Honors School in Buffalo. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

In the span of just over a minute, Fredonia hit three 3-pointers – two were by Ashton Putney, with one by R.J. Koopman between them. Fredonia led 9-2 just over two minutes into the game and did not trail again in the period. The Hillbillies held a narrow one-point lead, 14-13, after the first quarter.

The early hot streak from Fredonia ended up as more of a curse, as the Hillbillies rushed their offensive possessions and took quick shots in hopes of prolonging the hot streak. Instead, it played right into Middle Early College’s hands, which Bertrando said “jumpstarted” the home team’s offense.

After the Kats cut into Fredonia’s lead to close the first quarter, they pounced in the opening moments of the second quarter. In the first 2:13 of the period, Middle Early College scored nine straight points to take a 22-14 lead.

Fredonia finally put an end to the run with a layup from senior Malachi Hall. Shortly after, Colin Luce scored seven straight points for the Hillbillies to close the deficit to just a point. Then, in the final minute, a 3-pointer from Luca Gullo tied the score at 28-all.

The Hillbillies had a chance to hold for the final shot and take momentum into the locker room at halftime, but instead, the Kats manufactured a highlight for the ages.

After forcing Fredonia to turn the ball over with three seconds left in the half, Anthony Johnson of Middle Early College unleashed a shot from the half-court logo. The shot banked in at the buzzer and gave the Kats a 31-28 lead at the intermission. Johnson had 17 points in the first half – the only scorer to reach double digits in the first half.

The momentum swing certainly could have changed things dramatically – something Fredonia knows all too well when it comes to postseason buzzer-beaters. But unlike the miraculous shot that sent Fredonia into overtime and eventually ended their season in the Far West Regional two years ago, Saturday’s climactic shot did not decide the game.

“It wasn’t the ideal situation, obviously, that we wanted to go into halftime with,” Bertrando said. “But regardless of that, we talked about some of the adjustments we needed to make at halftime. Unfortunately, their pressure in the third quarter did not help.”

It was late game execution that did Fredonia in on Saturday. Simply put, Fredonia did not take care of the ball, and the Kats capitalized, over and over again.

“Their pressure flummoxed us pretty good today,” Bertrando said after the game. “It’s a testament to the pressure they brought that we had those turnovers. … Most of them were forced by their defensive pressure.”

The Hillbillies pulled ahead at the halfway point of the third quarter on Ashton Putney’s third 3-pointer of the contest, near his own bench. But from that point on, Middle Early College sped up the game on Fredonia and the issues for the orange and black snowballed. The Hillbillies were held scoreless for almost four minutes as the Kats smothered them defensively and put up 13 points of their own in the same time frame.

Middle Early College led by double digits, 51-40, entering the fourth quarter. At that point, it would have been easy for Fredonia to pack it up and take the hour-long trip home. Instead, Fredonia showed toughness to battle back, led point guard Luca Gullo and forward Donovan Dowdy.

Dowdy and Gullo combined for an 8-0 run over the first 2:41 of the fourth quarter to put Fredonia within three points with just over five minutes remaining. The teams played evenly over the next three minutes, as Gullo pulled the Hillbillies back to within three points again with 2:23 remaining.

But despite pulling to within three points twice in the final frame, Johnson stepped up again with a shot that one could argue was even more noteworthy than his half-court heave.

After what some in the gym felt could have been called a backcourt violation on Middle Early College was not called, the Kats kept possession with the shot clock winding down. With just three seconds left on the shot clock, Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to double the Middle Early College lead to 57-51.

If Fredonia had gotten a stop on that possession, the Hillbillies would have had the ball with a chance to tie the game with less than two minutes left. Instead, Johnson’s shot amounted to the game-winning point, as Fredonia finished with 56 points in the loss.

The Hillbillies were led by five scorers who combined for 51 of the 56 total points: Colin Luce (13), Luca Gullo (11), Donovan Dowdy (10), Ashton Putney (10), and R.J. Koopman (7). Additionally, Koopman had nine assists; Gullo added four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block; and four players had at least four rebounds, led by Putney with six.

The Kats were led by Anthony Johnson with 27 points, while E-Ryan Lawrence had 16 points and Carl Barnes had 10 points.

Saturday was the final game in the careers of Gullo, Putney and Hall. Bertrando pushed through a wave of emotion as he spoke about the impact Gullo had as a leader on the floor this season at the point guard position. Gullo’s effort in the fourth quarter embodied his career playing for Bertrando.

“That’s Luca. He’s just a tough, gritty kid. Refusing to lose, willing his team back on the defensive end. On the offensive end, making the extra pass, stepping up in a scoring position when we needed him to,” Bertrando said. “It was, really, all of those guys. It’s just been like that the whole year. This has been a really great group. It has been a fun group to coach.”

Middle Early College now advances to the Section VI, Class B1 semifinal at Buffalo State University on Thursday night. The Kats will play the winner of 2-seed Olmsted and 10-seed Newfane.