BUFFALO — For a calendar year, Newfane was chasing for this moment.
Through the regular season and co-sharing the Niagara-Orleans League title to winning a postseason game at home, everything added up to competing for a Section VI championship.
The Panthers knew the historic value at stake as well, trying to end the school’s 44-year drought in bringing home some hardware. But Salamanca’s Lucus Brown crushed the Panthers’ dream with shot after shot and distributing to an open teammate.
Behind a 26-point performance from Brown, No. 1 Salamanca defeated No. 3 Newfane, 61-43, in the Section VI Class B1 championship Saturday at Buffalo State.
“Salamanca’s one of the best teams in the state and they got off to a hot start,” Newfane head coach Eric Klumpp said. “… You got to match their toughness, especially early in the game. I thought we did. We just couldn’t get some shots to drop. We got into foul trouble. And that’s really what turned the course of the game.”
While Newfane (20-3) cut the deficit to 12 points to 42-30 with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in the third quarter, it was the strong start by Salamanca, who finished in the Class C state final four two years ago and were the section’s Class B2 runner-up last year, that took control of the game.
Off the bat, Brown made his presence known, entering the game with the third highest scoring average in the section with 25.5 points per game. Against the Panthers, Brown drilled three of his five total 3-pointers in the game, including a buzzer-beater to expand Salamanca’s lead to 17-8.
From there, Brown was able to get more teammates like Cory Holleran (10 points) involved in the offense, too, knocking down timely shots. While Newfane made adjustments as the game went on in forcing others players to shoot, Salamanca still hit the big shots on the perimeter to come away with the win.
“Not only do you have to prepare for Lucus but they’re so well coached,” Klumpp said. “They run such great stuff that when he gets the ball in his hands, everybody’s moving, no one’s stopping. He knows where everybody is. He’s the general out there.”
Newfane found a spark in the second half offensively, with Nate Snow scoring eight of his 16 points in the third quarter. Teammate Mac Capen scored all 10 of his points in the second half.
But with leading scorer Ben Dickinson held scoreless in the first half and not hitting his lone 3-pointer with 2:55 left in the contest, Salamanca limited the touches inside for Newfane, which still allowed guards like Landon Braman (6 points) to score. For Dickinson, Salamanca’s defense prevented his ability to make a presence inside scoring and rebounding, which allowed him to make the winning free throws and steal in the semifinal against Olmsted Thursday.
“They came out really, really aggressive right away,” Dickinson said “They came out with a face guard on me. So, it’s someone following me around but I got into a little bit of foul trouble early, so that kind of hindered me. But I found my confidence then finally.”
With the win, Salamanca (18-5) faces the B2 champion, Falconer, at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Buffalo State in the section’s Class B crossover game. Falconer defeated Eden, 59-47, to win its first sectional title since 1982.